《Protagonist: The Whims of Gods》 Chapter 1: Bye Duke! As 5 p.m. rolled around, I grabbed a box of treats and began saying my usual goodbyes to all the dogs in the shelter. Some took a tad more coaxing than others, but save for the most skeptical, frightened, or aggressive, each one would receive a few seconds of love before I dimmed the lights for the night. "Come here, ya lil'' stinker," I cooed to a particularly shy rottweiler puppy. He looked uncertain for a moment before cautiously waddling up to the gate to accept a treat from my hands. I squeezed part of my arm through the bars and petted his head for a while before moving on. After finishing up my other farewells, I made my way over to Duke. The docile golden retriever had been passed over for three weeks now on account of his old age, his missing leg, and his notable lack of bladder control. Despite all that, the smelly old beast had managed to weasel his way into my heart. As I neared his cage, he lopsidedly hopped over and stuck his snout through the bars, and I spent a few minutes lavishing him with attention before pulling myself away. "Bye Duke!" I gave a little wave and started locking up, leaving the elderly dog behind. In no time at all I left the shelter and stepped into my car, tracking in a new addition to the already-thick layer of dog fur on my seats. Moments later, I began the trip back home. Now, working in a dog shelter hadn¡¯t been my original plan. After getting a B.A. in psychology and then doing another two-year stint for a master¡¯s in counseling, I figured I¡¯d be a therapist. For a while, I¡¯d even tried it: I had a number of clients, my own little office, and a swanky pair of glasses that just screamed therapy time, baby. At some point, though, those same glasses had switched it up on me, and each time I put them on they just whispered a very unenthusiastic oof. Not ready to spend my life doing something I felt lukewarm about, I¡¯d quit. For the past year now, I''d been working at the shelter and making extra cash as a tutor on the side. What I''d do next was still anyone''s guess. With a few quick checks to my side mirrors, I merged onto the highway, immediately pulling into the right lane. After all, what was the rush? The only plan I had for the rest of the day was a hot date between me and a bowl of peanut M&M¡¯s. As was becoming an increasingly more common thought, I realized that my life had gotten kind of boring. That hadn¡¯t been by design or anything, but I¡¯d underestimated how hard it¡¯d be to find friends after moving into the city, and now I was settling into a sort of inertia. I sighed. The intro to Walking on Sunshine sounded over the car speakers, and I cranked the volume up, letting the feel-good music drown out everything else. Gone were my thoughts. Gone were my worries. Gone was the massive truck slowly moving towards m- I froze. Directly to my left, an 18-wheeler had just drifted into my lane showing no signs of stopping. My brain tried and failed to process what it was seeing, and then, finally, it clicked. ¡°Oh shit!¡± Wide-eyed, heart hammering away at the speed of light, I slammed the car horn and stomped on the brakes. ¡°Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, oh my god, oh my god.¡± It was okay! I was going to make it! I was so close to pulling behind it. So close! I didn¡¯t make it. Only a few feet before the truck would have completely passed me, it connected. In a din of crashing and crunching and skidding, my car went careening into the guardrail. It would have been much kinder had I blacked out, but I did not. Eventually, the world stopped spinning, and everything settled into place. Dimly and through an intense wall of pain, I realized that even with the seatbelt and the airbag, certain parts of my body were bent in ways that they shouldn¡¯t have been. The hood of the car had caught fire, and as the flames licked closer, I screamed at my body to move, to run, but it paid me no heed. When finally the fire reached me, there was only the pain. Nothing else. After what must have been a century, the crumpled remains of my passenger-side door opened. Unexpectedly, in stepped a black-haired college-aged kid. Through the smoke, I could see that he was wearing a t-shirt and some baggy jeans, and despite my condition, he simply eyed me over with a slight frown. ¡°Well, yikes,¡± he ventured. Yikes? Yikes? Had I been able to move and not had more pressing concerns, I would have punched the little shit. Why wasn¡¯t he doing anything? Why wasn¡¯t he helping? Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Maybe...¡± He leaned towards me and placed his index finger on my forehead, and suddenly a wave of icy relief washed over me, dousing me in a pure, blissful numbness. Not only did it numb my nerves, but also my mind, offering me a level of composed clarity that shouldn¡¯t have been possible under the circumstances. ¡°Better. Can you hear me?¡± He calmly sat down in the passenger¡¯s seat, flames dancing all around him. Dumbfounded and not trusting my voice, I tried to nod and was surprised to find that I could. What on earth had he just done? Did he give me some sort of weird anaesthetic? And how was he able to sit there in the fire? ¡°Cool. Well, not completely cool, because you¡¯re kind of burning up here, but like, cool.¡± I stared at him, blankly. He coughed and had the minor decency to look a bit abashed before continuing. ¡°So, if you didn¡¯t catch on from the cool pain-numbing finger-thingy, I am not exactly a normal person.¡± He looked pensive for a moment before offhandedly adding, ¡°not really a person at all, actually.¡± I tried to stare at him a bit more pointedly, but if he noticed, he didn¡¯t show it. That being said, he certainly wasn¡¯t a normal person. What was going on here? ¡°You,¡± he said with a pause, ¡°are kind of definitely going to die in a few minutes on account of...¡± He gestured vaguely to what I could only imagine was a charred and disfigured mess. ¡°That.¡± His words didn¡¯t manage to fully sink in, bouncing off the thick wall of numbness that had coated my mind. ¡°Even if an ambulance got here right now, your injuries are a bit too serious to live through. However.¡± He leaned in conspiratorially, holding a finger up for emphasis. Was¡­ was he really going for the slow reveal here? While I was frying to death? ¡°I happen to have a problem that I¡¯ve been meaning to solve, and as it happens, you could kind of solve it!¡± Presently, I failed to see any sort of problem I could solve unless he was looking for a chic new way to roast marshmallows. Something told me that wasn¡¯t what he had in mind. ¡°If you agree to it, I¡¯ll heal you! You¡¯ll walk away with no burns, no nothing. The downside is, I¡¯d take you elsewhere. Like, other-planet elsewhere. Like, never speak to anyone you¡¯ve ever met, never return back to Earth elsewhere. If you agree to that, you¡¯re as good as new!¡± I almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. Heal me? From this? And take me to another planet? Who did he think he was? And yet. He certainly wasn¡¯t a normal kid. What if he was telling the truth? And at this point, what did I have to lose? I tested my voice, surprised to find it working, if barely, perhaps thanks to whatever he¡¯d done to me earlier. ¡°... Duke.¡± The word came out in a hoarse whisper. He stared at me for a moment, likely thinking he¡¯d misheard me. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take whatever your deal is.¡± The boy¡¯s eyes lit up, but I continued before he had a chance to speak. ¡°But,¡± I rasped. Each word came out slowly, laboriously. ¡°But?¡± Instead of the annoyance I¡¯d expected to hear, his voice was filled with an almost childlike curiosity. ¡°I work at an animal shelter. There¡¯s an old dog named Duke. Three legs. They¡¯re probably gonna put him to sleep pretty soon if no one adopts him. If you make sure he gets a home, I guess I¡¯ll say yes to whatever your deal is.¡± He just stared at me, incredulously. Did it make sense to bargain for the life of an elderly dog while I was slowly becoming crispier than a rotisserie chicken? In all fairness, maybe not. But something about the idea of poor old Duke sitting in his cage wondering why the nice lady never came to pet him anymore made me fully and deeply sad. The boy just kept staring. He stayed that way for nearly half a minute before abruptly bursting into laughter. ¡°Holy shit!¡± he laughed. ¡°You¡¯re legitimately bargaining while on fire! That¡¯s so awesome! Damn, I feel kind of bad. If we were already over there, that would have definitely raised your trade skill a few levels.¡± I frowned and cocked my head in question, not understanding the last bit. The fact that he was offering to fully heal me notwithstanding, he was kind of an ass, wasn¡¯t he? He continued laughing for a while until eventually settling down. ¡°You know what, now I feel much better about this. I¡¯m mostly doing this on a whim, but I still think I¡¯m choosing right. I bet I can scrounge up a person or two who¡¯re interested in having a three-legged dog, and if somehow I can¡¯t, I¡¯ll take care of the poor thing myself. Does that settle it?¡± Did it? I kind of felt like I should be more emotional. Even if the boy was lying, one way or the other, I probably wasn¡¯t going to see anyone I knew ever again. Mostly, though, all I felt was numb. ¡°I guess?¡± What were you supposed to say when a seemingly magical kid got into your burning car and offered to take you to another world? ¡°Dope!¡± He grinned and held out his hand. ¡°Name¡¯s Dex!¡± He held his hand there for a few moments before seeming to realize I couldn¡¯t move my arms. ¡°My name¡¯s Tess.¡± It was, without a doubt, the strangest introduction I¡¯d ever given. ¡°Well Tess,¡± he beamed. ¡°Good luck.¡± And with that, he reached out and put a hand on my shoulder, and the world began to fade to black. At the same time, a translucent, blue screen popped into existence in front of me. You have notifications to review. Review now? Yes No Huh, wonder what that¡¯s about, I thought. And then I passed out. Chapter 2: A Protagonist is Born The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that I was no longer burning to death. As you might imagine, I thought that was pretty rad. It was more than that though ¡ª somehow, I wasn¡¯t even burnt. In fact, so complete was my recovery that I probably would have chalked the accident up to a fever dream if not for three things. Firstly, I was now in a forest. While nothing about it seemed magical per se, it wasn¡¯t the type of place I¡¯d expected to find myself. Secondly, my clothes had been swapped out. All of my clothing from Earth was gone, replaced with a plain brown outfit along with a sturdy set of boots. At my side hung a black pouch with a drawstring fastened to a belt around my waist. Thirdly was the screen. It loomed in front of me, displaying the simple message I¡¯d caught before passing out. You have notifications to review. Review now? Yes No ¡°Um, hello? Dex? You with me?¡± I called out for the strange kid who¡¯d teleported me here, but received no answer. I guessed I was on my own? Well, there was at least one way to get some answers. Hesitantly, I reached out to the screen in front of me and hit Yes. Instantly, the text shifted, this time to a flowing script written with glowing golden letters. CONGRATULATIONS! FOR YOUR NOTABLE DEEDS, YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY THE GODS! MAY YOUR NAME RIPPLE THROUGH THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, PROTAGONIST! The gods? I wasn¡¯t even confident that gods existed ¡ª I certainly hadn¡¯t done anything to impress one. Unless that weird kid had been one? I guessed that would explain the freaky magic powers he had, but seriously? That kid was supposed to be a deity? Well, whatever. He wasn¡¯t here, and I had more immediate concerns to deal with. What did it mean to be ¡°chosen by the gods¡± in any case? As if in response to my question, suddenly a warm electric sensation began tingling through my wrist. Rapidly it grew in intensity until I felt like my entire arm was going to fry to a crisp. I stifled a scream as the pain got worse and worse, until all of a sudden, it left. I looked down at where the feeling had been the most intense and was surprised to find what looked like a moving tattoo. It was a golden, intricate, swirling pattern, and as I continued to look at it, I started to get a headache just from watching it move. After a few seconds, the movement died down and the tattoo began to fade, seeming almost as if it were being absorbed into my skin. Bizarre. As I stared at the tattoo, the text on the screen updated. Congratulations! You have received the Mark of the Protagonist. +500 Prestige +1 Greater Boon +1 Average Boon +1 Lesser Boon +10 to Luck I read the message twice over, frowning more deeply each time. +10 to Luck? Was I¡­ Was this entire world supposed to be structured like a video game? It certainly explained the strange computer screens, but why? I sighed, shaking my head. The why didn¡¯t really matter to me. For all I knew some gamer god got bored and created a world just for kicks. I was a bit disturbed seeing as many video games involved lots and lots of fighting, but we¡¯d cross that bridge when we came to it. The more important thing was what all those ¡°boons¡± did and whether or not they¡¯d help me find my way out of the forest. I advanced to the next notification, hoping for some clarity. After having your skin slowly sloughed off in the heat of a raging fire, you found out that gods existed, moved to a new universe, and said goodbye to everyone you¡¯ve ever known or loved. Neat! For not immediately melting into a puddle of despair, you have been granted the Trauma Suppression skill, bypassing the usual prerequisites. You have learned a new skill: Trauma Suppression All trauma is shoved down into a tiiiiny little box. We¡¯re confident this is completely healthy and won¡¯t have any negative long term effects. Prerequisites: 20 Wisdom, 20 Endurance Overridden For learning a Rare skill, you have been granted 100xp. Trauma Suppression has reached level 2! +100xp Trauma Suppression has reached level 3! +100xp Wow. Okay. Disturbing? In retrospect, I was feeling remarkably fine for having just basically died. While the therapist side of me wasn¡¯t too hype about bottling up my trauma, my more pragmatic side counted it as a win. There would be plenty of time to deal with my issues after I was sure no forest predator was coming to eat my face off. Advancing once again, I came to what ended up being the final trio of notifications. I moved on to the last set of notifications, scratching my head as I read them. You have received a Greater Boon. Would you like to look at your options? You have received an Average Boon. Would you like to look at your options? You have received a Lesser Boon. Would you like to look at your options? What sort of ¡°boons¡± were we talking here? I accepted the prompt for the Greater Boons, and instantly, a list popped up with a small scrollbar on the side. I scrolled through it for a while, checking to see how many options I had, only to find that the list was massive. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Before I could get too far into the weeds, however, the list disappeared, replaced by a single line of text. As a Protagonist chosen by a god of luck, all boons will be selected randomly. What? Since when had I been chosen by a god of luck? Was that what Dex was? Well, whatever. Three boons was still more than the average person got, I imagined. As long as I didn¡¯t get anything weird. As if sensing my resignation, the text updated. Greater Boon selected. Gained new ability: God¡¯s Mind Knowledge is power for those who know how to wield it. +1 to Wisdom and Intelligence every 3 levels +20% to mental resistance Improves memory and learning speed. Can query basic world information. Instantly gain access to the Identify skill. Additional effects may be found after gaining sufficient Intelligence and Perception. The aforementioned Identify skill popped up instantly afterwards. You have learned a new skill: Identify Focus on an object or entity to learn more about it. Prerequisites: 15 Perception Overridden For learning a Common skill, you have been granted 50xp. Well, if I was going to end up having to fight anything, I would have felt a lot better with something like ¡°shoot lightning from your eyes!¡± or ¡°become invincible for 10 minutes!¡± but what was done was done. At the very least, the querying function looked like a godsend seeing how little I knew right now, and Identify looked pretty handy too. After a few moments, the other two boons were chosen as well. For the Average Boon, I got one titled Minor Class Token. Its description was¡­ ¡°Receive a minor class token.¡± Helpful! I loved random selection! As soon as I received it, the newly familiar electric sensation started up on my forearm, but this time much less intensely. The sensation died down and the image of a small black coin appeared on my arm before sinking into my skin. For the Lesser Boon, I thankfully got one that looked like it¡¯d help me if I ran into trouble. Strong Armed +5 to Strength +2 to Constitution All at once, my body began to change, my muscles growing thicker before my eyes. Damn! I was fit now! For someone who¡¯d almost never hit the gym and mostly just stayed at home eating instant ramen noodles, this was the dream! And to think, all it took was almost dying, getting transported to a different world, and being blessed by a god. Boons taken care of, I finally stood up and stretched my stiff limbs, working some heat back into them. Who would have thought that so much of my first moments in a magical world would have been spent reading? If that was all my notifications had to tell me, it was probably time to try and get out of the forest, right? Was I supposed to just, I dunno, wander around? And did I seriously not even have a weapon? My mind returned to the pouch at my side, and I undid the drawstring before reaching in. I expected my hand to hit the bottom almost immediately. Instead, it just¡­ didn¡¯t? I continued to reach downwards until the pouch impossibly swallowed half of my arm. ¡°What are you, little bag?¡± Surprisingly, the world answered me, a window popping up in explanation. Probably my new Identify skill? Minor Pouch of Holding This spatially augmented bag can hold up to 20 different items and will reduce their carried weight by 98%. A full list of its contents can be obtained by focusing on the pouch while thinking ¡°Inventory.¡± This bag is soulbound to Tess. It cannot be used or opened by others. Huh. I wasn¡¯t sure if the bag was part of me being chosen as a Protagonist or if it was a send-off gift from Dex, but I was hardly complaining either way. Following the description¡¯s advice, I opened the inventory, and a 4x5 grid popped up displaying the bag¡¯s contents. Bread, more bread, some salted meat, and a¡­ spear? Well, it was a bit worrying that he¡¯d felt the need to include that, but I certainly felt safer knowing I had a weapon should the need for one arise. In the slot next to the spear, I also spotted a small knife which hopefully I could use for more than just a weapon. I kept the two stowed away, not feeling the need to lug them around right now. I closed the pouch and gave it a tug, verifying that it was tightly secured to the belt on my pants. That taken care of, it was finally adventure time! Or, at least, wander around and hope not to die time? I was still pretty spotty on what Dex wanted from me or how dangerous the forest would be. Regardless, I knew I didn¡¯t want to be stranded in the woods. All directions looking about equal to me, I picked one at random and ventured forth. For a few minutes, I simply walked on, enjoying the pleasant atmosphere of traveling through the woods. A low-hanging branch stood in my way, and I swept it aside, accidentally pricking myself on a thorn as I did so. While the unexpected flash of pain elicited a gasp from me, it didn¡¯t feel serious, and I tried to ignore it and move on. Before I could do so, however, two lines of red text popped up in the corner of my vision. Took 1 damage from bite. Current health: 119/120 You are poisoned! Take 1 damage every 5 seconds for 20 seconds. Did that say bite? Holy shit! Holy shit, something bit me! I frantically waved my arm in an effort to dislodge anything and whipped my head over to where the pain had been. There, on my hand, was a tiny, green spider. Without even consulting my brain, my other arm moved towards it at lightspeed, batting it to the ground. In a flurry of panicked nerves, the very second it hit the ground, I stomped on it, feeling the sickening crunch of its exoskeleton giving way. At its death, a line of blue text quickly flashed in the corner of my vision: +2 exp. Along with the experience came a pair of new prompt. You have learned a new skill: Unarmed Combat. +50xp Increase all unarmed damage by 1%. The skill was welcome, I supposed, but holy hell! Did it really have to be spiders? Nobody liked spiders! Not even spiders liked spiders! My heart lurched as I thought about being trapped in a spider-infested forest, but now more than ever, it was not the time to freak out. Keep cool, Tess. You got this. Besides, it barely did any damage. I took a moment to breathe and calm myself down, letting the remaining poison run its course before lifting my boot to reveal what remained of the offender. For the most part, it had been reduced to little more than a paste, but oddly enough, a few centimeters above it hung a little golden-white light. On a hunch, I reached down and poked it. You received: Weak venom gland x1 A small fleshy sac appeared in my hand connected by a little tube to a spider fang. Kind of gross, but score, I guess? I definitely hadn¡¯t expected to be able to loot anything from it after pulverizing it like that, but I¡¯d take it. I threw it into my pouch and watched with satisfaction as it disappeared. Still a bit frazzled and panicked from the encounter, I got back up and started to walk onwards, but nature had other plans. Before I could take even two steps, I felt a pair of sharp pains in my arm and neck. Took 1 damage from bite. Took 1 damage from bite. You have been poisoned! Take 2 damage every 5 seconds for 20 seconds. Oh, for fuck¡¯s sake! Chapter 3: Level Up I¡¯d spent the last few hours being ambushed by spiders. From a gaming perspective, that was great! Each of the tiny fanged menaces was essentially just a gross wad of experience, and it was pretty undeniable that I needed some experience right now. From a real life perspective, however ¡ª and I really couldn¡¯t stress this enough ¡ª it sucked. Not because of the venom: While it stung, as long as I made sure to rest enough after each ambush, the little spiders definitely weren¡¯t going to kill me. Not because of the psychological damage either: Despite ¡°being ambushed by tons of venomous spiders¡± being rather high on the ¡°things that would probably give me horrible nightmares¡± list, I was actually holding up pretty well. The Trauma Suppression skill, mixed bag though it was, was likely to blame for this. Nope. In the end, the worst part of killing the spiders was simple: I was covered in spider crud. Foul, pasty, rank-smelling spider crud. While it was gross, very quickly I¡¯d realized the best way to kill the little devils was to squash them the moment they landed on me. The end result was that I¡¯d invented a strange new mixture of whack-a-mole and the macarena, and also that I was covered in spider guts. It was thus that when I finally found a stream, my first reaction wasn¡¯t ¡°Great! I¡¯m so glad I¡¯m not going to die from thirst!¡± but rather ¡°Holy hell, I¡¯m taking a bath right now.¡± I made a beeline for the water, only to be rudely interrupted by two sharp pains on my neck. Took 1 damage from Bite. You are Poisoned! Seriously? Let me bathe! I immediately threw my hand to my neck, crushing one of my minuscule assailants while the other skittered upwards. Sadly for me, it made its way up to my hair, and I got to experience the oh-so-soothing sensation of having a spider scuttle around on my scalp. Notably skeezed out, I slapped it as fast as I possibly could, smushing it flat and earning me a harsh whack to the head. Another jumped at me, and I traced its movement back to a branch where two of its siblings laid in wait. I dispatched the first of them with another slap, and with the others now in sight, I was able to avoid their jumps. They landed on the ground and hurried to my feet, but it was no use. In a moment, both met the soles of my boot, and the corner of my vision flashed with twin experience notifications. I waited tensely for another spider to make its move, but no more came. Instead, however, a prompt popped up, accompanied by an unexpected wave of euphoria. Congratulations! You have reached level 2! Note: Each level up will automatically raise your Constitution and Prestige by 1. As a human Protagonist, you have 6 free stat points to allocate. A level! And it came with six stat points? I thought back to when I¡¯d received my Lesser Boon, remembering how an extra five points of Strength had taken me from a homebody to a CrossFit enthusiast. I couldn¡¯t wait to see what I could do with six more. That, however, would have to wait. With no more spiders in sight, I quickly looted the ones I¡¯d just killed before running to the stream with joy. In a flash, I undressed and soaked myself in the water, and despite the slightly cold temperature, it was undeniably one of the best baths I¡¯d ever had. Once I¡¯d rid myself of all the gunk and no longer felt like a dirty goblin, I used the water to do some spot treatments on my clothes as well. Seeing as the spiders preferred biting exposed flesh, my wardrobe had actually fared pretty well, and moments later, I was dressed and ready for action. After giving the crud-imbued water a second to flow downstream, I quenched my thirst and then sat down, ready to figure out how to spend my new stat points. The first step was just figuring out what my stats even were. Thinking back to how I¡¯d been made to think ¡°Inventory¡± to examine my bag, I searched for a similar magic phrase to show me my stats. After a few tries, I discovered the correct word was ¡°character,¡± and a large status sheet popped up in front of me.
Name: Tess Age: 26 Race: Human Class: None
Level: 2 Experience: 0/1000 Prestige: 501
Health: 130/130 Mana: 110/110 Stamina: 80/80
Constitution: 13 Strength: 13 Endurance: 8 Dexterity: 11 Intelligence: 11 Wisdom: 11 Perception: 11 Charisma: 10 Luck: 20
Marks Mark of the Protagonist The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Minor Class Token
Languages Common
It looked like despite having my new fancy swirly mark, I was still just a basic noob. At least they seem to have given me the ability to speak the language here. Although, no idea how that works¡­ Particularly demoralizing was the fact that one of my stats hadn¡¯t even hit 10 yet, which seemed to be the baseline for a normal adult. Had I hit the gym in the past few years? No. But whose fault was that really? If the gods had considered coming down to my college career fairs and warning me that I might have a future as a fantasy adventurer, I would have considered doing a push up or two, right? Clearly this was on them. On the plus side, at least a few of my stats were above 10 too, so hopefully it all evened out. Plus, my bonus from the Strong Armed boon had bumped me up considerably. Knowing my stats didn¡¯t help me figure out how to allocate my new points though. Even if I knew the names of them, their uses still evaded me. For instance, what on earth was Wisdom and how was it any different than Intelligence? Even when it came to the ones I kind of understood, I still felt in the dark. Perception, for instance: Would that increase my pain perception too? I hoped not. I focused on my Perception stat, trying to bring up some more information. After a moment, a line of text popped up: Increases sensory abilities and awareness of danger. Well gee. That was helpful. ¡°Um. Any chance I could get a little bit more here? Universe? Gods?¡± I wasn¡¯t actually expected to pick just based off of that, was I? Honestly, I¡¯d mostly expected to be ignored, but a moment later, a prompt popped up. God¡¯s Mind Activated Basic information requested: Perception Affects sensory abilities. As is true with all stats save for Luck, stat increases up to 25 will mostly affect the user physically. For human Perception, this entails dramatic increases to sight, hearing, and scent, coupled with more subtle increases in touch and taste. After reaching a Perception of 25, further stat increases will affect the user magically. The most notable change is gaining a ¡°danger sense¡± which will alert you if something close by is watching you or about to attack. You will also experience drastic increases in basic senses and the ability to detect mana. Wow, that was actually kind of helpful. Who woulda thunk it? I checked through the other stats, finding that, besides for Luck, they all had the same pattern: Regular changes up till 25, then much more dramatic ones. As for what all the stats did, Strength was entirely as expected. Dexterity enhanced speed, flexibility, and the ability to make precise movements. Intelligence gave a small boost to cognitive abilities and mental multitasking, but its main function was to make spells more powerful. The resource stats were Constitution, Endurance, and Wisdom. Constitution increased health and health regeneration rates while Endurance did the same for stamina and Wisdom did the same for mana. The two oddball stats were Charisma and Luck. The first one somehow altered my persuasiveness, likability, and appearance, while the second just made me luckier in general. I honestly found it a bit creepy that a stat could alter the way I looked like that, but new world, new rules, I supposed. Done reading through the stat descriptions, I made my choice: Four points would be going into Strength and two into Endurance. Maybe once I was out of the woods, I¡¯d settle down and never fight a day in my life. If I ran into trouble before then, though I¡¯d need to be as strong as I could be to survive. Satisfied with my choices, I confirmed them and waited for my body to adjust to the changes. Instead of instantly growing bulkier, however, a prompt appeared. As a Protagonist directly chosen by a god of luck, all stats will be assigned randomly. I froze. What? Was I seriously not even allowed to choose my stats? How would I get anything done like that? What if I tried to become a mage and all my stats randomly went into Strength? Worse yet, what if they all went into Charisma and Luck, and I was stuck defenseless forever! I came this close to shouting for Dex to get his supernal ass down here and to become a god of something that sucked less. As I bemoaned my fate, the prompt popped back up with my new stat changes. Free stat selection confirmed: +3 Perception, +2 Intelligence, +1 Strength I groaned at the unlucky distribution, even as my body began changing in response to it. The Intelligence was entirely useless without any spells, and what did I need all of that Perception for? Suddenly, my senses expanded: I felt like I¡¯d taken an ultra strength sudafed, gotten all the wax removed from my ears, and put on a pair of glasses that I didn¡¯t know I needed. Every scent and sound became a bit richer, and not only could I see noticeably farther, but also I could pick out the finer details on closer objects too. Despite being unhappy with how things had turned out, I had to admit that the increase felt phenomenal. If this was just a Perception of 14, I couldn¡¯t imagine what it would feel like once I hit 25. Besides, I supposed I couldn¡¯t really complain. Random stat allocations or not, it was still a lot better than being dead back on Earth. Without a way to carry any water, I decided to follow the stream for a while. With that decision made, newly statted up and ready to go, I continued on my way.
I walked on for another hour, completely uneventfully. Truthfully, it was kind of relaxing. The trees weren¡¯t as thick around the stream, and as such, I¡¯d been forced to stop for spider ambushes much less frequently. Sadly, however, the pros of following the stream seemed to come with some cons. Right as I¡¯d pulled out some bread from my pouch, a movement caught my attention. I swiveled my head over to get a better look, and barely kept myself from gasping aloud. Up ahead, something was moving towards the stream to grab a drink. It was still a ways off, but with my newly enhanced vision I could see that it was another spider. Unlike the other spiders I¡¯d fought, though, this one was huge. It had to be around the size of a well-fed shih-tzu! Holy hell, did spiders really get that big? It was an eerie bright blue, and from what I could see, it had sharp, bladelike protrusions coming off of its legs. Thankfully, I was concealed by the trees and too far away for it to notice me. While I definitely wanted a better source of experience than the spiderlings, there was no way I was messing with a spider that big. I focused on it to see if I could get any more information, but the only thing that came up was a little name tag denoting it a Spider Prince. I moved deeper into the forest, hoping to skirt the spider and continue onwards. At the same time, I returned the bread to my pouch, pulling out my knife and my spear instead. I tucked the knife into my belt while tensely gripping the spear. While I hoped I didn¡¯t have to use them, it wouldn¡¯t do to be unarmed if that thing attacked. My eyes were glued to the spider as I creeped as quietly as I could. Just a few more steps and I¡¯d be far enough to breathe a little easier. It was right about then when I felt the familiar sting of a spider bite on my neck. I¡¯d been so focused on the larger spider, I¡¯d almost forgotten about the smaller variety, and I let out a little yelp as it bit into me. I swatted it and began my dance with the other spiders that followed, dodging, stepping, and slapping until they were all dead. While I was getting better and better at fighting them, I still ended up taking about 20 damage from the exchange. During the fight, I¡¯d tried to keep the larger spider in the corner of my eye, but as my fight had drawn to a close, I¡¯d been forced to take my eyes from it. I whipped back to make sure it wasn¡¯t coming for me only to find that it was¡­ gone. My heart started racing, and I bolted for my spear which I¡¯d dropped to more easily fight the spiderlings. For two minutes, I held the spear out in front of me, turning slowly, scanning for any signs of attack, but nothing came. It was like the spider prince had just vanished. I finally started to relax. I was no expert on spider anatomy, and I had no idea how well they could hear, but I was pretty far off from where it had been. I imagined it had probably just had its fill and moved away from the stream. I pulled my spear back in and started to walk on without looting any of the spiderlings, eager to put the entire area behind me. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I saw something leap towards me at an incredible speed. The spider prince was evidently not going to let me off so easily. Chapter 4: Spider Fighter In a flash of nerves, I swung around and batted my spear at the quickly approaching spider. It crashed into the spear and was sent flying a short distance away, and with that, the fight began. I ran at it, thrusting forward in hopes of skewering it before it could recover. The spider, however, was much more agile than I''d expected. The moment it touched the ground, it was moving, seemingly unfazed at having been swatted away. The attack I hoped would end the fight instead hit the spider at an angle and glanced off of a surprisingly hard chitinous body. It skittered towards me, closing the distance rapidly. I swung my spear towards it, intercepting it at the last second and flinging it away. This time, my swing flipped it over and it wasn''t able to right itself before it hit the ground. I pounced on it, thrusting my spear before it got a chance to recover. I aimed for its stomach, but right before I hit, it flung itself to the side, and I barely ended up hitting it. Still, the metal tip punctured its side and continued onward, hitting a spot just behind one of its legs. It let out a screeching hissing sound and started thrashing with my spear still lodged inside of it. I put more pressure into the spear hoping to completely skewer it and pin it to the ground, but in one fluid motion, it jerked its head up at me and spat, a wad of green watery phlegm flying out of its mouth and landing on my neck before I had a chance to react. You have been hit with Weak Caustic Acid for 10 damage. Take 3 damage a second for 15 seconds. Despite being called weak, it burned horribly, and without thinking, I took my hands off the spear and wiped it away from my neck, getting some of it on my hands in the process. The good news was that doing so reduced the duration of the damage from 15 seconds to 5. The bad news was that, with me no longer holding the spider to the ground, it managed to free itself from the spear. It was leaking a thick blue blood onto the forest floor, and one of its legs looked seriously damaged, but even wounded as it was, it managed to jump at me. Without my spear, I couldn¡¯t intercept it and tried to dodge instead, but even wounded, it was too fast for me. It connected with my chest with a large thud, despite its size, bowling me over. Frantically, I threw one hand out at its head, not managing to push it off me, but keeping its fangs and pincers out of reach. Its legs, however, were another matter. They clawed at my body, cutting through clothes and digging into flesh. I let out a cry as the pain hit me in full force. Battle notifications flashed in the corner of my vision showing me how much damage I was taking and that I was bleeding, but I barely noticed them. Instead, my other hand darted towards the knife in my belt. I pulled it out and started jabbing upwards almost blindly. I sent out three jabs, and powered with my newly acquired strength, they punctured the underside of the spider, sending warm blue blood flowing onto me. One of the attacks found another of the spider¡¯s joints, damaging a leg on the same side as the first. Letting out another hissing screech, the spider jumped off of me and started running away. Now, that probably should have been the end of things. My goal hadn¡¯t been to take on the spider in the first place. Having it run away was essentially a victory for me. Seeing as I was badly injured, the best course of action was probably to rest and recuperate for a while and call it a day. Instead I ran to grab my spear from where it lay and then started running after the spider prince. There was no way in hell that I was letting that thing get away. As I chased it, I told myself that it was for good reasons. It was almost dead. It couldn¡¯t move as fast with two damaged legs, and it was bleeding heavily. It was bound to give me a great experience boost. Beneath all of that, though, was a feeling of helplessness bubbling up past my Trauma Suppression. I had to be able to kill that thing. The alternative was that I was trapped in a forest, surrounded by beasts that could claw me, burn me, and nearly bite my face off with impunity. If I gave myself any serious amount of time to consider that, I wasn¡¯t sure I could handle it. So, instead of thinking, I moved. Maybe it was dumb, but people were dumb sometimes. I was no exception. Due to its still considerable speed and the fact that I¡¯d stopped to grab my spear, the spider had a good lead on me. From time to time, I lost track of it as it skittered behind the trees, but with my new Perception stat, it was relatively easy to keep track of. Even when it managed to run through some bushes and throw me off for a second, I could see where it went from the blue blood it left behind, and I soon caught sight of it again. While my Dexterity was up to the task of following the injured spider, my Endurance was still at a measly 8, and especially having just fought, I knew I couldn¡¯t follow it much longer. I was gaining on it though, and given another 15 seconds, was pretty sure I could catch it. The spider, however, seemed to have other plans. A clearing came up ahead, and I realized almost too late that it was heading towards a cave on the far side. Knowing that I¡¯d be at a disadvantage if it escaped into the darkness of the cave, as soon as I stepped into the clearing, I did something kind of a dumb. I hurled my spear at the running spider. Truthfully, I expected the shot to go wide. Miraculously, however, it flew true and struck the spider full on. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The throw, boosted by all of my Strength (and probably all of my Luck) pierced the chitin on its back and sunk deep into its flesh. Its legs gave out and it crashed to a stop, screeching out its death throes. I ran up to it and grabbed my knife, thrusting it into the back of the spider¡¯s head again and again until, finally, a small blue line of text appeared in the corner of my vision. +100xp The fight over, I slumped to the ground. I can do this. I¡¯m not going to die here. The spider¡¯s body didn¡¯t disappear as I half expected it to, but the golden ball of light did show up a few inches above its bloody corpse. I reached over and poked it, and a single small item appeared in my hand. Received: Small Chitin Plate The chitin plate was a solid diamond-shaped sheet of thick blue chitin roughly the length of my index finger and half as wide. I threw it into my pouch without further inspection, eager to get back to the stream and wash off my wounds and the spider blood I was covered in. Disgusting and tired though I was, it was with great satisfaction that I started back to the stream. Or rather, it would have been with great satisfaction had I not heard an ear-splitting screech from behind me. Already running in the other direction, I turned my head expecting to see another spider prince, but the sight that greeted me was much more terrible. Bounding towards me at full speed was a giant, purple spider. Had it been able to stand upright, it looked as though I¡¯d barely beat it in terms of height. Had it been any larger, it might have even had trouble walking around the forest. Along the length of its legs ran sharp, chitinous, purple blades, and on its face were two massive vertically-curved fangs alongside larger horizontally-curved pincers beneath them. As I watched it, continuing to run, a name appeared above it: Spider Matriarch. As it charged at me, I had time for only about five thoughts. The first was that there was no way in hell I was going to outrun that thing. My stamina had dipped low enough that even had I been faster than it (which I notably was not), I would tire out before I got too far. The second was that there was no way I was going to beat it if I tried to fight. In my current state, I would have been lucky to down another spider prince. That thing, on the other hand, was quite certainly going to kick my ass if (when) it caught up to me. Thirdly, I took some time to curse myself out. Of course there¡¯s a giant spider chasing after you T; that spider prince wasn¡¯t trying to get into that cave just because it was dark; that¡¯s its home, and it was running back to its mother! And mama is about to totally eat you! You¡¯re probably only alive right now because it was out while you were fighting its kid! For god¡¯s sake, the thing was called a spider prince ¡ª the name should have sent big alarm bells in my head screaming ¡°Hey Tess! Princes usually mean that there¡¯s a king or queen somewhere, and based off of this already-nightmare-inducing arachnid you have before you, the bigger version could probably bisect your torso on accident and use your limbs as leg warmers!¡± Admittedly, that¡¯d only keep half of its legs warm, but that probably wasn¡¯t the most important detail right now. Fourthly, I realized with a sickening certainty that I was about to die. It was less than a full day since I¡¯d almost died on Earth, and I was already done. Finally, with what I imagined would be my last coherent thought, I decided that if I was about to be attacked by a giant spider which would probably soon be making balloon animals out of my intestines, I would rather try poking it with my spear than running away. I really want to say that at that moment, I gained a sudden clarity, and with a calm, razor-sharp battle focus, I pivoted and charged at the matriarch with a valorous cry escaping from my lips. The truth, however, was that I was pretty certain I¡¯d peed myself at some point, and every instinct in me was shouting that turning towards the big spider was bad and that right now everything was very bad and in a moment things were about to be very very bad. The spider, not impressed with my bravery, kept charging towards me unfazed. It closed the distance between us in another second and showed no signs of stopping. Knowing that it would pulverize me in an instant if it managed to bowl me over, I leapt out of the way, and with its great momentum, it wasn¡¯t able to course correct quickly enough to catch me. I lashed out with my spear, hitting one of its legs, but the purple chitin was a grade above the princely blue, and I barely scratched it. Not bothered at all by my dodge or my ineffectual attack, the spider turned towards me and pounced. Even having seen its speed, I hadn¡¯t expected it to be able to fly through the air so quickly, and all I could do was point my spear at its head, hoping to take one of its eyes with me. At the last moment, I saw the spider open its mouth, preparing to end me with one solid bite, and I shifted the spear point downwards. For one blessed second, I had hope that I might actually come out on top here ¡ª that if I thrusted hard enough, the tip of the spear might go straight through the matriarch¡¯s head, killing it instantly. As far as I could tell, it actually came close. I managed to shove the spear inside the matriarch¡¯s open mouth, but the angle wasn¡¯t right, and the force wasn¡¯t quite enough. The spear snapped off in my hand, the top half now lodged in the spider¡¯s throat. As it crashed into me, sending me to the ground and knocking the wind out of me, it began to shout and hiss, furious and in pain. The pain, however, didn¡¯t seem to stop its assault on me ¡ª if anything, it became more animated. On account of the spear which it couldn¡¯t seem to remove from its mouth, I was safe for the moment against its bite. Its legs and its pincers, however, were another matter entirely. Tossing aside the useless bottom half of the spear still in my hands, I reached up and grabbed the two pincers with which the matriarch was preparing to clamp down on me. Like the legs, they were covered in sharp chitin, and the moment I grabbed them, they sliced at my hands. Just barely I was able to keep them from closing on me. It almost, if very generously, could have been called a stalemate if not for the fact that the spider had eight more weapons. Instantly it began to tear into me with its legs. My only saving grace was that beneath it as I was, its legs weren¡¯t flexible enough to slice me well with their sharp edges, and it had to resort to using its claws. Its claws, however, were perfectly up to the task, and within seconds I was bleeding profusely, my health plummeting. My strength left me, and the herculean effort of keeping the matriarch¡¯s pincers away from me suddenly became too hard to manage. As my vision started to fade, moments away from death, I thought I heard a faint whistling noise. It was followed up by a solid thud. The last thing I saw before blacking out was a small bit of blue text. +25xp (5% of total, based on participation) Wheres The Rest of Book One? Hi all! If you''re on this chapter, you may be noticing that all the chapters of book one from 5 onwards are missing! As is often the case for Royal Road authors, I made the move to Kindle Unlimited, and by their rules, the book can''t be distributed digitally anywhere else. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. If you''d like to keep reading (or listen with the audiobook) you can go grab either of them over at https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B09XTWGG29. Thanks all, and happy reading! Final Book One Character Sheet & Glossary Item and Building Quality Tiers Trash Poor Passable Standard Good Great Superb Ideal Divine Transcendent Item and Class Rarity Tiers Common (Default text color. This may change depending on your device settings.) Uncommon Rare Epic Legendary Mythic Skill Tiers Novice 1-9 Initiate 10-19 Apprentice 20-29 Journeyman 30-39 Adept 40-49 Expert 50-59 Master 60-69 Grandmaster 70-79 Archmaster 80-89 Divine Master 90-99 Transcendent Master 100 and above Character Sheet: Note, this does not include experience and level ups from the final fight, which will be reviewed and covered in book 2.
Name: Tess Age: 26 Race: Human Class: Arcane Arsenal
Level: 8 Experience: 6878/9250 Prestige: 780
Health: 220/220 Mana: 240/240 Stamina: 210/210
Constitution: 22 Strength: 22 Endurance: 21 Dexterity: 18 (+1) Intelligence: 26 Wisdom: 22 (+2) Perception: 26 Charisma: 19 Luck: 24
Skills
Weapon & Armor Archery: 10 Spears: 9 Medium Armor: 5 Small Blades: 4 Swords: 3 Hammers: 2 Staffs: 2 Unarmed Combat: 2 Axes: 1 Heavy Armor: 1
Movement Dodge: 3
Magic Life Magic: 5 Water Magic: 5 Fire Magic: 4 Light Magic: 4
Spells Conjure Water: 6 Minor Healing: 6 Flameploof: 4 Illumination: 2
Resistances Trauma Suppression: 9 Poison Resistance: 6 This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Heat Resistance: 2 Mental Resistance: 2
Detection God''s Eye: 6 Detect Trap: 5 Detect Secret: 4
Craft Construction: 6 Woodworking: 6 Jewelry Making: 5 Alchemy: 1
Social Conversation: 4 Trade: 3 Flirt: 2 Deception: 1
General Drinking: 4 (+5) Gambling: 1 Reading: 1
Class Skills
Weaponmaster Bind Weapon: 1/5 Arcane Armament: 2/5 Overload Weapon: 1/5
Armorist Bind Armor: 1/5 Arcane Armory: 4/5 Resist Magic: 2/5
Augmenter Mana Feet: 1/1
Skills, Spells, and Abilities Entries marked with (Ability) refer to abilities, which are static and cannot be leveled up. All other entries refer to skills or spells. Armor Skills (Various) Increases proficiency wearing and fighting in the given armor type. Decreases the weight of the given armor type by %. Increases the damage protection of the given armor type by % Conjure Water Summon a small orb of clean water. Cost: 5 mana Conversation Increases conversational aptitude. Prerequisites: 15 Charisma Craft Skills (Various) Increases proficiency crafting in the specified domain. Increases the item quality of all items created in the specified domain. Danger Sense (Ability) Allows the user to sense when they¡¯re in danger. This ability scales with Perception and can be overcome by anyone with sufficiently advanced obfuscating abilities or stealth skills. Additionally, grant¡¯s the user the ability to tell when someone is watching them. Damage Resistances (Various) Decreases damage taken by damage type by %. Deception Increases user¡¯s ability to lie and deceive others. Prerequisites: 15 Charisma Detect Trap Increases the user¡¯s ability to detect hidden traps. Prerequisites: 15 Perception Detect Secret Increases the user¡¯s ability to detect hidden items and secrets. Prerequisites: 25 Perception Dodge Increases proficiency and speed of dodging incoming attacks or objects. Drinking Increases amount of alcohol the user can consume before getting intoxicated. Increases proficiency in the art of drinking and getting drunk. Flameploof Summons a small ploof of flames from the caster¡¯s hands. Cost: Cost: 5 mana Prerequisites: 15 Intelligence Flirt Increases ability to successfully flirt with someone. Prerequisites: 15 Charisma Gambling Increases gambling proficiency. Increases user¡¯s overall Luck while gambling. Prerequisites: 15 Luck God¡¯s Eye Allows the user to focus on an item or entity to reveal more details. Increases resistance to illusions, invisibility, and other sight-altering effects. Increases effects and leveling speeds of detection-based skills. Skill will fail if the target is sufficiently obfuscated or if their level is over + . Prerequisites: 25 Perception God¡¯s Mind (Ability) Knowledge is power for those who know how to wield it. +1 to Wisdom and Intelligence every 3 levels +20% to mental resistance Improves memory and learning speed. Can query basic world information. Instantly gain access to the Identify skill. Additional effects may be found after gaining sufficient Intelligence and Perception. Identify Skill (Ability) Gives the user a chance to identify a skill or spell when they see it being used. This chance is increased based on the user¡¯s Intelligence and decreased based on the complexity of the skill in question. Illumination Summons a small orb of light which hovers above the caster¡¯s hand. Duration: One minute Cost: 5 mana Prerequisites: 15 Intelligence Lead From the Ground (Ability) Grants an additional 5% quality bonus to any in-settlement building that the settlement owner puts in a significant amount of work on. Magic Skills (Various) Increases damage dealt by magic class by %. Increases resistance to magic class by %. Mana Sense (Ability) Gives the user the ability to perceive mana. Mental Resistance Decreases damage taken by direct mental attacks by %. Increases difficulty of reading or affecting the user¡¯s mind in any way. Minor Healing Heal a target within 15 meters for + health. Cost: 20 mana Reading Increases reading speed and base comprehension. Trade Increases user¡¯s skill in all trade negotiations. Prerequisites: 15 Charisma Trauma Suppression Allows user to recover from traumatic events more quickly. Blocks off mental trauma. Watch and Learn (Ability) Allows the user to slowly learn and level skills by watching others perform them. Weapon Skills (Various) Increases proficiency and ability with given weapon. All damage dealt with given weapon increased by %. Class Skills Arcane Armament Allows the user to enhance or summon a weapon with mana. At the base rank, the user can summon or enhance only a single weapon type and can only summon a single weapon at a time. Each additional rank increases these limits by one. Note, the quality of a summoned weapon is dependent on the user¡¯s Intelligence. Arcane Armory Allows the user to enhance or summon armor using mana. At the base rank, this will have the effect of adding padded armor to whatever the user is wearing. With each rank, the effectiveness of the added armor increases as follows: padded, light leather, heavy leather, chainmail, and plate armor. Note, the quality of the summoned armor is dependent on the user¡¯s Intelligence. Bind Weapon/Armor Grants the user the ability to designate a weapon/suit of armor as soulbound, allowing them to dismiss it and summon it on command. At the base rank, only one weapon/suit of armor can be soulbound. Increasing the rank of this skill allows the user to bind additional weapons/suits of armor, up to five. Mana Feet Allows the user to enhance their footwear with mana. When using raw mana, this will increase the user¡¯s speed and mobility. Results may vary based on the mana type used. Overload Weapon Allows the user to enhance a single weapon strike with mana, increasing its damage and penetration. At the base rank, increases damage by 1 per every 5 mana used, becoming less efficient as more mana is used. For weapons actively being enhanced by the user¡¯s mana already, Overload Weapon may increase the enhancement effects. Resist Magic While wearing armor created by or enhanced with Arcane Armory, all magic damage is reduced by * 5% plus an /(6 - ) flat damage reduction. At rank five, this yields a 25% + damage reduction. Note, flat damage reduction is less effective on damage over time and rapid burst effects. Chapter 73: Suds (Book Two Prologue) Ten seats ringed a stately and circular room. Despite somehow fitting together, none of the ten were remotely similar. One was an austere, iron construction of angular lines and sharp edges; another, dimly glowing with a soothing, divine light; while another yet wasn¡¯t physical at all, constructed entirely out of dizzying swirls of condensed mana. Though each and every one of them was quite eye-catching, however, many who found themselves in said room often failed to notice the seating at all. For as much as the furniture ¡ª and even more broadly, the entirety of the room¡¯s decor ¡ª was something to behold, it paled in comparison to the ten who claimed the seats as their own. They were as varied as the chairs they sat on, save for their common feature: Each of them radiated a sense of authority. Certainly, some more than others, but even the newest among them could effortlessly fill the room with their presence. In light of the seating and those that sat thereon, one could be forgiven for assuming that the room was the meeting place of some grand cabal. A place where each word that was uttered was rife with significance. A space that dared suffer no trivialities. It was quite unfortunate, then, that trivialities often had to be suffered. Bah. I hate this part. He gazed down at the center of the room, doing his best to hide his distaste. A nervous woman, notably well-muscled from a lifetime of working in the mine, stood there, rotating as she spoke so as to address each of the ten equally. Despite clearly suffering from a fit of nerves, she delivered her speech well, listing out the arguments for her case in an impassioned plea. Of course, it won¡¯t do a lick of good. All ten of us knew exactly how we were going to vote the moment the proposal hit the floor. As was often the case, this part of the proceedings was more of a formality than anything else. Eventually the woman finished and was escorted out of the room, leaving only the ten behind. Before a silence could begin to gather, a man in an intricate chair of ink and parchment spoke out. ¡°We will now commence our preliminary vote. The issue at hand is: Should the miners of Sylum be granted a second day of rest each week, extending their weekend from one day to two? As this is predominantly a matter of common labor, we begin with Master Astorius, the Chamber Head of the Commons.¡± How many decades have I been doing this now, and I still have to stifle a scowl whenever he calls me that. ¡°Master Astorius.¡± Unpleasant. Nine pairs of eyes swiveled towards the occupant of the simplest of the chairs in the room ¡ª a smooth, clay-like seat with various icons patterned onto it. Each icon seemed to represent a different profession. Their gazes left him with a somewhat bitter taste. The floor was his. He could use the time to build upon the earlier miner¡¯s case. Instead, he grunted out a single word. ¡°For.¡± He knew when a fight could be won and when it could not. There was no sense in drawing it out. ¡°The Chamber Head of the Commons is for the motion. Next, Mistress Goss, Chamber Head of Peace.¡± A stern woman, the occupant of the harsh, iron chair, frowned as her name was called. ¡°Against. Some of us are old enough to have been here when the motion for the first day of rest was voted on. I was against it then, and I¡¯m against the extra day now. It takes far too much ore to outfit the guards and the army. Far too much, at least, to consider soft-hearted nonsense like this.¡± ¡°The Chamber Head of Peace is against the motion. Next¡­¡± The responses droned on and on. Against. Against. Against. The artisans were worried about price hikes on metal. The merchants would see a cut to their profits. On it went. It wasn¡¯t a complete shutout ¡ª Divinity and Knowledge went his way ¡ª but it wasn¡¯t enough. The last vote came in, and the preliminary vote ended. The floor opened for a brief discussion in case anyone wished to persuade the other members to change their votes, but it was a thing of brevity. When the final votes were tallied, they remained the same. Wonder if there¡¯ll be talks of a strike from the miners. His eyes found their way over to Mistress Goss at the thought. Then we¡¯d be back in here deciding if there¡¯s sufficient reason for the guards to put down the strike. He did a brief scan of the room, taking in each of the other nine. He sighed. Would probably pass, too. Damnation. The currents of power had shifted in the past few decades. ¡°Very well then. In the matter of extending the miners¡¯ day of rest from one day to two, the motion has failed. As this was our last item on the agenda today, the council is now dismissed.¡± All ten members rushed out of the room, some going so far as to teleport out. Chamber Head Astorius was sorely tempted to join the ranks of those using teleports. He had quite a day ahead of him, and the extra time would be appreciated. Still, he knew better than to waste the mana. After a short trip from the inner city to the outer, he was home. He opened the door to his abode, finding a man in a butler¡¯s outfit standing ramrod straight at attention for him: exactly who he needed to talk to before he left. The chamber head grunted out a greeting. ¡°Markus. Anything you need from me? Otherwise I¡¯m heading out. It¡¯s about time to check on that idiot boy of mine.¡± He sighed. Sooner I get that boy back into shape, the sooner he can take this position from me and be the one who sits in on those gods-awful meetings. Retirement sounded kind of nice, honestly. Plus, why have kids if not to make them do all your least favorite chores? Of course, easier said than done. The boy brought his own share of trouble to the Astorius household, after all. ¡°No, Lord Astorius,¡± Markus replied. The edge of his lips curled upwards almost imperceptibly. Scarcely had the words left his lips before a droplet of water materialized in front of the butler¡¯s face. It slammed into his forehead, the force almost enough to leave a welt, but not enough to wipe the faint grin that clung to his mouth. ¡°Bah, I¡¯ve had enough of that nonsense at the chamber meeting. You know how much of a headache it would be if people thought I actually made everyone call me Lord Astorius.¡± He shuddered, his temples pulsing with a faint phantom headache. As much as it felt like it sometimes, he was hardly the ¡°Lord¡± of anything, and he could count on two hands the number of people who genuinely used his last name to refer to him. ¡°And besides, I don¡¯t need any cheek from you today. We both know I¡¯m going to get far too much of it shortly.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Markus bowed deeply to the chamber head, though his faint smile was undiminished. ¡°Of course. I appreciate you checking in prior to teleporting off. Safe travels. And do relay my greetings to the young sir.¡± The chamber head snorted. The boy hadn¡¯t been a ¡°young sir¡± in decades. Still, he grunted an affirmation while fishing out a recall stone from his inventory. It took a moment, as he¡¯d managed to amass a fair number of the things, but eventually he found the one he was looking for: Recall Stone (Drawgin). He activated it, watching with great familiarity as everything around him suddenly turned transparent, an odd consequence of most modern teleportation spells. As if it were nothing more than a ray of light, his body shot off through his glassy surroundings, headed straight to the city of Drawgin. This shouldn¡¯t take too long. Might even make a little vacation out of it. Just a quick checkup on that idiot boy of mine, and then maybe a day or two off where no one can hound me for anything. He raced through the intervening space between Sylum and Drawgin, and when the spell reached its completion, his body rematerialized. The teleportation had spat him out in front of a tunnel cut into the mountainside. Idly, he started walking down it while thinking of what he¡¯d do to celebrate his rare slice of freedom. It was as he was lost in such thoughts that, without warning, two figures leapt towards him. Instead of coming from the front, however, they¡¯d somehow been clinging to the ceiling. They made not a single sound as their blades descended, aimed straight toward his vitals. The chamber head didn¡¯t stop his casual stroll. Twin whips of water erupted from the ground, coiling up around the two attackers and slamming them to the ground. In the aftermath of the counterattack, everything was intensely silent for a brief moment. He turned to where the two lay, frowning. ¡°Oop. Forgot that Drawgin had that strange tradition about ¡®testing¡¯ people who come in.¡± He winced, realizing that he might have used a bit more force than was necessary. Still, you¡¯d think these chuckleheads would have had a better sense of self-preservation, no? What do I look like, a mage fresh out of his apprenticeship? ¡°Bah. Sorry about that folks. Can¡¯t say you don¡¯t partially deserve it, but think I went a tad overboard. Anyhow, good to meet you both! The name is Suds. Got a longer, stiffer name, too, but no one ever calls me that, you know? Just here for a quick visit. What can I call you tw-¡± He gave a closer look to the two guards sprawled out on the ground. A perceptive eye might have noticed that they were abnormally clean, and a faint floral scent drifted off from them. Indeed, everything within a certain radius of Suds seemed a fraction cleaner than it had been before his passing. Still, those weren¡¯t the most important details at that moment. Much more pressingly¡­ ¡°Hells, I knocked them out just with that? Ah well.¡± They¡¯d be fine. Probably. Now, I wonder how long it¡¯ll take for me to find the boy. Hopefully niiiice and quick. Can¡¯t be too hard, can it?
¡°He WHAT?¡± A ring of water appeared around Suds¡¯ feet, agitatedly churning about as he shouted. ¡°Your son? He left.¡± A massive green woman stared down at Suds, delivering the news far more nonchalantly than should have been the case. He¡¯d wasted a fair amount of time searching for the boy before growing increasingly frustrated. A few passersby that he¡¯d questioned had told him of some sort of ¡°expedition¡± that a number of residents had gone on, but the chamber head knew that his son wouldn¡¯t have gone on it. At times, the boy could be a fool ¡ª that was why he was here in the first place, after all ¡ª but he wasn¡¯t that much of a fool. Certainly he wouldn¡¯t have just up and left the training city. As more and more inquiries turned up short, however, he was forced to acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance his son wasn¡¯t around. It was probably just a misunderstanding, but he¡¯d managed to track down the mayor of the city ¡ª Agath, her name was ¡ª assuming that she¡¯d be able to tell him more. She apparently didn¡¯t actually have time to meet with him, but on seeing him, she¡¯d yelled something about him looking ¡°worthy of a challenge,¡± and to come in, whatever that meant. If she thought he was sticking around for a spar, the woman was delusional, but whatever got him in the door. Presently, he stood in her office, fuming. ¡°He¡­ left. He left?¡± Suds grit his teeth. ¡°Pray tell where that idiot boy ran off to.¡± So I can find him and rub his mouth out with soap. Agath answered him by opening up a cabinet and shuffling around some papers until she found what she was looking for. She lobbed a scroll at him, and once he unfurled it, he could see it was a map. A large red ¡°X¡± was featured in the middle of a stretch of barren wasteland. ¡°He went with the others to the city in the deadlands, where the ¡®X¡¯ is on the map. ¡®Emer¡¯Thalis.¡¯ You will likely find him there. Now! With that taken care of, you seem strong!¡± Agath slapped a meaty hand onto Suds¡¯ shoulder. ¡°You are in a bad mood. We will fight, yes? Good stress reliever.¡± Blasted, battle-hungry- He sighed, cutting off his train of thought. She wasn¡¯t even entirely wrong. He wouldn¡¯t mind venting a bit. Still, he broke out from under her grip. Too busy. He did his best to avoid being too offensive as he denied the woman and escaped her office, making sure to commit the map to memory first. And besides, I don¡¯t think she¡¯d be all that much harder than the two goons in the tunnel. Before the mayor could follow outside and flag him down, he quickly removed a brass whistle from his inventory, giving it a brief blow. It didn¡¯t make a single sound, but as his breath traveled through it, a river of mana streamed off from the whistle. It traveled straight to the empty space before him, until, with a flash of light, that space was no longer empty. Standing directly before the chamber head was a beautiful, massive, bird. At least, it was sort of a bird. The front of it was, in any case. From the neck down, it took on the shape of a lion. Eh, not as fast as a good teleport, but it¡¯s admittedly been a while since I got to ride the good ol¡¯ gryphon. He hopped onto its back, and his steed lifted into the air. He aimed it in the general direction of this ¡°Emer¡¯Thalis,¡± and only a short while later, Drawgin was well behind them. ¡°Always something with that boy!¡± he shouted, his words getting lost to the wind. ¡°I¡¯m of half a mind to have another kid, just so I can raise someone who does not give me this much grief.¡± He grunted, knowing he wouldn¡¯t. Too much of a pain in the ass. And the boy is old enough by now in any case. If he¡¯s not going to take this seriously, he could at least give me a grandkid who will, no? His grunt was immediately replaced with a sigh. Wish we¡¯d thought of that twenty years ago. Not like a newborn would change much back home. The Astorius clan could use some fresh blood: Politics was increasingly a war waged by the young. He cast the thought away, knowing it would do him no good. So be it. If there wasn¡¯t going to be any fresh blood, then he¡¯d at least make damned-well sure that the old blood was doing what it was supposed to. Feh. So much for having time for a vacation. That boy better enjoy some good food and drink while he can. At this rate, I¡¯m going to scrub his mouth out well enough that he¡¯ll be tasting soap for a week. With that cheery thought, the Master Astorius, Chamber Head of the Commons ¡ª better known as Suds ¡ª flew onwards towards the deadlands and the city of Emer¡¯Thalis.
Some ways away, one of the residents of Emer¡¯Thalis felt a sudden shiver pass over him. His mouth twitched with the phantom taste of floral-scented soap. Ominous, he decided. I wonder if perhaps I should have told father that I was coming here? He chuckled. A jest. I sincerely doubt the man will find any time to come visit, and by the time that he does, I¡¯ll be well back in Drawgin, and he¡¯ll be none the wiser. He certainly hoped that was the case, at least. If his father did end up visiting Drawgin while he wasn¡¯t there¡­ The taste of soap suddenly intensified, and he chuckled once more, though this time a touch more nervously. Well then, I do believe I would be in a spot of trouble, yes? Chapter 74: Lists! A lot had happened in the past day. I¡¯d watched Rock die and get brought back to life. I¡¯d had a chat with some gods. Ended up killing a guy who was mind controlling me. Hell, I¡¯d even seen Cal and Hartha get kidnapped. To top it off, the skies above Emer¡¯Thalis, which had up till now been perpetually dark and gloomy, had started to clear up. That would normally be a good thing, but one of the unfortunate side effects was that everyone in the city had a million questions for me. Faced with all of that, I¡¯d handled it by taking the most sensible course of action: I¡¯d taken a nap. I hadn¡¯t expected to get much actual sleep, of course. Amak was bound to come barging in, prodding me awake. Maybe the fighters would track me down, hounding me with questions about the dungeon. Elphaea would wrap me up in roots, demanding to know what had happened to Hartha. Even on a normal day, it wasn¡¯t too shocking for someone to unexpectedly wake me up. And today really wasn¡¯t a normal day. With all that in mind, when I found myself waking up completely naturally, feeling refreshed and renewed, I considered it a tiny miracle of sorts. Really can¡¯t say I expected this, but I¡¯ll take it? I took a brief shower while mulling over my plan of action for the day. Outside of answering everyone¡¯s questions, though, I had to admit, I wasn¡¯t really sure what to do with myself. I¡¯d been on this planet for a solid four months now, with almost all of that time revolving around my giant quest to stop the deadlands from expanding. The fact that it was over was a good thing, of course. A great thing, even! No more worrying about dark gods. No more annoying quests from kings or battle-crazy mayors. No more freaky zombie bugs trying to kill me. All very rad things. Now that it was all over and done with, part of me was at a loss, though. In some sense, all that running around had saved me from having to figure out what the rest of my life as a Protagonist was going to look like. As I tried and failed to imagine what I¡¯d be doing tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, the relief from my quest being over rapidly shifted into a broad sense of anxiety. All right. So we¡¯ll take a second, yeah? Plan some things out. The moment I ran outside, I was sure that someone would notice, and I¡¯d have no time to myself. While I was still safe within my tent, I felt I might as well use my time to organize all of my priorities. I¡¯m feeling like it¡¯s list time. There was, after all, no problem that a good list couldn¡¯t solve. Annoyingly enough, though, I unfortunately lacked any paper, and I was hardly going to go and ask for some right now. ¡°Um. System? Gods? No chance there¡¯s a notes app built into this stuff, is there?¡± If a flip phone could handle it, maybe the all-encompassing framework for the entirety of the world could manage it too? Nothing happened. ¡°Maybe too much to ask for. It¡¯s probably some weird class skill for the Note Taker class.¡± I shrugged. With God¡¯s Mind boosting my memory, I figured maybe I could do it mentally. I summoned up an image of a blank piece of paper, finding that with my Intelligence and God¡¯s Mind, my visualization abilities were scarily enhanced. It practically felt like I could reach out and touch my mental image. Neat. All right: List time. At the very top of the mental sheet, I wrote a header. SHORT TERM GOALS Before I could really give my future any serious thought, there were still a few outstanding tasks for me to deal with. After thinking things over for a moment, I added my first entry.
  1. Deal with everyone. (Amak, Elphaea, Elder Tafitz, everyone else.)
After a brief pause, I amended it.
  1. Deal with everyone. Get Rock to deal with everyone??
It was tempting. He¡¯d already gotten the gist of everything from me, after all. In the end though, it was probably a bit mean. The guy had, after all, just died. On top of that, he was probably dealing with the fact that Aarris had accidentally made him glow-in-the-dark ¡ª an unintended consequence of her messing with his soul. Plus, he¡¯d been dead for a lot of the important parts, which meant one way or another, I¡¯d probably be doing a lot of explaining in the near future. Reluctantly, I returned my first action item to its original state. What else? This time, the answer was pretty obvious.
  1. Go over your notifications.
Frankly, it seemed like I had a million of them. While I wasn¡¯t working with too large a sample size, dealing the final blow on an ancient, high-leveled Protagonist and then talking to gods tended to do that to a person. I had little desire to leave them unchecked for too long, so if no proverbial fires needed to be put out by the time I was done with my list, I¡¯d read them all before leaving my tent.
  1. Look at those weird crystals Hex gave you.
The goddess had given me a reward for ¡°saving¡± her, and it was presently burning a hole in my pocket. Seeing as the other notable rewards granted ranged from ¡°get some cool rocks¡± to ¡°get kidnapped,¡± I wasn¡¯t really sure what to expect. That largely seemed like it for the short term stuff? Might as well look at the medium-term stuff too. It would be nice to not be jumping from one urgent thing to another all the time. Besides, I wasn¡¯t sure when I was going to have the time to think through this all again. MEDIUM TERM GOALS This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. With a wince, I added one I was notably not looking forward to doing.
  1. Tell the king his daughter got kidnapped.
I frowned, stopping that thought in its tracks. Do I actually, though? At this point, keeping important secrets from the king of Ftheran was kind of a time-honored practice. He didn¡¯t need to know that I¡¯d been level six when I met him, or that Cal was secretly a blasphemous Infiltrator, or that I¡¯d accidentally given him a crystal laced with mind-magic. What was one more thing to add to the list?
  1. Tell the king his daughter got kidnapped. Hope that Cal and Hartha are returned before I have to deal with this.
Good. Much better. Why worry about problems when you could just ignore them and hope they fix themselves? Admittedly, not something I¡¯d ever told my clients back when I was a therapist, but it was obviously different and healthy when I was the one doing it. In retrospect, that was probably why therapists tended to have their own therapists.
  1. Open up the dungeon for everyone.
I couldn¡¯t say that I had many feel-good memories of the dungeon right now, and personally, I wouldn¡¯t have minded if we just closed it down for good. The fighters from Drawgin, however, wouldn¡¯t be too happy with that. Getting to delve into a new dungeon was the entire reason that most of them had come here in the first place, after all. At least for a while, I¡¯d have to keep it open. That, however, only brought to mind a more serious matter.
  1. Figure out what to do with Emer¡¯Thalis.
I¡¯d put in a lot of work into the city. Hell, I¡¯d helped build half the buildings. Still, the only reason I¡¯d done it was for my quest. Sure, the sky was less depressing now, and there was a bar and a bathhouse around, but Emer¡¯Thalis hadn¡¯t really been built with long term habitation in mind. The builders from Ftheran would soon go back home. The fighters from Drawgin would eventually return to their city to train. The shadows would make the trek back to their home in the forest. Maybe if the dungeon was popular enough, there¡¯d be an effort to keep a small outpost here. Barring that, perhaps once a year, 500 fighters would come all at once to meet the dungeon¡¯s population requirement and get a few runs in. It was pretty hard to imagine much more than that happening, though. Who in their right mind would want to live here year round? Relatedly, that led to the next action item.
  1. Figure out where you¡¯re going to live?
While I wasn¡¯t traveling, the shadows had housed me during this entire affair. There was a strong chance they¡¯d even continue to if I asked them. While I¡¯d enjoyed my time with them, however, long-term, the forest life wasn¡¯t for me. Ftheran, I¡¯d probably pass on as well. I had an entire guild of thieves there who hated my guts, plus the many lies I was keeping from the king. Drawgin? It was an option, at least. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was my ideal location in the long run, though. I didn¡¯t plan to make my life solely about training and running dungeons. I hadn¡¯t disliked my time there, but I wasn¡¯t sure if I saw it as a home. In the end, I didn¡¯t have any immediate answers, but then again, that¡¯s why it was on the list. For now, I¡¯d shelve it. For medium-term goals, that seemed about it for¡­ Ugh.
  1. Deal with the local bartender who wants to kill you.
In what must have been the worst stroke of luck possible, Nadja had somehow ended up in my settlement. Unfortunately for me, she was (kind of justifiably?) pissed at me. Like, super-pissed. Brain me with a jug of wine pissed. Maybe just consider that one a long-term goal? Or a never goal? I¡¯d been doing a great job of ignoring the issue so far, so there was no reason to stop now. Well, it¡¯s on the list. Just going to move on from that one for now. Last category! LONG-TERM GOALS This section was a bit more nebulous. It was also something I hadn¡¯t had much time to stop and think about. What did I want out of life? The first few were simple. While I didn¡¯t want to be some bloodthirsty berserker, I did want to level up. Partially, it was because I wanted to feel better protected. On top of that, though, having higher stats came with a host of upgrades to my quality of life, including just plain-old living longer. Additionally, spells were just cool. I didn¡¯t need a better reason than that to want to learn more.
  1. Level up.
  2. Learn more spells.
  3. Get more class points.
The third, thankfully, was largely just a consequence of the first two. As for non-leveling related goals¡­
  1. Learn more about the world.
It still seemed like every day that I learned something that other people considered basic knowledge. Honestly, while it would be kind of embarrassing, I¡¯d probably benefit from getting some kind of tutor, even if their lesson plans were geared towards kindergarten students. There was just too much I didn¡¯t even know that I didn¡¯t know.
  1. Learn more about being a Protagonist.
My current sample size of known Protagonists was at a whopping two: Me and Ephesis. At some point, I wanted to hear about the others. Heck, who knew? Maybe there was some sort of club for us all.
  1. Get more hobbies.
Woodworking had done me well, but if I wasn¡¯t going to spend every moment running around anymore, I probably needed some other things to keep me busy.
  1. ¡­ Make more friends?
I¡¯d been off to a good start for a while, but¡­ Well, my first and third friend had just gotten kidnapped. On top of that, the second friend I¡¯d made now ran the local bar and actively wanted to murder me. My dungeon delving crew was still around, and I did like them (at least mostly ¡ª Kex and her mud still sort of freaked me out, if I was being honest), but I wasn¡¯t as close with them. It was a pretty different sort of goal than learning spells or leveling up, but it was important nonetheless. I wasn¡¯t going to start my second life on a new planet by being a hermit. Lastly, I threw a goal on the list that had been on my personal list for over a year at this point.
  1. Get a job/figure out a way to make money.
It was funny to think of now that I was a magical Protagonist who nominally owned a city, but it wasn¡¯t like I was sitting on a pile of treasure or anything. Heck, a lot of my travel funds had been with Cal in any case ¡ª soon I¡¯d probably have to figure out what to do with my life. Ugh. Money stuff sucks. Maybe I¡¯d convince Elphaea to let me chop down some trees before I figured out where I was going to live. Some mana-infused bracelets would at least tithe me over for a while. Ultimately, though, that pretty much summed it up. Feel like I¡¯m forgetting something though. Ah well. If it was important, it would probably come up sooner or later. Hoping to start knocking out some of the short term goals immediately, I figured I¡¯d start with the crystals in my bag. Figuring out what they were, after all, was probably the easiest of all my goals to sort out. After that, it¡¯d be time to read through all my notifications. Right as I reached into my bag, however, I heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps heading towards me. I cursed under my breath. Well, my alone time was nice while it lasted. Moments later, Amak¡¯s voice called out from outside the tent. ¡°Protagonist. Are you awake?¡± I considered staying silent and trying to hide for a bit longer, but with a sigh, I responded. ¡°Just woke up. What¡¯s up?¡± I imagined he was here to hear the full story of the dungeon from me. As it turned out, however, he was not. ¡°It would appear that there is a duo of kexids at the city barrier. Is this something you would happen to know about?¡± Oh. That¡¯s what I was forgetting. Quickly, I added one last goal to the short-term list before closing it out.
  1. Tell the kexids their god is on vacation and their underground city has probably caved in by now. Also apologize for¡­ accidentally killing some of them.
Reading it over, I frowned. Huh. Well this is shaping up to be a fun day. Chapter 75: Excited for the Tour As the barrier came into view, I found two kexids standing on the other side. Their clothes were largely in tatters, and while it was slightly hard to tell, they looked tired. On our side of things, there was only Rock, who was busy trying to stare holes in the kexids¡¯ heads. Apparently some of the fighters from Drawgin had seen the two arriving and had tried to amass a party to fight them off, but thankfully, Rock had deescalated everything. While he hadn¡¯t been awake for my chat with the gods, I had at least given him the summary while walking back from the dungeon. He knew Hex had woken them up and that the kexids weren¡¯t supposed to be a problem anymore. That didn¡¯t, however, mean he was rolling out the red carpet for them. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was due to the two shadows we¡¯d lost on our expedition into the deadlands, or if he was just feeling extra grumpy today. I mean, he just died, and now he¡¯s glowing. Wonder if he has trouble sleeping like that. The vibrant cracks in his skin were still radiating light, a fact he seemed none too happy about. Thanks to him, however, an accidental fight wasn¡¯t an issue. It was a lucky break, as everyone in the city still knew the kexids as mindless monsters. A good while back, I¡¯d opted to remove the disorientation spell that surrounded the city. It hadn¡¯t seemed needed, and it would have been a giant hassle when the fighters arrived. The barrier, though, I¡¯d left, and I was glad I had. Had there not been a barrier and they¡¯d simply shown up, things could have gotten ugly. No, in this case the problem was something entirely different. ¡°So, Amak, level with me. Why exactly am I here? You said they don¡¯t speak Common? What am I supposed to do about that?¡± Apparently, there was a bit of a language barrier. Neither Amak nor Rock spoke kexid. Unfortunately, I was fairly confident it wasn¡¯t a skill I¡¯d picked up in the last few months either. The shadow simply shrugged. ¡°Rock seemed to be convinced you could deal with this. Something about ¡®pulling it out of your ass¡¯ because you had a chat with their god.¡± I sighed. In some sense, I almost wondered if he would be right. It would be strange for Hexaura to have me deal with all of her worshippers without giving me the means to do so. Could be one of those crystals, actually. Like, some sort of ¡®kexid language pack¡¯. I was right about to fish them out and take a look when I got into ear-range of the two kexids. A cheery voice sounded out from across the barrier. ¡°Edgar, do you think this is a new architectural fad? It looks like all the little human houses are missing roofs! I was rather certain that was a must for them ¡ª they do love their little roofs, after all ¡ª but it looks like they¡¯ve gone with a rather minimalist approach! Quaint!¡± Um. Sounds like Common to me? The speaker was a good foot taller than the kexids I recalled seeing, and proportionately wider as well. On top of that, her chitin was significantly brighter too, though what that signified, I couldn¡¯t say. Of the two, she had considerably less tarnished clothing ¡ª a chitin-tight wrap, of sorts, which had a mummy-esque look to it ¡ª managing to look as if she had not just been sleeping underground for centuries. And in this case I said ¡°she¡± only because I¡¯d immediately hit her with God¡¯s Eye. If I¡¯d only had her outward appearance to go off of, I¡¯d have had no clue. Hive Queen Aval¡¯Kethrid: Level 23 Mind of the Depths, 600/600hp Noted. Apparently she¡¯s a queen? That probably would have freaked me out a bit more a few months ago, but it was feeling pretty par for the course these days. Even past the point that she was a queen, it was a very good thing that things hadn¡¯t come to blows. The fighters might have had some powerhouses, but she was leagues above any of the shadows I¡¯d seen. ¡°Um. Amak. Is she not just speaking Common?¡± I started walking over to the barrier, hoping to sort some of this out. In response, I received a particularly strange stare. ¡°Not any dialect I am aware of, at the very least.¡± I frowned. I did just hear her, right? As if to reassure me, the hive queen spoked once more. ¡°Oh! Edgar! Do you think this is some big surprise? Maybe they cast a sleep spell on all of us and moved us out of the city so they could debut their new renovations! That must be why there¡¯s so few of them; they¡¯re all hiding! And this is the surprise welcoming party! Yes, I¡¯m sure that¡¯s it.¡± Edgar, in this case, appeared to be a significantly shorter kexid, of perhaps only five feet. His clothes, unlike his queen¡¯s, were practically scraps. Also unlike his queen, he said not a word. As I at last neared the barrier, Rock acknowledged me with a grunt. For their part, the two kexids shifted their attention my way, growing silent. ¡°Um. Hi there?¡± If I could understand them, I would hope that they could understand me. On hearing my voice, Aval¡¯Kethrid pumped her arms into the sky. ¡°Oh, hello there! I was beginning to grow a bit worried, deary; for some reason, these fellows don¡¯t seem to speak Common! Well, that¡¯s no problem now is it? Love what you¡¯ve all done with the place. I¡¯m ready for a tour!¡± It was hard to decide what had me more confused: that she seemed to think no one could speak Common, or that I was her tour guide for the newly-renovated Emer¡¯Thalis. This might be a little rough. For some reason, I¡¯d been expecting the kexids to show up with at least a hazy idea of what had happened to them, but if anything, the queen seemed to think this was simply another ordinary day. This is what I get for napping instead of going through my notifications, huh? Maybe Hex had zapped kexid-speak into my head or something. Well, no point in getting hung up on it right now. ¡°Right. A tour.¡± This was going to be kind of unpleasant. ¡°Look, I really don¡¯t know how to tell you this, but-¡± ¡°Oh!¡± she screamed, cutting me off. ¡°But where are my manners? Hello, deary, my name is Aval¡¯Kethrid. Ava for short. And before we start the tour, you wouldn¡¯t happen to have prepared refreshments would you? For whatever reason, we seem to be absolutely famished. I do hate to impose, but I scarcely think I could handle the full tour like this!¡± Not even sure where to start with that, I turned to Amak. ¡°She thinks we¡¯re here to give her a tour¡­ and she¡¯s hungry.¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. The shadow looked like he wanted to ask me about my newfound language skills, but seemed to think better of it. ¡°Are you positive that they¡¯re not here to harm us in any way? It would be a rather large decision to let them into the city.¡± It would be a risk considering her level, but how could I keep them out? Not only were they apparently starving out there, but they had a far better claim to Emer¡¯Thalis than I did. True, they¡¯d mainly lived beneath the city, but I was hardly going to keep them out of what was practically their own home. They were the victims in all of this. Plus, there¡¯s only two of them. If they went on some sort of rampage, I¡¯m sure the fighters or at least Elphaea could handle it. Right? ¡°They shouldn¡¯t be? I¡¯m going to let them in.¡± I pulled up the settlement interface, making my way to the barrier settings. ¡°If they prove to be hostile, I will show no mercy,¡± Rock supplied, helpfully. He did lose the fight against Ephesis, and kind of was losing the fight against the shades before that. Wonder if he¡¯s feeling a little touchy about his fighting skills. Well, he¡¯d get over it, hopefully. Based on a rather prodigious frown from Amak, I could tell what he thought about me letting the kexids in just like that, but he didn¡¯t try to stop me, either. Whether that was because he trusted me, or he too didn¡¯t like the thought of just leaving them there, I couldn¡¯t say. A few moments later, the kexids had access to the city. ¡°I guess, follow me and we can chat over food?¡± Ava pumped her arms into the sky once more. ¡°Delightful!¡±
After a few discreet inquiries into what kexids ate, a large amount of spider meat was hastily cooked up for them. I was momentarily worried that they¡¯d have some sort of no-insects diet considering their outward appearance, but it seemed as though I¡¯d been off the mark there. Not wanting to suddenly bring them in front of the shadows or fighters without warning, we¡¯d opted to sit in a random ruin a distance off from the main area. Amak and I sat across from the queen, while Rock stood a distance off, staring at the pair with a stony face. When at last presented with her food, Aval¡¯Kethrid was elated. She ate ravenously, not allowing for any conversation until she was largely done. ¡°A lovely meal, dearies. You have my thanks. Edgar should have a bit more time to eat, but then it¡¯s time for the tour?¡± All right. How do I explain this one? ¡°Um. About that. Have you¡­ have you talked with any of the other kexids?¡± They couldn¡¯t all be as clueless as the queen, could they be? ¡°Oh, heavens, yes! They¡¯ve all had terrible nightmares; you wouldn¡¯t believe it. Something about spears of light and boiling blood. Very doom and gloom. And they say there¡¯s a large number of us missing! Well, that¡¯s no worry dear; I¡¯m sure they¡¯re just still sleeping, or perhaps they¡¯ve already made it back to Kesser¡¯Thalis.¡± I resisted the urge to massage my temples and instead opted to translate her words for the others¡¯ benefits. ¡°Eh. Just say ¡®they¡¯re dead,¡¯ and get it over with,¡± Rock offered. ¡°I¡¯d do it if I could speak your weird kexid tongue.¡± At that moment, I was decidedly happy that he could not speak the language, though having all of this fall on me wasn¡¯t something I was thrilled about. ¡°Right. How do I put this? Ava, there was an¡­ attack on the city. There was no renovation. The buildings all got destroyed.¡± Baby steps. I¡¯d work my way from here to the whole ¡°you¡¯ve been sleeping for countless years and your god is on vacation,¡± bit. Aval¡¯Kethrid simply flicked a dismissive claw in my direction. ¡°Yes, yes. Edgar isn¡¯t this delightful? They¡¯ve invented an entire theme for their little rework. What is it that you humans do in a situation like this? Something with your eyeballs? Ah! That¡¯s it. A wink is it not? A shame I lack the requisite eyelids, but we can pretend, can¡¯t we?¡± She jerked her head to the side, as if to simulate the movement. ¡°Ohhh, the city was under attack, was it? Wink, wink.¡± My mouth was nearly hanging open, not sure what I¡¯d need to say to get through to her. ¡°No, listen. I¡¯m being serious here. There was a major-¡± The queen made a sharp clacking noise, quickly cutting me off. ¡°Of course, deary, no need to belabor the point. I believe you. Although if there isn¡¯t a full tour, perhaps we¡¯d be excused? I could use a nap after that meal, and my bed is waiting for me.¡± I winced. Well, if nothing else, seeing the state of her home will probably get the point through. I updated the others on what was happening, this time prompting a question from Amak. ¡°Before we simply let them loose, would you ask them where all the other kexids are? Should we be expecting more? I¡¯m not sure we can feed too many. We¡¯ll also want to speak to everyone else to let them know not to attack if they see kexids roaming about.¡± I relayed the question over to Ava who chuckled in response. ¡°Oh, silly me! Of course, you were probably hoping to give the tour to all of us at once. Well, we all woke up starving for some reason. Haven¡¯t the foggiest of why. There wasn¡¯t any food nearby, so I sent almost all of them into the forest. I was itching to get back to my city, so I made an ant-line here, so to speak. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be here eventually once they¡¯re not quite as hungry.¡± Strange. I imagined Hex¡¯s spell must have maintained their organs and kept them fed in some way, even if just with mana. Then again, they hadn¡¯t eaten in all that time. They were bound to be a little peckish, at the very least. I delivered the news to the others casually. In return, their eyes nearly bulged out of their heads. Amak placed a hand on my shoulder, gripping it tightly. ¡°Use Diplomatic Visit on Rock.¡± Um, what? ¡°Where¡¯s this coming from? You know we only get to do that once per month, right?¡± My settlement ability allowed me to teleport a single person from Emer¡¯Thalis to another nearby settlement. What was possibly so urgent that he wanted me to use it now? This time, it was Rock who spoke up. ¡°Girl, by your own admission, there are now hundreds, maybe thousands, of kexids roaming around the forest, going on hunting sprees and killing every animal in sight. And none of the shadows know they¡¯re friendly.¡± My mouth curved into a wide O as I pictured the scene. And they can¡¯t even communicate with one another to deescalate things. This could be maybe sort of bad. But wait. ¡°I thought we had long range communication in place. Hasn¡¯t anyone called the Elder to tell him what happened?¡± This had never been an issue before, after all. Amak fixed me with a deep frown. ¡°Yes, we did. We were using Hartha¡¯s Mouth of the Forest skill for that.¡± Oof. Right. Hartha who was currently, well, not around. So from the Elder¡¯s perspective, the sky in the deadlands would have magically cleared up, the kexids would be swarming the forest, and whenever he tried to contact Hartha, the skill would fail. ¡°Okay, yup. Someone should probably speak to him. Rock, you ready?¡± I was glad the commander had been selected for this. As much as it was a good cause, I already felt like I had too many things on my plate right now. He grunted an affirmation, and with that, I activated my ability. One moment he was there; the next, he wasn¡¯t. After a brief pause, Amak spoke up. ¡°Hmm. Perhaps that was hastily done. On second thought, maybe we should have sent you? They won¡¯t have anyone who can talk with the kexids.¡± We both frowned. Well, too late now. And in any case, I was sure Rock would figure something out. He was the commander for a reason, after all. ¡°Deary,¡± Ava chimed. ¡°You¡¯ve all been chatting for a while now, and suddenly the large one just disappeared. Everything okay over there?¡± I sighed. I need a vacation. After briefly talking it over with Amak, we decided to end things there. Hopefully the queen would figure everything out when faced with the state of Kesser¡¯Thalis, and then we could talk again afterwards. I told her how to find me if she needed to, and that was that. The two of them, seeming to know where to head despite the state of the city, left us, and Amak and I soon parted ways as well. For his part, he had to alert the city to its new inhabitants. For my part, I quickly retreated to my tent. With Cal, Hartha, and Rock all gone, and Amak off informing everyone about our new neighbors, I doubted anyone would disturb my peace. At last free from any outside interruptions, I let my focus snap to the prompt I¡¯d been ignoring up till now. You have notifications to review. Review now? Without hesitating, I hit yes. Chapter 76: Notifications (I) Light Magic has reached level 4! Detect Trap has reached level 6! Makes sense that those leveled, I guess. I¡¯d used both a fair deal while we¡¯d traversed the dungeon before finding Ephesis. Hardly going to complain about some skill levels. As if sensing my thoughts, the next few notifications continued in a similar fashion. Unlike the previous two, however, the new skill levels were from my encounter with Ephesis. As perhaps expected, things immediately took a slightly darker turn You have learned a new skill: Pain Resistance Allows the user to handle and work through pain with a clear head. Prerequisites: 20 Endurance You have learned a new skill: Bleed Resistance Decreases all bleed damage by 1%. Increases natural blood coagulation speeds. Prerequisites: 15 Endurance If perhaps a bit grim, I had to admit the two were a welcome addition to my repertoire. While maybe a bit obvious, I generally did not like being in pain or bleeding out. It was a bit of a surprise, actually, that it had taken me so long to get the Bleed Resistance considering its prerequisite was only 15 Endurance. Then again, my serious fights, like the shower elemental back in Drawgin, hadn¡¯t been very blood-heavy. As for sparring with someone like Cal, I was in the habit of healing any cuts before they bled for long. I likely had never bled enough to earn the skill. Unfortunately, that had hardly been a problem here. Pain Resistance has reached level 2! Bleed Resistance has reached level 2! Bleed Resistance has reached level 3! Bleed Resistance has reached level 4! Who knew getting ritually sacrificed could be so productive? The difference in the levels likely had to do with the mind magic involved. I had been in pain, especially towards the end once the chains wore off, but for most of the ritual, I was too mentally numb to feel it. Speaking of my mental state, my notifications had plenty to say on that front as well. Mental Resistance has reached level 3! Mental Resistance has reached level 4! ¡­ Mental Resistance has reached level 7! I let out a long whistle. Honestly, don¡¯t think that¡¯s only from Ephesis. Probably from when I was freaking out and could feel Hex in my head. Or scratch that: It was just as likely that it had been Aarris who¡¯d helped me level. Her mental magic had been powerful but clunky, setting off mental bombs in my head just by trying to speak to me. If I still had a functioning mind afterwards, something told me that having a full mental conversation with her would cause the skill to skyrocket. Still, 5 levels all at once. For a brief moment, I worried that maybe my mind had been messed with more than I¡¯d realized, but dropped it. I would go crazy with that line of reasoning, and besides, it would have been stranger for it not to level considering two literal gods had been inside my head. Life Magic has reached level 6! Minor Healing has reached level 7! Those two were likely from me playing healer during the shade fight, and later, my attempts to keep any of us from bleeding out. Only one skill remained, and it was, well, a doozy, to say the least. Trauma Suppression has reached level 10! Congratulations! You have reached the Initiate rank in Trauma Suppression! Based on your skill usage, you have been granted a skill augment for achieving a new skill rank. Augment of Mundanity Trauma has become (concerningly) commonplace for you. You now find it easier to remain calm and collected during traumatic events as opposed to simply recovering faster after them. Additionally, increases resistance to all fear and awe effects. NOTE! Trauma Suppression is not considered a class-aligned skill for the Arcane Arsenal class. Now that you have reached the Initiate rank, leveling speed for this skill will be reduced. Trauma Suppression has reached level 11! Trauma Suppression has reached level 12! Even as I saw how the skill had been augmented, I cursed. I had less than one day where Trauma Suppression wasn¡¯t my highest skill. One day! I sighed. At least it came with a nice effect? Previously, the skill had mainly worked after the fact, taking experiences that should have put me into fetal position and helping me stay on my feet. Its effects during the act in question had been fairly minor, meaning that I was constantly in a state of being freaked out about something, only to not worry as much about it later. The fear and awe resistance seemed like a nice bonus too, although I had no idea how common those effects were. Still seems pretty unhealthy to me, but maybe now that I¡¯m not off trying to save the forest from a not-actually-evil dark god, I¡¯ll find time to grab a therapist. One could dream. While the augment was appreciated, the note that came afterwards was decidedly less so. The skill¡¯s leveling speed was reduced? Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. That was new. The only other skill I¡¯d gotten up to level 10 was Archery, and that note hadn¡¯t appeared back then. I guess it made sense, though. A Fire Mage, after all, would probably have a lot of Intelligence and Wisdom. Sure, their class skills would make them want to focus on fire spells, but what was stopping them from training up all the other schools of magic just as high and being well-rounded? They¡¯d have the stats to pull it off. It looked like if they tried, though, their skill leveling speed would make such an endeavor much harder. In that light, the Arcane Arsenal class seemed even stronger than I¡¯d initially imagined. Likely, just about every weapon skill and magic skill would be considered class-aligned. I wondered how common something like that was. Regardless, while this encounter had netted me the most skill-ups out of anything I¡¯d ever done, that part of the notifications seemed to be over now. Your party has defeated a High Priest of Light. Based on your contribution, you have earned 16,312xp. I gaped as I saw the figure. It wasn¡¯t even like I¡¯d killed the guy by myself! Jason had broken his shields, Rock had jabbed the guy with obsidian, and the god squad had practically drained the guy dry. It was true that I¡¯d dealt the final blow, but for me to have gotten that kind of experience¡­ Yeah. I¡¯m glad that Hex and Aarris stepped in. That would have been¡­ bad. No dwelling on that! I let Trauma Suppression file that thought away in the appropriate mental cabinet and moved on. As expected from that sort of windfall, I had another notification waiting for me. Congratulations! You have reached level 9! +2 Constitution +2 Endurance +1 Strength +1 Dexterity +2 Intelligence +1 Wisdom +1 Perception +1 Luck God¡¯s Mind Activated +1 Intelligence +1 Wisdom And with that new influx of stats, I at last had one more stat that had hit 25! What¡¯s it going to be? I paused for a second, humming while thinking of all the cool upgrades I might have gotten this time around. It was one of the few perks of not already knowing everything about the world: I could still be surprised. Ready at last to see what I¡¯d won, I read on. Congratulations! You have hit 25 Luck and reached the first Luck threshold. Nice! I kept reading. Then I backtracked. I read the notification again. Was that¡­ it? ¡°What the hell?¡± I mean, I hadn¡¯t been expecting too much. Maybe some ability that made loot drops better. But really? Nothing at all? Well, whatever. Maybe something had happened, but it was hidden to me. Honestly, besides loot, I still had a pretty foggy idea of what Luck did in the first place, so not having it power up wasn¡¯t as big of a letdown as I would have imagined. Perhaps it would have been more of a bummer if it was the only one of my stats to hit 25. And from gaining level 9, it was. With the absurd amount of experience I¡¯d received, though, level 9 wasn¡¯t all I¡¯d just reached. Congratulations! You have reached level 10! +2 Constitution +1 Endurance +1 Strength +1 Intelligence +2 Wisdom +1 Perception +2 Luck +1 Charisma In some sense, it was an unlucky break: Endurance and Strength were right on the cusp at 24, and had I been able to assign my own points, I could have gotten them over the hump too. Still, I had no room to complain, especially considering that two more of my stats had hit 25. Congratulations! You have hit 25 Constitution and reached the first Constitution threshold. Each point in Constitution above 25 will now raise your total health by 50 instead of 10. Increases the effects of most physical and environmental resistance skills by a multiple of (Constitution/2)%. (Affected skills: Bleed Resistance, Poison Resistance, Heat Resistance.) Each point in Constitution above 25 will now slightly harden your skin. Aging speed reduced. Lifespan extended. Gained ability: Hardy. Hardy Your body has been baptized in mana. Even should you suffer an instantly lethal blow, you cannot die until your health hits zero. This ability gives the user a small window in time in which they can survive most mundanely lethal attacks (beheading, missing a heart, etc.) should a healer manage to get to them. Whew. That was by far the longest of the thresholds that I¡¯d seen so far. To some degree, that made sense though: Constitution was the stat that everyone increased as they leveled up, and just about anyone level 16 and up would hit the threshold. This was what separated most lower level people from those that were, for lack of a better term, superhuman. I was particularly curious about how Hardy worked, but also had very little desire to test it out. Even if I had a healer on standby, getting my head chopped off didn¡¯t sound like my idea of fun. There was one effect that I could immediately test though. I poked at my skin. Yup. Still feels like. Well. Skin. Evidently a Constitution of 26 wasn¡¯t enough for that effect to come heavily into play. Either that, or it only activated when I was attacked. The next threshold was a touch simpler, all in all. Congratulations! You have hit 25 Wisdom and reached the first Wisdom threshold. All utility cantrips (novice tier spells) with a mana cost of 5 or under can now be cast for free. Each point in Wisdom above 25 will now raise your total mana by 25 instead of 10. Upgrades Internal Mana Manipulation to Advanced Internal Mana Manipulation. ERROR: User has not learned Internal Mana Manipulation. Upgrade will take effect when the user has learned the skill. ¡°Why do I get the feeling that I was really supposed to learn that by now.¡± I¡¯d never really sat down with any spellcasters and gotten a full rundown on how they did things. In fact, my magical education was practically nonexistent still. Two of my spells I¡¯d learned from reading spellbooks, and the other two had been pushed into my head by Elphaea. I had full faith and confidence in the dryad¡¯s spellcasting abilities, but I had to admit that an ancient mystical creature who hadn¡¯t spoken to a human in who-knows-how-long might not have been on the cutting edge of pedagogical theory. It was possible that she was just a sucky teacher. Well, whatever. I¡¯m sure I can find someone to teach me, or really how hard could it be? I had Mana Sense. I could find the mana within me and try to manipulate it. Probably. Feeling fully clean and awake, I turned the shower off and used the drying gem. After getting dressed, I lay down on the tent¡¯s furs to read through the remainder. With my stats taken care of, I was a bit surprised to see there were still a host of notifications left for me to read through. While the experience and the skills had been largely expected, I had to admit that I wasn¡¯t sure what was left for me. Curious, I turned to the next one. CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE SLAIN A PROTAGONIST! FOR YOUR FEAT, YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED THE MARK OF THE ANTAGONIST! The what now? That did not sound nice or friendly! And frankly, I was hoping it was pretty weak: I wasn¡¯t thrilled to learn that people could get a new mark if they killed me, after all. ¡°All right. No big deal. Let¡¯s just see what it grants.¡± I made to flip to the next section and read the effects, but fate sadly had other plans for me. Before I could read another word, of all things, a root suddenly poked up out of the earth in my tent. ¡°Um. Hello?¡± Well, that was strange. I wondered what that was abou- OH SHIT! The root in question burst out of the ground, snatching my leg and coiling up around me. Faster than I could even let out a shriek, I was unceremoniously yanked from my tent and into the forest. As my tent was with all the rest of the shadows, a few of them were out and about to witness me getting dragged off like in a cheap horror movie. Alarmed, they moved in to save me. A voice like windchimes carried through the camp. ¡°Leave her.¡± Recognizing the voice, they froze. It was a voice I recognized as well, of course. Only a few short moments later, I was dragged off into the woods. The root around my leg climbed higher and higher from the earth until it draped itself over a low-hanging branch. The end effect was to leave me ignominiously dangling upside down. One particularly perturbed-looking dryad formed from a nearby tree, its bark rippling like water as she exited. ¡°Hello, child. Would you care to explain why the Heart appears to be missing?¡± Wheres the Rest of Book Two? Hi all! If you''re on this chapter, you may be noticing that all the remaining chapter of book 2 are missing! As is often the case for Royal Road authors, I made the move to Kindle Unlimited, and by their rules, the book can''t be distributed digitally anywhere else. Book two will be released on Amazon on March 13th. In the meantime, especially for folks who''ve already read the book, I don''t want people to lose access to it. Up until the 10th, you can find a free ePub and PDF download of the book at https://www.patreon.com/posts/book-2-download-79731464. After the 10th, I''ll be pulling that post down in accordance with the Kindle Unlimited rules. If you''d like to pre-order the book or to buy it when it goes live, the Amazon page can be found at https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0BXT33JBG. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Thanks all, and happy reading! Book 3 Prelude: A Birthday Gift When at last I came to, I didn¡¯t have the heart to move. The effects of the Liquid Euphoria tincture had yet to fade, and I was so impossibly cozy as to make even a twitch of my fingers impossible. For the first time, I found myself understanding what it was like to be a lizard, content to spend countless hours stationary under the sun. Am I the first to wake up? I certainly wasn¡¯t the last to wake. It was a wonder I¡¯d fallen asleep at all considering Alara snoring off to my side. As for the others, it would have been a trivial thing to check, either by calling out or even cracking an eye open. Both actions, however, were far too much effort right now. At least, they were too much physical effort: I found my mana core to be far more willing to move for me, and as a bonus, any mana used wouldn¡¯t interfere with my current comfiness. I activated what was quickly becoming the most frequently used of my cantrips, letting the mental mana shape itself into the desired form. The pattern for Sense Minds finished and dissolved within me, and I became aware of two minds within a short distance. As if wishing to grant me a birthday present of its own, the system chimed in with a message. Sense Minds has reached level 10! Congratulations! You have reached the Initiate rank in Sense Minds! You have been granted the standard augment for your spell. Augment of Identification You can now distinguish minds from one another. Allows you to gain limited identification results from any minds you sense. With how much I¡¯d been surreptitiously casting the spell ¡ª at the behest of the archmage ¡ª it was high time that it had leveled. I was glad to see the augment wasn¡¯t anything too invasive like ¡°reads people¡¯s minds¡± either. Identification was still palatable for me. I cast the spell once more, this time the dual minds in range seeming much more defined to me. I instinctively focused on one of them, triggering my new augment. Emin No more was returned, answering just what the augment¡¯s description had meant by ¡°limited.¡± I repeated the process once more, finding as expected that the other mind was Verin¡¯s. With Alara¡¯s innate magical defenses, my magic was unable to find her even though her snores made her location fairly obvious. Even past its stated effects, however, I found the new augment fascinating. Still unwilling to move, I recast Sense Minds over and over, feeling how clearly distinct Emin and Verin¡¯s minds were. It wasn¡¯t that I could physically see them, so it wasn¡¯t as if they looked different. In fact, far different from my Mana Sense which largely translated mana into the senses that I already had, my mental ¡°sight¡± felt like a completely new sense of its own. If anything, it felt like the rest of the world had been pulled back. Made neater. Instead of seeing the flesh which covered a person, I was seeing them directly. There was even a strong sensation that if I was just a tiny bit better at mental magic, I wouldn¡¯t need to speak to communicate. Faced with the minds around me, having to speak, to cause vibrations in the air just to get my words across, felt so overly complex and messy. I felt like if I understood the magic just a little better, studied it just a little longer, that I¡¯d be able to reach out. Form a connection and- Mental Magic has reached level 10! Congratulations! You have reached the Initiate rank in Mental Magic! I snapped out of my mental deep dive, letting the spell fizzle out as the message caught me by surprise. Wasn¡¯t that a little fast? True, Mental Magic was one of the skills I¡¯d gotten a free level in from the Fruit of Growth. Still, it usually took a bit longer to go from level 10 in a cantrip to level 10 in the corresponding school of magic. I shrugged, and then mentally cursed at the mindless motion: At last I¡¯d moved my body, seeming to break the spell of perfect comfiness I¡¯d been under. I opened my eyes and slowly sat up, finding that I was the first to do so. I left the other three to their peaceful naps as I read up on the remaining notifications. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Based on your skill usage, you have been granted a skill augment for achieving a new skill rank. Augment of Sensory Enhancement Enhances the effects of all mental spells which aid in the detection of minds. Additionally, greatly improves your ability to detect other mental magic and when your own mind is under opposing mental effects. Class Quest Completed: Raise an advanced school of magic to level 10 (Repeatable) +5000xp +2 class points I silently forgave the notifications for breaking my cozy stasis. The first effect of the augment was nice, I supposed, but the second was incredible. The whole reason I¡¯d used Hex¡¯s skill shard in the first place was to put my mind at ease concerning opposing mind mages. Knowing I¡¯d have an easier time detecting their workings went a long way towards making me feel better. Actually, speaking of Hex and the skill shards¡­ I fished around in my spatial pouch, pulling out an item I¡¯d given little thought to since acquiring it. It was a deep black crystal with ominous smoke billowing off of it. Small specks of violet light hung suspended within, somehow only furthering the gem¡¯s off-putting aura. I examined it warily. ??? Requirements: Level 10 in Mental Magic Level 10 in Dark Magic I sighed. Now that I was level 10 in both mental and dark magic, I could finally use it. Still, I¡¯d hoped that meeting the item¡¯s requirements would have unlocked its description. I could probably get it appraised somewhere? Certainly someone in the city had to know what it was. Then again, I¡¯m not sure I want to be handing around a boon from a god so casually. Especially one that doesn¡¯t look too friendly. I considered just throwing it back in my pouch and dealing with it later, but stopped myself. The last time I did this, it was painless and instantaneous, wasn¡¯t it? It wasn¡¯t like a spellbook which actually forced me to read through it. Any reason not to just use it now? Well, of course there was one reason: If I¡¯d had misgivings about the original skill shard, they were only doubled for this one. Not only could I not see what it would do, but also, it just looked plain-old freaky. Still, after a full semester of using Hex¡¯s first gift, I¡¯d largely gotten over my hangups. Dark magic certainly wasn¡¯t evil ¡ª my main use for it was magic hair dye, for god¡¯s sake. While I knew well that mental magic could be abused, the recent augment had only proved Hex¡¯s point. The more I leveled it, the safer I¡¯d be from mental effects, even if I never used them on anyone else. Plus, it was a boon from a god, and it was my birthday. I was pretty certain I¡¯d use it eventually. Why not make it a birthday present? Hopefully, I¡¯d end up with some incredible skill as a memorable birthday gift, and with how easily I¡¯d absorbed the last skill shard, what could really go wrong? Would you like to use this skill shard? Thus resolved, I confirmed the prompt and gave in to the pull of the shard, letting the information within wash through me. ??? activated Scanning¡­ Scanning¡­ Additional compatible skills detected! Compatible skills: Mental Resistance Trauma Suppression Compatible skills will be integrated into ???. The hell? What sort of weird skill was Hex trying to give me? I¡¯d never even heard about a skill being compatible with others, and I had no idea what ¡°integration¡± was supposed to mean here. Before I could get too far on that line of thought, a new message flashed across my notification screen. Note! A message has been appended to this skill shard. Hi Tess! Hope you¡¯re somewhere safe. And, uh. Soundproof. This next part¡¯s probably going to suck a bit. Sorry about that! -xoxo, your favorite dark deific entity, Hexaura¡¯erevaila¡¯vailaora I blanched. What did she mean it was going to suck a bit. Like a tiny bit? Why did it sound like she didn¡¯t mean a tiny bit? And what was that about being somewhere soundproof? Undo! Cancel! This was not what I signed up for! I just wanted a cool new birthday skill! Warning! All compatible skills will be temporarily disabled during integration. Beginning integration. Mental Resistance: disabled I had a split second of dread as I understood what was about to happen. Then again, surely it couldn¡¯t be that bad, could- Trauma Suppression: disabled I screamed. I screamed and I screamed and I screamed, only vaguely aware that I was spasming on the ground as I did so. The world around me faded away, replaced by so much, so much pain. I felt the flames of a far-distant car crash wrapping around me. The chitinous blades of a giant spider slicing into me. Too much, too much, too many things all at once. Dimly, I felt as pairs of arms wrapped around me. There was shouting. Lots of shouting that barely reached my ears. And then finally, blissfully, as my single saving grace, it was all too much. As everything faded to black, I had time to see but a singular line of text. Congratulations! You have learned your first Legendary skill! Prelude to Book Four: Time to Paint the Sky ¡°Hey. Heyyyyy.¡± A bothersome and incessant voice did its best to cut through the fog of sleep which clung to Verin. When it failed to rouse her, a firm poke to the side soon followed. As obnoxious as it was, Verin did her best to ignore it, her pounding head demanding further rest. ¡°Look, you asked for it¡­¡± Unrepentantly, the voice whispered directly into her ear. Asked for wha- AH! Verin jerked awake, reflexively summoning a burst of frost to protect herself as she shot upwards. When her mind finally caught up to her body, however, she was equally relieved and bemused to find her attacker unharmed. Cal stood off to the side sporting a cheeky grin. With as stern and unamused an expression as she could muster, Verin locked eyes with the rogue and patted at her side where a small bead of blood had formed. You have been stabbed for 3 damage! Delightful. And she cut through my dress as well. ¡°I feel compelled to ask: Was that entirely necessary?¡± Cal shrugged. ¡°Did you want to be sleeping here?¡± Slowly, as was often the case immediately after waking up, the preceding events caught up to her. The archmage. The teleportation. Instantly, Verin¡¯s mind perked up, and she scanned her surroundings expecting to see the archmage or perhaps his master. Instead, all she saw was a nondescript cave. Deeper within, Tess sat cross-legged, listlessly staring at the wall. Curious. ¡°Did the archmage place us here before going to fetch his master?¡± She was surprised he would have left them at all, but she supposed she¡¯d forfeited the right to an explanation when she¡¯d fallen asleep somehow. This time, Cal shook her head. ¡°Don¡¯t think so. When we got here, he was nowhere to be seen. Just us three, and you two were asleep. Was having trouble waking you up, so I did some quick scouting and found an empty cave to drag you into. Just a heads up though ¡ª this place is weird. Freaky sky. Overall bad vibes. So far, not a huge fan.¡± Verin ultimately paid the rogue¡¯s words little heed. Considering they¡¯d teleported to the location of some grand magus, she¡¯d expected a little ¡°weird,¡± so to speak. ¡°Very well. You have my thanks for assisting us here.¡± Even if that assistance involved dragging her. ¡°I trust the archmage will be able to find us shortly, so it would be best if we simply stayed put for now.¡± The archmage had already admitted that he had a tracking spell on a bracelet he¡¯d given Tess. Regardless of what he was doing, surely he would arrive soon. Of this, Cal seemed somewhat skeptical, but she didn¡¯t fight Verin on the issue either. Naturally, Tess withheld her input as well. And so it was that the three of them found themselves cooped up in a cave. Cal slumped to the ground, back against the wall as she picked at her fingernails with a dagger. Tess sat unnaturally still. And Verin stood ramrod straight, as was befitting a noble of her stature. If the archmage were to return with his master, it would not do to make a bad first impression, after all. Just like that, they waited. And waited. And after a good deal of waiting, they continued to wait. Given what Verin knew of Cal, she kept expecting the rogue to strike up a conversation at any moment. Instead, she merely sat there with an amused and somewhat infuriating smile. Bit by bit, the expression succeeded at ratcheting up both Verin¡¯s intrigue and annoyance, until at last she chose to broach the subject. ¡°You appear as though you have something to say.¡± Cal pointed to herself as if mortally shocked by the accusation. ¡°Me? Perish the thought. I was just making a bet with myself on how long it would take before you admit the archmage isn¡¯t coming.¡± Not coming? Preposterous. The amount of trouble Xander¡¯Callis would get in for abandoning Tess would be sizable, let alone Verin herself. He would certainly be coming. Although¡­ Perhaps if sufficiently regal, a chair would be acceptable as well? Verin¡¯s physical stats weren¡¯t particularly high, and though she was loath to admit it, she wouldn¡¯t mind resting her legs. I believe I have something that should work nicely. She thought of the object in question and channeled a few points of mana into one of her storage devices, waving her hand before her to summon it. Rather than a chair, however, it was a window that appeared. Error. Storage device inoperable. For longer than she¡¯d care to confess, Verin stared unwaveringly at the message. Hoping it was a contained event, she rotated through the other storage devices and spatial pouches she kept on her person. One after another, they all returned similar errors. For the first time since she¡¯d awoken, Verin started to worry. Calm. I¡¯m sure the archmage can fix whatever is wrong with them, or barring that, I¡¯ll manage something when I¡¯m home. Everything was still fine. Perfectly, utterly- ¡°Squawk?¡± Verin¡¯s self-assurances were rudely interrupted by a flash of movement from the mouth of the cave, coupled with a hushed and inhuman cry of confusion. Standing there was a ruddy-brown creature with a large bird-like head, a four-legged, fur-covered body, and two massive wings folded at its sides. A hunk of meat of indeterminate origin was clutched in one of its talons, and its entire body was pulled back and tensed as though startled to see them. The feeling was unfortunately mutual. Immediately, Verin identified it. Stonehide Gryphon: Level 23, 1150/1150hp Hells below, that¡¯s a high level for a random monster. Briefly, she entertained the idea that the beast was friendly and domesticated ¡ª she knew Chamber Head Astorius had a similar mount, after all. Indeed, rather than outright attacking them, the gryphon appeared to be considering how to react to their presence, lending some credence to the notion. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Her hopes were dashed only a moment later. ¡°KRAAAAAA!¡± With a fearsome cry, the gryphon dropped its bounty and pounced. At a speed that belied its great mass, it bolted towards the noble interloper. In the tight confines of the cave, its movement alone was enough to create a strong wind. Her composure dropping, Verin gracelessly backpedaled, sending out a few icicles and a wave of frost to slow the beast. To her horror, the projectiles impacted without a single dent, and the gryphon didn¡¯t even seem to notice the frost. Given the proficiency of her usual party, Verin was so unused to taking a hit that she barely recalled to protect herself. Frigid Queen¡¯s Regalia At the last moment, she summoned a layer of ornate, ceremonial ice armor, and with a vicious swipe, talon met ice. Talon won. You have been slashed for 91 damage. You are bleeding! The sheer shock nearly made her freeze up, and she thanked the gods above that high nobles were trained to handle pain, or she¡¯d have been done for already. Knowing she was at a disadvantage so close, Verin blasted herself backwards with an icy wind, freezing the floor as she landed to let her slide back even further. She prepared to lunge to the side to dodge another attack, but none was forthcoming. The reason for that was rather clear, too. ¡°How¡¯s this feel for you?¡± By some entirely ridiculous feat of stealth and acrobatics, Cal had maneuvered herself onto the back of the gryphon, straddling it right behind the neck. In a move normally ill-suited for dagger fighting, Cal hoisted one of her daggers up with two hands before slamming it down into the gryphon¡¯s neck as hard as she could. Verin cheered internally. Or at least she did until she heard the metallic clank of the impact. Much like Verin¡¯s own blows, Cal¡¯s strike bounced off the gryphon¡¯s evidently stone-like hide. ¡°Well, shit.¡± Cal did her best to stay atop the incensed monster as it attempted to buck her off. Even as she did so, so too did she call out to Verin. ¡°Get Tess and get out of the cave! I¡¯m good at keeping things mad at me and not getting hit!¡± To illustrate that point, Cal winked in and out of existence, confusing the gryphon with her absence before reappearing in different positions on its back. Each time, it squawked with anger, Verin completely forgotten. Even if her role in the fight embarrassed her slightly, Verin didn¡¯t need to be told twice. ¡°Come. Quickly. Come on.¡± She rushed over to Tess, beckoning her to follow before ultimately taking her hand. Thankfully, she was willing to move, and the two bolted towards the mouth of the cave. Cal was true to her word. The two had to dodge ¡ª or in Tess¡¯s case, be yanked away from ¡ª a half-hearted swipe as they ran past the beast, but it was far more concerned with its infuriating rider. Within moments, they broke free from the cave into some sort of rocky, mountainous area. Several eye-catching and impossible sights greeted Verin once she was out in the open air, but she steadfastly ignored them, having far more important things to take care of presently. Easily catching up to them, Cal appeared beside the two shortly after. Expecting her to reappear on its back at any moment, the gryphon remained in the cave. ¡°Go, go, go!¡± Almost as a side thought, Cal tapped Verin, and a stream of white light flowed from one into the other. Calilah has healed you for 50 health. You are no longer bleeding! The deep furrow the beast had left through her midsection mended itself before her eyes. Rather than using her now-healthier body to run, however, Verin paused. ¡°A moment.¡± With all three of them safely out, she targeted the cave entrance and began to cast. Ice Wall. She dumped as much mana as she could into the spell before rapidly casting it again and again. Ice Wall. Ice Wall. Multiple thick layers of ice formed before her, sealing the cave shut with such an abundance of ice that even the gryphon couldn¡¯t immediately barrel through it. Though judging by the ear-piercing shriek that soon followed, it was certainly going to try. The beast seemed to have caught on to Cal¡¯s ruse, and the ground shook as it collided with the ice blocking it in. Wordlessly, and without knowing quite where they were going, the three of them ran. They ran until the ground stopped shaking, until they couldn¡¯t hear any more deafening cries, and then for good measure, they ran some more. With her low Endurance, Verin found the exercise almost as bad as the fight itself, but she did not dare stop. When at last they deemed themselves far enough to be safe, it was only her noble etiquette that stopped her from huffing and puffing. That, and her pride ¡ª the other two weren¡¯t even winded. ¡°Good. We appear to be safe,¡± she declared once she caught her breath. They¡¯d stopped in a small alcove of sorts, and while it provided them with some cover, it did nothing to obscure their view. Now that she wasn¡¯t a single moment from death, Verin allowed herself to register the numerous sights she¡¯d been ignoring thus far. She began by poking her head out and looking up. ¡°Creepy, right? Not normal for it to be pitch black like that.¡± Cal tilted her chin up, gesturing generally above them. Black? But it¡¯s not- Oh. Oh! Oh my. The sky was black. Or at least that was how it would look to someone like Cal. An unnatural, empty darkness, devoid of any sun or clouds or anything that would mark it as a sky. For Verin, though ¡ª someone who had passed the first Perception threshold ¡ª it was anything but empty. In a greater quantity than she¡¯d thought possible, a dense sea of mana flowed above her. Instead of a single, uniform color, the scene above her was a variegated patchwork of different types of mana. Incredible. I wish I could draw this. Or no. This deserves a painting. Watercolors, she decided. Pastels. Vibrant blues, seafoam greens, dusky oranges, and muddy browns all collided and rebounded and fought for supremacy. So thick was the mana that it took on a sort of viscosity, hypnotically churning and roiling about like streams of ink in water. If that wasn¡¯t enough, most of the mana types glowed from within, turning the complex tapestry above into an ever-shifting aurora. Overlaid onto the black background, the scene was three parts mesmerizing to one part unnerving. I weep that she cannot see what I currently see. There was only so long that Verin could watch the sky, however, as the earth was just as deserving of her attention if not more so. From the base of the mountain far below all the way onwards, the landscape was¡­ wrong. Or perhaps ¡°unnatural¡± would be more apt. In the distance, a desert formed, sand stretching on as far as the eye could see. To one side of the desert, a forest sprung to life, while on the other, a boundless expanse of water sat serenely. Each area met the next at a perfectly straight line, entirely separate biomes existing side by side with no rhyme or reason. And those were the normal areas. Here and there, Verin spotted patches of pure darkness, of blinding light. Squares which defied spatial reasoning, seeming at once minuscule and also infinitely large. Spots which seemed to mess with your mind, even just by looking at them from afar. If perhaps having its own type of beauty, the entire view was an assault on the senses. More importantly, it confirmed that, wherever they were, it was somewhere Verin had no desire to be. ¡°Come. I do not know where we¡¯ve ended up, but if the gryphon was not proof enough, this place is not safe for us. We will wait in Sylum for the archmage to return, and we will try again afterwards.¡± As was only to be expected, Verin had a few recall gems integrated into pieces of jewelry, precisely for situations like this. In this case, Cal didn¡¯t see fit to contest the point, and as expected, Tess had little to say on the matter as well. The three huddled together, and Verin took one last look at the strange scenery. A pity, in a way. I should like to come back here one day if I can. But certainly not right now. She activated her recall gem, awaiting the teleportation home, and- Activation failed. You are within a spatial lock! Verin stared at the notification, mute. Uncomprehending. With a rising dread that seeped into her bones, she rotated through the remainder of her recall gems. Just as had been true with her storage devices, each and every one of them failed her. Without explaining, she broke off from the other two, stepping fully out into the open to take it all in. The chaotic mess below her seemed to taunt Verin for thinking she could escape it. As calmly as she could manage, she took stock of the situation. We¡¯re trapped. And alone. Surrounded by monsters that out-level us. And with no sign that help is on the way. It was objectively a downright abysmal situation to be in, made even worse by Tess¡¯s condition. And yet, through all of that, a single flicker of amusement managed to fight its way to the surface. Verin gazed upwards, wearing the shadow of a smile despite herself. How delightful. It appears I may have time to paint the sky after all. B4 C1: Perhaps an Eight In a strange and unforgiving land where few had ever tread before, the landscape shifted with every step. One moment, hard rock shot into the sky in the form of a cold and unforgiving mountain; the next, sand threatened to swallow any foolish enough to dare traverse it. Dark forests abutted flaming expanses of magma. Calm lakes sat undisturbed beside frozen tundras. And those were perhaps the most simple of areas within this aberrant space. Within minutes, one could pass through areas of blinding light, of shrouding shadow. Areas that dulled and baffled the mind and those that offered perfect clarity. Indeed, from a bird¡¯s-eye view, the land below resembled nothing so much as a deific quilt, some deranged patchwork project of an equally deranged god. As if in competition with its counterpart below, the sky, too, was a sight to behold. Devoid of any sun or moon or stars, it was an unending stretch of darkness, or at least it was to those unable to perceive more. Floating high in the sky -- drifting about, intermingling, combining, and dividing at will -- was an astronomical amount of mana. Just as in the land below, the sky above was hardly uniform, every color of the rainbow represented dozens of times over. Whereas the earth was more fixed, however -- with rigid cutoff points where one patch met another -- the sky was far freer, the colors refusing to stay put as they diffused through one another. It was a sort of haphazard tie-dye that demanded attention at every moment. It was beneath this shifting sky and atop this chaotic land that three figures sat in a triangle. Huddled into a small recess of a rocky mountain, far more of an alcove than a proper cave, they were forced close together. A small metal badge lay between them, a gem at its center. The first of the three was perhaps the simplest. Light skin poked out of fairly plain clothes, wavy auburn hair framing her face. If there was a single thing of note about her, however, it was her expression. Blank and dead eyes gazed directly forward as though unseeing, and she remained slouched over, perfectly still. The second was pale to an unnatural degree, her hair following suit as its white locks fell down to her shoulders. Blue eyes so light they were almost clear sat stonily within her skull in what appeared to be a permanently hard expression. Despite the laxness of her company, her back remained ramrod straight as she sat, as seemed only fitting for the fine garments she wore. The third, in many ways, was an opposite to the second. Skin and hair as dark as night matched an equally dark, form-fitting outfit. The somewhat gloomy atmosphere notwithstanding, she radiated a sense of mirth as she leaned back against the rocky wall, idly throwing a dagger from one hand to another. It was this third figure that deigned to start the conversation. ¡°So, scale of one to ten, exactly how fucked are we?¡± Cal spun her dagger outwards, gesturing to Verin with it. For her part, Verin was not overly amused. ¡°I do not believe it is valuable to quantify our predicament in such a way. In sum, however, the teleportation ritual failed, neither the archmage nor his master are anywhere to be found, and Tess¡¯s mind is still shattered. More so, all of our spatial storage and recall gems are inoperative, placing us squarely without sustenance. Then, perhaps most pressingly, we have already encountered a monster well above our levels that we were unable to scratch. Unless it was an anomaly or an apex predator, we may assume we are far too weak to survive in our current location.¡± Spelled out in that fashion, their situation only seemed worse than it had moments prior. Realizing her words had likely put Calilah into a more somber mood, she allowed the girl some time to process it all, letting a heavy silenc- ¡°So, like, an eight? I feel like that¡¯s solidly in ¡®eight¡¯ territory.¡± Cal flashed a cheeky grin to her noble companion. Verin sighed. How had things ended up like this, exactly? Had there not been enough misfortune to go around? It was only a few days prior that Oachin and Nella had died in Sylum¡¯s settlement dungeon. Emin had followed soon after, as had the son of one of the chamber heads, Warram. Tess¡¯s mind had broken beyond the means of conventional healing. Chamber Heads Aren and Goss had fought in the streets. Emer¡¯Thalis had endured a bloody and pointless war with one of the surrounding settlements. From any angle she looked at it, the three of them were due a measure of good luck. Instead, they¡¯d landed here. ¡°Perhaps an eight, yes,¡± she reluctantly conceded. ¡°Nice, I like the number eight. Good number. Anyway, are we done sitting here and brooding, or is one of you going to figure out how to use that thing?¡± Cal tilted her chin towards the gem-inlaid badge before them. Verin began to protest that she had hardly been ¡°brooding¡± before thinking better of it. Besides, that is the question, isn¡¯t it? If there¡¯s any path forward, the locator badge is likely a part of it. She¡¯d discovered the trinket while rifling through all her pockets for any possible recall devices she hadn¡¯t tried already, and though it was the very device that had gotten them into this mess, she was relieved to have it. ¡°The archmage said the device would be able to locate his master and assist in breaking through spatial locks to get to him, yes?¡± If she recalled correctly, the actual teleportation ritual that had landed them here was mostly just to gather mana and funnel it into the gem. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. If that is the case, then perhaps if I¡­ Verin channeled a dash of mana into one of the recall gems in her jewelry, simultaneously reaching out to do the same to the badge. The plan had been for the device to cut through the spatial lock keeping them trapped, though that hope was quickly dashed. You are in a spatial lock! As much as she would have normally been discouraged, though, something else happened. A tug. A gentle nudge to both her hand and her mana, pulling her unmistakably in one direction. She related her findings to Cal who took the news in stride. ¡°Its job is to find the archmage¡¯s master, right? So maybe the ritual didn¡¯t fail after all, and it just dropped us off a bit early. Which direction was it pulling you?¡± Wordlessly, Verin pointed, Cal perking up as she followed her finger. ¡°Well, at least it¡¯s down the mountain and not up, right? Come on, let¡¯s go find a really old wizard guy.¡±
Descending the mountain proved to be as nerve-wracking as it was blessedly uneventful, the latter of the two largely thanks to Cal. Overall, there was no shortage of nooks and crannies to hide in along the way. The trick, however, was to find them and reach them without being spotted by another gryphon or whatever else might lurk within the mountains. It wasn¡¯t an idle concern, either. On several occasions, gryphons did pass overhead, the occasional screech breaking the otherwise complete silence. Given how poorly they¡¯d fared against the first one, Verin tensed up at each sighting. Cal, however, seemed to have some form of shockingly good invisibility -- far better than what Tess had alluded to when she¡¯d spoken of her adventures -- which made her ideally suited for scouting. Despite the need to rush from hiding spot to hiding spot, the going was slow, much of it spent waiting as Cal picked out new routes. Worse yet, when they were on the move, Verin often found herself winded, her low physical stats not well suited for the steep terrain. Tess, for her part, allowed herself to be dragged along without complaint, never once out of breath even a little bit. It was at times like these that Verin cursed the world for only birthing her into an incredibly rich and powerful family instead of also making her a Protagonist. Fate, in many ways, was a cruel mistress. Nevertheless, they progressed until at last the mountain loomed behind them. Replacing it was a sea of grass that spread out into the far distance. ¡°Now, I¡¯d like to say ¡®Good job team!¡¯ and take a breather, but we should probably keep moving.¡± Cal didn¡¯t so much as pause as she led them onwards. ¡°I must unfortunately agree.¡± Even with her body protesting, Verin didn¡¯t dare suggest they stop. They¡¯d only managed to survive their first gryphon encounter by running and hiding, and as much as Verin preferred the level surface of the plains, it provided no chance for either. She had few delusions about what would happen if they were caught out in the open. In fact, she was dreading the next leg of their journey even more than the last for that very reason. If gryphons made the mountains their home, what manner of monster might live here? Something beneath the earth? Something small enough to hide in the grass or stealthy enough that they couldn¡¯t see it from this distance? As the trio moved deeper and deeper into the plains, however, it grew more and more clear what they were up against. Namely, nothing. No monsters. No traps. No signs of any form of life save for the grass itself. It would have been the greatest relief possible had it not also been slightly unnerving. Save for the occasional pause to reorient themselves with the locator badge, their walk onwards was uninterrupted. Forward. Forward. Farther ahead until the mountains lay far behind them. And then- Tug. ¡°Pause.¡± Verin brought the group to a halt as the pull of the badge finally changed. ¡°It appears to be pointing¡­ lower. Perhaps there is some manner of hole or entrance nearby?¡± She certainly hoped so. None of the three had skill sets particularly suitable for digging. With a shrug, Cal began to wander off. ¡°I¡¯ll take this direction. Race you to find it? We can say the loser owes the winner a favor.¡± ¡°I do not see a need for-¡± Cal broke off into a light jog, her Dexterity evident as she left Verin far behind in only moments. The high noble stifled a grumble before ultimately turning around and searching in the other direction. In this, she tried to use her magic to its greatest use. Icy blades shot out from her feet, reaping the grass wherever she went. In part, it helped her keep track of where she¡¯d been, but it was mostly to aid her in finding anything the grass may have obscured. Periodically, she stabbed a blade into the ground as well on the off chance that it would crumble or feel different to her somehow. It was the better part of an hour of this before she had to admit she wasn¡¯t getting anywhere. Was there a tunnel system underground? Maybe one that they could have entered all the way back from the mountains? Or was the entrance simply not on her side? Despite the bet (which naturally did not count in any case given her lack of agreement to it), Verin stopped her search, returning to their original starting point. Only, is that truly where we began our search? She used Tess as her landmark given her stationary nature, but her mind must have been playing tricks on her. Tess seemed to have shifted slightly. And she¡¯s sitting now. Did Calilah prompt her to do so? Verin couldn¡¯t remember her friend doing just about anything of her own accord as of late. It was nothing short of miraculous, then, when Tess began to move. Even as Verin shouted for Cal to come back, Tess slowly leaned forward, extending a single arm out. She ran her hand through the grass until her palm rested against the earth. A brief flash of mana left her fingers, and as if waiting to reveal itself, a spell diagram flared into existence. A moment later, the earth began to shake and pull itself apart. Where once there had been only grass and dirt, a perfectly circular hole soon took shape. Finally catching up, Cal gave her expert opinion. ¡°Huh. Solid entrance. Nice and magic-y. Guess that means we both lost though, yeah? Think that means we owe Tess a favor now.¡± Under the circumstances, Verin didn¡¯t contest the point. And so, with equal parts caution and anticipation, the three descended into the earth. B4 C2: Friends of Little Xan The underground tunnel was everything one could ask for when it came to spooky old wizards. In fact, even to call it a tunnel did it a disservice. Sleek unblemished granite covered floor, wall, and ceiling alike, broken only by the occasional imposing column interspersed with some blue mage lights that lit up at their approach. Slanted downwards and curved to the side, the corridor brought them deeper and deeper as it spiraled downwards. Combined with the unnatural atmosphere, there was a certain thrum of mana which grew stronger the farther they went. Altogether, it managed to silence even Cal, the very act of speaking feeling both ill-advised and irreverent. After several eternities, the passageway at last terminated in a massive arch, spilling out into a circular room which looked as though it could house an entire city. This, however, was not its most notable feature. The very moment the room came into view, all three of them pulled up short. Ten. No. Twenty. Etched into the granite floor was the most mind-bogglingly massive spell diagram Verin had ever encountered. At least twenty times larger than the ritual which brought us here. And not just larger, but more complex. Despite a fairly good magical education, Verin wasn¡¯t the strongest when it came to the Spell Insight skill. Even so, she could normally roughly gauge how advanced a ritual was. In this case, however, even looking at the diagram made her head hurt, and she meant that in a literal sense. And yet, for all that a freakishly large ritual at the end of a hidden underground tunnel should have been the main point of focus, Verin was far more concerned with what lay within said ritual. At the very center of the room was a black pedestal, a smokey gray gem lying atop it. And directly behind that pedestal was a man. Or is he a man? She wasn¡¯t entirely sure. His skin had a strange sheen and color to it, a mix of red and black, and his features were harsh and alien . Entirely nude, he hadn¡¯t been physically harmed in any way, but the myriad chains and shackles which bound him made it clear he was a prisoner of some sort. His black hair was the most human thing about him, though it had grown long and raggedy, enough to almost obscure the short horns poking from his head. His eyes were firmly shut, a testament to their owner¡¯s ability to sleep in such a predicament. I cannot be entirely sure, but I believe he may be a- ¡°Demon¡­¡± As if involuntarily, Cal choked the word out in a hushed whisper. So it was a demon. Was this part of the archmage¡¯s master¡¯s research then? Summoning and binding demons? Perhaps not something we should approach so casually, then. If indeed this room did belong to the archmage¡¯s master, he clearly wasn¡¯t present at the moment. Waiting further up the tunnel might be the safer option. It was quite unfortunate, then, that just as Verin was about to suggest such a thing, her body froze. She had only a second to be shocked before she started flying out from the tunnel and into the ritual room, unable to even squeak out a protest as her muscles refused to obey her commands. Worse than that, she activated a number of trinkets she kept on her for exactly such occasions, only to watch in horror as they all sputtered out. Verin jerked to a stop, only belatedly realizing that Tess and Cal had come along for the ride. All three of them now hung in the air in the very center of the ritual. With the demon. Who then opened a single, red eye. In a voice that was at once as deep as the ocean and as shrill as scraped glass, he rejoiced. ¡°How lovely! New toys. Welcome¡­¡± Having spent the vast majority of her life maintaining as calm and collected a demeanor as she could manage, Verin reflected that panic was rapidly becoming a far more common companion to her than she¡¯d have ever guessed. Or at least, she would have reflected in such a way were she not too busy with said panicking. As the three of them hung before the red-eyed demon, Verin rapidly shifted through all her skills and items, finding them all just as equally useless and inert. In fact, they were worse than useless ¡ª for whatever reason, everything she tried seemed to suck far more mana from her than she expected, draining her pool at an alarming and frankly unreasonable rate. Even with most of her mind devoted to either fear or activating her various failsafes, Verin also spared the barest bit of attention to her surroundings, hoping to find anything that could turn the tides. Save for her companions, though, the only thing of note was the black pedestal they¡¯d noted before, the strange gray jewel sitting patiently atop it. As quickly as she took it in, however, she dismissed it. Close as it was, it might have been on another continent for how little she was able to move towards it. In those brief few seconds of her plotting and failing, the shackled demon shifted his gaze between them, regarding the trio somewhere between an interesting lab experiment and slabs of meat. If he was disappointed that they hadn¡¯t returned his warm welcome, he hardly showed it, proving perfectly capable of holding the conversation by himself. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°What do we have here, hmm? Three of the emperor¡¯s whelps dumb enough to stick their noses where they shouldn¡¯t? What do you think, should I send him a nice present of your severed heads to express my gratitude? A touch cliche, but I¡¯ll admit a certain fondness of the classics.¡± He reached a shackled hand out towards Verin as if to make good on his idea, only coming up short a few hairs before her neck ¡ª a fact that Verin was eminently relieved by. While the demon didn¡¯t lower his arm, his previous savage glee took on a more pensive tone. ¡°That can¡¯t be right, though. I could have sworn it was a few centuries too early for that, no? And on second glance, you don¡¯t quite look like his. Curious¡­ I suppose I could just ask, although it would probably be faster to tear into your minds and rip your memories out. I¡¯m sure I could put you back together if I really needed to. Probably.¡± Keen on not having her mind torn to shreds, Verin went into overdrive, trying both anything and everything to escape. None of her other trinkets having worked, she funneled as much of her mana as she could into the only remaining object she could: the locator gem, held ham-fisted at her side. It is capable of breaking spatial locks, yes? Perhaps it can undo whatever stasis spell he is using on us. Failing that, she held a spark of hope that the archmage¡¯s master might sense her using the gem and come back to put his unruly summons in its place. Even with those thoughts in mind, it came as something of a shock when she felt herself falling to the ground, her mobility restored. Before she even hit the ground, however, her fist was pried open, the badge snatched from her grip in an instant. Did that mean it worked? Did he take it because he could feel it calling the archmage¡¯s master here? ¡°Is that¡­¡± Even as the demon trailed off, his form shifted, his bare skin disappearing beneath regal draping robes while his disquieting visage morphed to that of a standard human¡¯s in his fifties. The only signs that the creature before them was the same as before were his reddish-black skin and long, messy dark hair which covered his horns. ¡°It is! Hah. Even at my old age, it seems I can still be surprised. Enough with the cowering, enough, enough.¡± As the three collapsed to the ground, he beckoned them up as if he hadn¡¯t been the one to drop them there in the first place. ¡°This badge was for little Xan, wasn¡¯t it? I can¡¯t imagine you three kids stealing it from him, so you must be friends, yes?¡± He flashed them a smile fully dissimilar to his earlier malicious grin. ¡°Tell me, how¡¯s that foolish student of mine doing these days, hmm?¡±
Misunderstandings, as it turned out, were far easier to clear up when one wasn¡¯t suspended mid-air and barred from talking. Partly out of a desire to not end up back in a similar circumstance, Verin made sure to explain the series of events that had brought them here, stopping only for occasional interjections from Cal. By and large, she told the unvarnished truth, only omitting a few more sensitive details like Tess¡¯s status as a Protagonist. For his part, the demon ¡ª or rather, the archmage¡¯s master ¡ª remained almost eerily silent, not even offering his name. Of course, she would wait for him to offer it. Etiquette aside, there was no way that Verin would dare Identify someone so powerful for fear of offending- ¡°Hey, do you have a name? I¡¯m getting tired of thinking of you as ¡®the freaky chained demon teacher,¡¯ and my Identify keeps failing.¡± Evidently tired of standing, Cal dropped down into a squat, pulling Tess down with her and motioning for her to take a seat. Damnable rogue. What did they even teach you in that palace of yours? Verin tensed, ready for the worst. The only thing to greet her, however, was a light chuckle. ¡°Ah, I should probably flay your mind for that so no one thinks I¡¯m going soft, but you¡¯ve put me in a good mood, children. As to what you may call me, I will admit to having a great number of titles I like to ramble off to my enemies, but for you three, Sett will suffice. But if the tyke is calling himself an ¡®archmage¡¯ what does that make me? An ¡®arch-archmage¡¯? A ¡®grand-archmage¡¯? You know what? Let¡¯s keep it simple and go with ¡®grand magus.¡¯ That sounds suitably fancy without actually meaning anything, right?¡± At Cal¡¯s lack of visible response to both his threats and musings, he huffed, but otherwise let it slide. ¡°But how lovely it is to hear that little Xan is still alive! I wondered where that bone-headed student of mine had gone off to. Who would have thought he¡¯d be hiding in some low-leveled backwater, hmm? A peculiar lad, that one.¡± Though his chains prevented him from fully sitting, Sett bent down as low as he could, coming to eye level with the least vocal amongst them. ¡°So this is my grand-apprentice, hmm? And you were hoping I¡¯d heal her up and then send you on your way?¡± ¡°That would be correct, yes. It was the archmage¡¯s wish. Is this something you would be able to assist with?¡± For all that Verin had been sure that she would die here, she found herself far more optimistic at her prospects now, even more so with the next words that came from Sett¡¯s mouth. ¡°I¡¯d love to!¡± He shot back up, clasping his hands together in a manner fully unbefitting the demonic form they¡¯d seen earlier. A great sigh escaped from Verin, glad to finally have a stroke of good luc- ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t,¡± he continued. It took every point of Charisma and every level of Etiquette to keep her face from twitching. ¡°Honored Grand Magus, would you mind elaborating? Xander¡¯Callis seemed quite hopeful that you would be able to assist in this matter.¡± ¡°Oh, yes, yes. Normally I¡¯d even enjoy such a delicate procedure. But while you¡¯ve been very polite not to pry, you may have noticed that¡­¡± he intoned while gesturing to the host of restraints chaining him to the center of the massive spell diagram below. ¡°I seem to have found myself in something of a predicament, as you might say.¡± Under different circumstances, Verin would have been hopeful at her ability to help the demon with whatever his problem was. Even had she not been cut off from her family and resources back home, however, she doubted there was anything she could do that the teacher of the archmage couldn¡¯t. Still, there was no harm in trying. ¡°Perhaps if you could explain, we might be able to assist you?¡± As if waiting for that exact phrase, Sett began to lean forward. ¡°Ah! But that¡¯s so drab, is it not? I believe I can do one better. Here, why don¡¯t you see for yourselves?¡± Faster than a mage should have been able to move, he swung his arm in a downward arc, connecting with all three of their heads. Though he¡¯d barely used any force, all three were knocked out cold as their vision was filled with jumbled images of gold and sand and blood. As the vision began to resolve itself, their minds were gripped by foreign thoughts. One, more than any of the others, pushed its way to the top. What a wonderful day it is, Sett reflected, for a touch of regicide. B4 C3: Regicide Blood flowed freely from the many puncture wounds on the poor excuse for a king that lay before Sett. The majority was greedily sucked up by the dry sand that encased his limbs, but now and then, a small stream would find its way to the floor, pooling up and staining the white marble of the throne room. A shame, that. It was one of the nicer throne rooms he¡¯d seen. ¡°Demonic scum,¡± the king spat, his words accompanied by a wad of bloody phlegm. ¡°Your kind should be wiped from existence. Needless death is all you know.¡± A bold choice for what could be some of the king¡¯s last words. Then again, Sett far preferred it to the ones that blubbered and cried. Even so, he would admit that the king¡¯s words bothered him slightly. ¡°What a bigoted world view, my friend. You think I¡¯m going to kill you just because I¡¯m a demon?¡± Of course, it was hard to take the lives of the lesser races seriously sometimes, but that didn¡¯t mean all demons were monsters. ¡°No?¡± the king wheezed out. ¡°So what, you plan to keep me alive? Ransom me back to my own country, is that it? You won¡¯t get away with this. Do you know who my great great great grandunc-¡± The king¡¯s words were abruptly silenced by a spike of sand digging deep into his chest. While the wound itself wouldn¡¯t be instantly fatal to someone of the king¡¯s caliber, with all the other damage Sett had done, he knew it would soon do the job. ¡°Of course not. I said I wasn¡¯t going to kill you just because I¡¯m a demon. I¡¯ll have you know I¡¯m killing you for entirely separate reasons. Truly, the prejudice of some people¡­¡± Having no desire to talk to himself, Sett trailed off as the awaited notification finally rolled in. You have slain King Katheritaxis! Huh. Wasn¡¯t his name something simpler? Like King Tamin? Or was that the last one? He did have such trouble keeping them all straight sometimes. Just as quickly as he learned the king¡¯s name, however, so too did he forget it as the notifications he was truly after came through. Achievement gained: Regicide III +30% damage to all monarchs +15% damage to all non-monarch royalty While fighting royalty, negates any skills or bonuses they would receive from their rule. +300 Prestige Achievement gained: Destroyer of Dynasties II +20% damage to the final member in a line of succession +10% damage to all other members of a dynasty On Identification, gain an innate sense if your target belongs to any dynasty that would fall under the effects of this title. +100 Prestige Even with the two upgrades, Sett tsked. Good, but hardly what I was looking for. ¡°Ah well,¡± he mused. ¡°Suppose I¡¯ll try to level them up again, then.¡± After all, it was hardly that difficult to find a few more kings.
The next year for Sett was rather routine. A bit of lazing about. A bit of research into some of his side projects. And then some more king killing. Of course, he couldn¡¯t go too fast. For one thing, the Regicide title only seemed to count if you killed your own king. A great deal of time was spent crafting proper backstories and applying for citizenships. It was at times like these that Sett was glad he¡¯d spent a good half-century on body-morphing magics. He¡¯d made do with illusions before then, but the damned things were far more finicky in his opinion. Even past the need to be a right and proper citizen, it took some time to vet each of his targets, both for any potential problems that might arise from killing them and from an ethical perspective. After all, like he¡¯d noted with king whatever-his-name was, Sett wasn¡¯t a monster. He was very careful to only kill monarchs that were already on their deathbeds, or, failing that, were likely to be disposed of in the next century or so. Likewise, he only ended entire royal bloodlines if he suspected they would likely die out in the next five centuries. At that point, he was just slightly expediting the process. Practically a rounding error! And by virtue of well-liked kings rarely being disposed of, he generally kept his hands off the rulers that people actually liked, or so he told himself. Truly, as far as toppling monarchs went, Sett was essentially a saint. As for the why of it all, it was half to grow stronger, half to test a handful of theories he had. Over the multiple millennia Sett had lived through, his boredom had led him to take on a handful of students throughout the years. Invariably, they would all find their own passions, be it magitech, the gods, hunting down new classes, finding new skills, or simply ¡°magic¡± in and of itself. Sett¡¯s own area of interest, however, was slightly different. He was interested mainly in the system itself. More specifically, his niche was the title system and the effects of Prestige. Presently, he was busy collecting data for a thesis on how rarer titles interacted with other titles at higher levels. He was fairly certain, for instance, that if he got a few king-killing titles to high enough levels, they¡¯d be able to do more than boost his damage against literal kings. His hope was that they would start extending to even the concept of kings ¡ª by level 70, it was rare to see anyone who didn¡¯t have at least one grandiose title like Queen of Infernos or The Slumbering King. In fact, some fools even had classes with ¡°king¡± in their names. What exactly that would look like, however ¡ª if he¡¯d be able to deal extra damage to them, seal off their titles, or start ignoring any skills from ruler-based classes ¡ª he wasn¡¯t sure. After all, not many people had killed enough monarchs to gain the relevant titles, and those who had weren¡¯t generally the most approachable bunch. And so it had come to this. Good old field research. ¡°Well, no time like the present!¡± It had been a few months since his last hit, and he¡¯d finally managed to find another good target. Over the course of hours, he went through the painstaking motions of morphing his form exactly the way he wanted it to look, covering up any small imperfections with illusions where needed. When at last he was done, he looked the part of a trustworthy if somewhat boring dwarven merchant, brimming with a bushy-bearded charisma. As ready as he¡¯d ever be, the great Magus Sett teleported a half-day¡¯s trek away from his next target¡¯s capital, a wagon of goods behind him. He¡¯d purposely chosen a remote area to reduce the chances of being seen, nothing but a dusty road and painfully boring rolling fields around him. Despite that precaution, the very moment he appeared, Sett knew something was wrong. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Very wrong, in fact. Before he could put words to what he was feeling, a crescent of ever-so-subtly distorted space shot towards him. It was all he could do to turtle up, sand growing from his skin into a thin shell even as he infused his hasty barrier with insulating spatial mana. The attack ¡ª for that¡¯s what it certainly was ¡ª washed over him, leaving him slightly jarred but ultimately breaking upon his defenses. At the same time, a rich and jovial voice called out. ¡°Ho ho! And I¡¯d thought I might take you by surprise with that one. Not much around here that can even sense that attack let alone respond to it. Good! I would have been disappointed if you were weak.¡± Clearing the sand from his eyes, Sett risked a glance at his assailant. While looks could be deceiving, and doubly so the higher leveled one got, what he saw didn¡¯t fill him with confidence. Standing tall with a veritable mane of golden hair and a full build that would normally indicate a warrior class was a man so richly adorned that Sett could hardly understand what he was looking at. And as someone who¡¯d spent the past few years ¡°touring¡± throne rooms, that was saying something. Every inch of his body was covered in enchanted clothes, armor, and trinkets, with metals so rare that a gram would be worth a king¡¯s ransom and spun from fabrics woven from the hairs of species that might as well have been myths. Against his better judgment, Sett Identified the man, his heightened Intelligence put to the test as he was forced to sift through dozens of obfuscation notifications from whatever gear the man was wearing. Still, even if he was outclassed in the wealth department, Sett prided himself on his identification. He was a man who wished to know everything, and his skills showed it. When at last the skill finished, he gave it good odds he was looking at the man¡¯s real information. Emperor Diorus, Level 83 Heaven-Blessed Spatial Sovereign With how far he¡¯d leveled his identification skills, he was met with a barrage of other information, but that single line alone was all he needed. I need to leave. Proud as he was, Sett hadn¡¯t stayed alive as long as he had by picking losing fights. Even with all his years, he¡¯d only managed to reach level 72, and though he was well-accustomed to hitting above his weight class, he doubted the gap between them would be surmountable. Still, it wasn¡¯t as if he could simply teleport away. Not right in front of a spatial mage. And even if he did manage to escape, the fact that the emperor was here in the first place meant he had some way of finding Sett if he wanted to. He had no desire to repeat this experience a few months down the line. Diplomacy then. Or at least keep him talking long enough to come up with some sort of plan. Against every instinct in his body, Sett forced himself to grin, waving cheerily. ¡°Hello there, friend! Always a pleasure to see someone else who¡¯s studied spatial magic. Might there be some sort of misunderstanding I could clear up? I won¡¯t claim to be free of enemies, but I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve made any quite like you.¡± In fact, Sett was very careful to not meddle with anything that even remotely smelled like it could piss off anyone of import. That was the entire reason he was here in this backwater where even kings never hit level 50. ¡°Ah, I suppose this would look a touch odd from your standpoint. Does the name ¡®Katheritaxis¡¯ ring a bell, perhaps?¡± Naturally, it did not. Who would have such a dumb name? Still, judging by the emperor¡¯s expectant look, Sett determined that such a response would likely be unappreciated. Perhaps seeing him struggle, Diorus threw him a bone. ¡°About yea high,¡± he said while motioning with his hand. ¡°Wears a crown. Sits in a throne room. Or at least he used to when he was alive, I suppose.¡± Ah! Well, actually, that didn¡¯t narrow it down much, but by some quick process of elimination, Sett managed to figure out which king it must have been. He replayed his act of regicide in his mind, eager to determine what could have possibly sparked a man as powerful as the emperor to come after him. Though he tended to forget the drivel that they all spewed, some of the king¡¯s final words finally came back to him. As the pieces slowly fell into place, a sense of dread washed over him only overshadowed by his genuine bafflement. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious. Please don¡¯t tell me this is concerning that awful line about ¡®Do you know who my great great great granduncle is?¡¯ That can¡¯t be you, can it?¡± After all, what were the odds? Emperor Diorus snapped his fingers, his warm smile never leaving his face. ¡°The very one! Now, normally I wouldn¡¯t chase you down for something like that, least of all personally. The number of relatives I have could likely fill a few cities at this point. The thing is, though, I liked that one. Favorite great, great, great grand-nephew, as it were. Even body-morphed him and arranged for him to take over some low-leveled country to get some rulership experience, you know? So I find myself a bit peeved, to tell you the truth.¡± Had demons had the capability to sweat like so many of the inferior races, then Sett would have been sweating right about then. ¡°It seems I¡¯ve made a rather grave lapse in judgment then. I will naturally be happy to recompense you for your loss.¡± One did not reach the heights that Sett had without developing a strong ego, and it chafed at him to wring his hands and wheedle as he was. Even greater than his pride, however, was his sense of self-preservation. Still as joyful as ever, the emperor slammed his fist down, a spatial ripple radiating outwards from the motion. ¡°No,¡± he decreed. ¡°Although, I am capable of being merciful. If you surrender now, I would be content to simply lock you away for two-or-so-hundred years. What say you?¡± Indeed. What do say I? Waste a few centuries for killing some snot-nosed brat with no guarantee the emperor wouldn¡¯t strike him dead whenever he wished? Or rely on his own skills to fight or escape? As keen as he was on saving his skin, Sett had a limit. The answer here was clear. Emperor or not, let¡¯s see how you handle this, hmm? With no further fanfare, Sett began his assault. As simply as breathing, Sett commanded the earth around him. In an entire kilometer radius, it crumbled and compacted, bursting upwards. The tiny grains immediately obscured the emperor¡¯s view, though that was only a small perk. Half of the sand went to Sett, encasing him in an unassailable fortress which he rapidly imbued with every flavor of mana he could. The other half shot towards the emperor, a healthy dose of class skills and spatial mana hopefully keeping him locked down. Even as he directed the sand, he was casting nearly a dozen other spells at the same time. For all they were an odd choice for his Arcane Entomber class, Sett had leveled his mental and soul magics far above what most could hope to compete with, as was common for those of his demonic ilk. With a dash of illusion magic thrown in, he placed a number of decoys through the plains, each with a false mind and soul to throw the emperor off. To add to the effect, he commanded a single decoy to speak. ¡°Though it pains me to say it, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to decline your kind offer.¡± It should be enough. Even for someone at his level. So thought, Sett masked his own mind, soul, body, cloaking himself in as faint a shroud of spatial magic as he could. When he was confident the emperor would be overwhelmed by his attacks and faux clones, Sett at last began to cast a long-range teleportation spell. Spatial mage or not, Diorus had little chance of detecting his working, let alone interfering. With a smirk, Sett completed the spell, making good on his escape plans. Space warped and twisted around him, whisking him far away from the still-entombed emperor. Or, that had been the plan, at least. ¡°Ah! A wonderful showing. Thank you for making this entertaining for me, at least.¡± Unharmed, the emperor stood with a single arm raised high. Gripped firmly in his hand was the neck of a demon. Sett writhed and squirmed, activating dozens of skills in unison, but to no avail. ¡°Believe me that I would enjoy a few more bouts if I could, but I¡¯m already shirking far too many duties to come out here and play with you. Good night, king killer.¡± Space rushed in from all sides, gripping Sett like an omnidirectional vise. From every angle, it pressed down and down until Sett knew no more.
An unknown amount of time later, Sett regained consciousness. Like every other time he¡¯d ever woken up, it was a jarring experience: Demons, as a rule, did not sleep. To be unconscious in the first place generally spelled some form of trouble, and before his mind could fully start up, he was filled with nothing so much as shock. Hah. But then again, why should I be surprised? He was a mage. A high-leveled soul mage, too. Of course he had a few last tricks up his sleeves. Though he¡¯d be weakened for some time, he was likely safe and sound in his study right now. Still, his resurrection had really taken more than usual from him this time, hadn¡¯t it? Far weaker than he¡¯d expected to be, Sett opened his eyes and stretched as far as he could. This, however, proved to be not very far, as his limbs were rudely jerked to a stop. He first took in the many chains which sprouted from his body like branches from a tree. As he did so, he couldn¡¯t fail to notice the spell circles beneath him either. He drank in the sight of them, his Grandmaster Spell Insight quickly unraveling the complex ritual he was now caught in. When at last he¡¯d determined its purpose, only two words came to mind. ¡°Well,¡± he huffed out. ¡°Shit.¡± B4 C4: Stuck The room, or perhaps more aptly, holding cell, that Sett found himself in was nothing if not boring. Large, sure, but outside its ridiculous size and the spell circles etched into the granite floor, there was absolutely nothing of interest. It thus was quite notable, then, when the space in front of him shifted, and a man appeared as if from nothing. Given the circumstances, the identity of the man was hardly surprising, yet Sett still reflected that it was the last person he wished to see right now. ¡°Good morning! My, you must have been quite tired. You slept for some time, you know.¡± He mentioned it offhandedly, as though a parent remarking upon their errant child¡¯s poor sleep habits. Having little desire for pleasantries or word games at the moment, Sett cut to the chase. ¡°You didn¡¯t kill me.¡± Diorus¡¯ face lit up in faux shock. ¡°Kill you? Come now, you must know better than that. What are you worth to me dead, a pittance of experience points? Barring me having some sort of class that would give quests for killing you, that would be a horrible, terrible waste of such a high-leveled mage.¡± As if to deliver an extra-juicy secret, the emperor leaned in towards Sett¡¯s chained form. ¡°And besides, we both know people at our level have all sorts of nasty surprises that trigger on their death. Hells, I wouldn¡¯t put it past a mage like you to have an automatic resurrection effect or two set up. I know I do.¡± Blast. There goes that surprise. Then again, he should have expected Diorus would know what he was up to. He wasn¡¯t some level 60 hedge mage. A level 84 ¡ª and an emperor besides ¡ª would be no stranger to how the real world worked. ¡°So what, you¡¯re just going to let me rot here and fuel your little mana siphoning array here?¡± Sett gestured broadly to the spell diagram beneath them. True, it had a number of more obscure functions, parts of which were to suppress and trap him, but the base of it simply drained his mana and stored it elsewhere. To put it in magitech terms, Sett was, as best he could tell, just a giant battery. It seemed a waste of his talents, but then again, unlike low-leveled mages who mainly pulled in mana from the environment, Sett¡¯s soul actually created mana. Off the top of his head, he couldn¡¯t think of many things that generated mana nearly as well as a high-leveled mage¡¯s soul, either. ¡°Ah, always so lovely to deal with real mages. Last few people I stuck in one of these didn¡¯t even know what it was, if you can believe that. Then again, it¡¯s not as though I made it. Perks of being an emperor, hmm? I have people for that.¡± Is this how he always is? If so, Sett weeped for his poor subjects. Still, that was the least of his concerns. ¡°So? What sort of inane spell are you using me to power?¡± With any luck, he could try to sabotage it. Rather than answer his question, Diorus posed a new one. ¡°Tell me. Explore the area with your spatial magic. Where exactly do you think we are?¡± Not in much of a position to deny, Sett did just that. Suppressed as he was, his space magic felt pitiful relative to what he was used to, but the answer was so immediately obvious, it didn¡¯t matter. In the far distance, he could feel space abruptly stop in every direction. ¡°We¡¯re in a space cut off from anything else. A pocket dimension?¡± It was a decent sized one, too. Nothing earth-shattering, but at least on the level of a smaller nation. ¡°But what does that have to do with anything?¡± Wordlessly, Diorus warped the space around his hand, producing a perfectly spherical orb. Before he could explain, Sett identified it, though he already had a sneaking suspicion of what he would find. Artificial Dungeon Core On use, transform one pocket dimension into a dungeon. Unlike natural dungeons or settlement dungeons, artificial dungeons do not come with any easy source of energy to power them. The level, type, loot, area covered, and most other characteristics of the dungeon will be solely dictated by the type, quantity, and quality of the energy source provided. ¡°Of all things, that?¡± Sett did a few rough calculations on the spot, and what he got back made no sense. The amount of time he¡¯d need to spend here to power a dungeon that would even interest someone at the emperor¡¯s level was absurd. Hundreds of millenia if not more. Worse yet, respawning monsters would take up a fair amount of energy. Once someone ran the entire dungeon enough times, they¡¯d need to wait centuries for it to fully recharge. Seeing the lack of understanding in Sett¡¯s eyes, Diorus amicably chuckled. ¡°All those brains and you can¡¯t figure out the simple things, can you? I¡¯m an emperor. It¡¯s not for me; it¡¯s for all the brats of mine!¡± He said it so matter-of-factly as though creating dungeon worlds for your great-great-great-great grandchildren was a normal thing to do. ¡°I try to keep a few dozen of these on hand, usually good for levels 20 through 25. Then every once in a while, I¡¯ll take the new members of my family that show the most promise, and I¡¯ll stick ¡®em in here for a decade or two. The entire place is massively time dilated, so a decade for them is just two years back home. Gives them plenty of time to train. In fact, Katheritaxis spent some time in one of these back in the day.¡± For the first time, Diorus¡¯ smile faltered ever so slightly as he leaned in to pat Sett on the cheek. ¡°And now that he¡¯s dead, you¡¯ll be helping to train his successors. How¡¯s that for some karma, eh?¡± At this point, it was all Sett could do to sigh. Fine. He¡¯d learned a lesson here. Whenever he got out, he would be far more careful about the kings he killed. ¡°Do you truly think I¡¯m going to sit put for the thousand or so years it would take to charge up a dungeon of this size to that level?¡± Sett raised his chains as if to show them off. ¡°Restrained or not, these can¡¯t hold me forever, can they? And even if they could, do you think I¡¯ll have no one looking for me?¡± Largely a bluff, of course. He doubted he would have anyone looking for him unless one of those students of his ever came begging for a favor. Diorus didn¡¯t need to know that, though. Somehow, Sett¡¯s words only seemed to make the emperor happier. ¡°Ah, but that¡¯s the best part! I don¡¯t want anyone sneaking into my pocket dimensions and killing off my heirs, do I? Of course not! The solution? A whole cadre of soul mages works with me to place the spatial locks on each pocket dimension.¡± He paused here as if to make sure he had Sett¡¯s full attention, though considering he had little else to focus on, it was hardly needed. ¡°Absolutely no one with an evolved class can enter or leave this place. In fact, once I leave and seal it up properly, not even I can without using years¡¯ worth of mana to tear the entire lock down. Am I worried about you escaping? The opposite! Please, by all means, try. I¡¯ll even give you an instant pardon and your choice of treasure if you tell me how you did it.¡± Mad bastard. ¡°So that¡¯s it? You¡¯re just sticking me here for a thousand years to charge up your damned dungeon?¡± He had things to do! Kings to kill! More than that, there was the indignity of it all. How was this the punishment for killing one little monarch? It was an abuse of power was what it was. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Diorus pretended to take his complaints seriously ¡ª or at least, Sett assumed the man was pretending until the space before him warped once again. In its place now stood an ornate black pedestal, the only thing atop it a gray gem which endlessly produced a plume of smoke. ¡°You know, I don¡¯t normally like to do this. It¡¯s not nearly as efficient. But I have a soft spot for mages with a few levels of spatial magic. If you use this, it will capture the energy you let off and can charge the array with it. You¡¯ll even be able to escape the spatial lock!¡± Obviously with terms that good, there was a catch, and just one glance at the gem was enough to tell him what it was. Sundering Gem Sunder¡¯s the user¡¯s current class, resetting them to whatever their class was before they evolved it. If the user has an unevolved class, removes the user¡¯s class. All experience for class quests will be stripped from the user. Leveling penalties will be applied to any skills that are no longer class-aligned. On choosing a new class, experience penalties will apply to any class quests that the user completed retroactively as part of their current class. Additionally, most progress or counter-based class quests of the new class will be reset to 0%. He could reset his classes and escape the spatial lock. Left unsaid was that he¡¯d be pitifully weak afterwards, but that was likely part of the point. The penalties associated with sundering a class were no small matter. By the time he returned to his current power level, the emperor would be so powerful that Sett wouldn¡¯t even be able to dream of revenge. Worse yet, it wasn¡¯t as if Sett had no enemies of his own. He doubted he would survive the year if he was reset to that low a level. Against his better judgment, Sett spat. Rather than offend the emperor, it only seemed to amuse him. As if to taunt Sett, the sound of the man¡¯s laughter filled the room. ¡°Well, that¡¯s about it. There¡¯s a few obfuscation spells that should hide this area from any of my nosier descendants, but if you see one in a thousand years, do treat them well, eh?¡± Unceremoniously and without letting Sett get a final word in edgewise, Emperor Diorus popped out of existence. Nor did he come back, either. Not that year. Or the next. Or the one after that. Too stubborn to take his only way out, Sett forced himself into a deep torpor. A meditative hibernation, as it were. And in that fashion, six hundred years passed in the blink of an eye. Until, at last, something caused him to stir from his slumber. How curious. A visitor. And not just one, but three? What a lovely day this was shaping up to be.
When the vision released its grip on the three of them, even as she lifted herself from the ground, Cal took the opportunity to point one of her daggers at the mage. ¡°Shit man, has anyone ever told you that you¡¯re kind of an awful person?¡± ¡°Why, yes. Would you believe I¡¯ve even had a number of kings tell me that? As a side note, I¡¯m fairly certain you¡¯re royalty of some sort. You wouldn¡¯t happen to be able to give me a citizenship, would you?¡± Terrible person or not, Sett was likely their only way home, and the vision had painted a rather bleak vision of their future. Forestalling any further bickering, Verin cut the two off. ¡°As we are all under level 25, none of us have evolved our classes yet. Am I to understand this would allow you to send us home?¡± Tess hadn¡¯t been healed, but as long as they weren¡¯t stuck here, they could work something out eventually. ¡°Absolutely!¡± Sett agreed readily. Quick to dash her hopes, he amended himself. ¡°But it¡¯s just like healing your friend. Perfectly doable if you get me out of these chains, and otherwise, not a chance. Punching a hole through a spatially locked pocket dimension is, after all, not a trivial matter.¡± Under her breath, Verin cursed. ¡°Fine. Then do you have a way for us to free you? Perhaps we could disable this ritual you find yourself trapped in?¡± Certainly breaking a ritual must be far simpler than creating it, no? ¡°Sadly, about half of these spell circles are specifically there to prevent you from doing so. In fact, at your level, even just looking at the ritual for too long is likely to hurt you. See? She¡¯s been trying since you woke up.¡± Sett lazily gestured towards Tess who had never bothered to pull herself from the ground after the vision. Instead, she sat there, head tilted down at the ritual. Belatedly, Verin noticed the thin trickle of blood coming from her eyes. ¡°Stop that!¡± Hastily, she yanked Tess up, instantly feeling bad for manhandling her that way. If Tess minded one way or the other, she didn¡¯t show it, making no move to clean the blood from her face. Evidently less tied to the cleanliness of her clothing, Cal went to work, using her own sleeves to rub Tess¡¯s blood off. Even as important as it was to assess her options calmly and carefully, Verin couldn¡¯t help but feel a hint of displeasure start to boil over. ¡°Do you have any actual advice for how to proceed, or are you content to watch the Lady Tess bleed out her eyes?¡± As best he could encumbered by his chains, Sett shrugged. ¡°Truthfully? I can only think of two options. The spell diagram itself is ironclad, but theoretically, it has to be storing all of my mana somewhere. If you can destroy those storage sites, the ritual won¡¯t have anywhere to offload my mana to, and it should fail eventually. Of course, there¡¯s likely multiple storage sites, and it would be weeks of travel to each one of them through a dungeon built to challenge parties at level 20, minimum.¡± Without her Etiquette skill, Verin reflected she would likely be gritting her teeth right about then. With it, however, she merely nodded. ¡°That would be¡­ unideal, to say the least. And the other solution?¡± She was severely hoping that he¡¯d chosen to save the best for last. ¡°Why, simply train up your own spatial magic until one of you is powerful enough to escape by your own magic. Mind you, by ¡®one of you,¡¯ I mainly mean my wonderful comatose grand-apprentice. I don¡¯t believe it would be class aligned for any of you but her.¡± Whatever last vestiges of hope Verin had been holding onto withered away as she examined Tess¡¯s dead-eyed expression. ¡°Just to be clear, then: We are trapped for the rest of our lives unless we manage to free you or get Tess¡¯s spatial magic high enough. In the meantime, we¡¯ll be stuck in a dungeon where we never know when or by what we¡¯ll be attacked, save for the fact that it will likely be stronger than us. Does that sound correct to you?¡± Verin said a silent prayer to whatever gods were listening that he¡¯d correct her. And at least partially, he did. ¡°Ehh, mostly true. Hard to say about the whole ¡®rest of your lives¡¯ part. If you can make it a few more centuries, maybe you could hitch a ride home with the emperor¡¯s kids. And you¡¯re definitely wrong about the ¡®always getting attacked¡¯ part. There should be some wards around this area that I imagine you only broke through because you had my locator badge guiding you through. The mana in this area is also going to be the lowest in the entire dungeon due to the ritual siphoning it away. Add that together, and the surrounding area should be clear of monsters for a good distance.¡± Verin readily ignored the comment about surviving a few centuries, but the latter information was actually more helpful than she¡¯d anticipated. If nothing else, they had a safe zone to brainstorm in. Perhaps in other circumstances, she would even feel emboldened by the challenge. She was away from home. Free from the constant balls, tea parties, and noble pomp. Free to fight and level and strike her own path with friends there to help her along. If she was being generous, she could even frame the entire thing as an extended vacation with Tess. However, therein lay the exact problem. Verin took in the sight of her first serious friend, the only color on her face from the poorly cleaned blood smudges on her cheeks. There would be no getting through this dungeon with Tess in this state. ¡°I am aware you are presently limited in what you are capable of; however, is there absolutely nothing you can do for her? The two of us will not be freeing you without her aid.¡± She would have said the same even if it were a lie if just to convince him to help. Unfortunately, it happened to be the honest truth, as well. The demon silently judged his grand-apprentice for a time, until, with a beleaguered sigh, he caved. ¡°Very well. With this damned ritual, I¡¯ll need some time to recover after I use this much mana, but I suppose it can¡¯t be helped. Just don¡¯t expect a miracle, hmm? If this even works at all, she still won¡¯t be back to normal. Do you understand?¡± Rare though it was, Verin bowed. ¡°Please.¡± Thus confirmed, the grand magus reached his chained limb as far as it would stretch until it came to rest directly on Tess¡¯s head. For a full minute, mana flooded out through out of him and into her, until, at last-
I gasped. B4 C5: Empty Sensation crashed into me all at once, the unfamiliarity of it sending pulses of terror through my body. A glimpse of an unfamiliar man with unnatural reddish skin. Who was he? I squirmed away from his grip with a guttural, inhuman cry. Two women, grabbing me. Catching me. They felt¡­ comfortable? I knew their names, I thought. I mentally grasped for the knowledge only to come up blank. But then again, what was my name? And where was I? The women were quickly forgotten about as I began to spiral deeper and deeper into the depth of my ignorance. In a sickening, lurching, gyrating mess, the world began to swim. My sensations, finally revived from the dead, receded back into nothing, until, blissfully, darkness swallowed me once more.
I remained suspended in that simple nothingness for time unknown, making no move to escape. Not that I would have even known how to try, but my current state was easy. Unproblematic. Beautiful in its lack of choices, decisions, tasks, burdens. Slowly, however, nothingness gave way to the unpleasant itch of somethingness. A skill, I thought. I could feel it pulling stuff and things together, headless of my desire for it to leave me alone. Unbidden, the name of the skill impressed itself upon me: God¡¯s Mind. That stuff soon resolved into memories, those things, the pieces of my mind. The skill, it seemed, would not let me forget. It seemed foolish, I thought. Like a surgeon, painstakingly stitching together a cadaver. And yet, for all that such a thing should never work, bit by bit, it did. Flashes of information assaulted me. A name. A face. Parents, a home. A god, a new world. A dungeon, a boss. A corpse. And another. And another. And another. My trickle of memories widened into a stream and then a flood until all at once, they crashed into me, even from after my time with Warram. At last, I remembered. Spurred on by my memories, the world shifted.
Black and purple. In that, my current surroundings were a step up from the previous. I¡¯d gained an entire new color. Somehow, this fact did not excite me. Despite the new color addition, the current landscape was hardly much more to look at than the last. Everywhere around me was rubble. Cracked and broken pieces of impossibly dark stone, deep enough in some spots to bury me fully. About half of them sported glowing, vein-like purple lines, the same color as the thick, foggy miasma that hung in the air. Belatedly, I realized I knew this place. It was mine, after all. The Stygian Citadel. A skill that was supposed to be Legendary. A skill that was supposed to let me peer into my own mind. All I saw now, however, was shambles. In something of a fugue state, I rose, picking up one of the shattered stones. As I moved about, the ground beneath me shifted uneasily, and upon further inspection, I found it just as damaged and cracked as the rest of this place. Thicker purple lines connected the otherwise disconnected black plates that I walked on, the wobbly latticework the only thing keeping me from plummeting downwards. I could feel a familiar resonance from that mental lattice, realizing that it was drawing strength from my skills. Whatever spell the grand magus had cast, it seemed to redirect all my mental skills, eschewing the wall and the mindling defenders that were supposed to be here to instead keep this place stable. At least for a certain definition of ¡°stable,¡± that was. I picked up another stone, turning it about, bringing it together with the piece I already held. No good. Another. And then another. No good. I lost myself to the task at hand, all other thoughts kept at bay as I searched. Not here. Not there. If time had meant anything to me in this strange mental space of mine, perhaps the search would have lasted for months. More, maybe. But at last! At last, I found it. Two stones, broken, destroyed, shattered. I fit them together, their edges aligning perfectly, two puzzle pieces finally finding their companion. And yet. There was no dramatic flash of light. They did not fuse together to form one unblemished whole. As soon as I set them down, they broke back apart, no less broken than they¡¯d been at the start. I looked around at the thousands ¡ª no, tens or possibly even hundreds of thousands ¡ª of pieces. In that moment, it felt like all of them had been piled onto my shoulders, and the weight of it all brought me to my knees. Finally, I was forced to accept it. I was ruined. Not just broken. Broken implied that something was fixable. Reversible. This was far beyond that. Staring out at the remains of my collapsed mind, I knew without a doubt that there would be no returning to who I¡¯d been before. I wanted to mourn that fact, to cry, but the tears wouldn¡¯t come. It was different from Trauma Suppression, though. There, the fear, the sadness had always been present, just tightly locked away. Tamped down. Now, however, I couldn¡¯t even find them. It felt like something fundamental had been stripped from me, and its absence made me less of a human than I¡¯d been before. In a word, I felt empty. I sank down into the rubble, no real intention of ever getting up. And perhaps I never would have had nothing changed. But something did change. A pair of soft glows in the distance. With limbs that suddenly felt dry and desiccated, I pulled myself up and examined the two, recognizing them at once. Minds. Cal. Verin. That¡¯s right. They¡¯re with me right now, aren¡¯t they? Even if it was a lie, they¡¯d probably want to know that I was okay. Did I care? In the end, I decided I wasn¡¯t sure. The old Tess would have, though. She would have cared quite a bit, I thought. Even if I was ruined, I could pretend otherwise, couldn¡¯t I? Perhaps, for now, that would be enough. And so, with a surge of will that I¡¯d thought far beyond me only moments before¡­ I awoke.
As I came to, the previously untrodden, loamy soil I found myself lying in proved a surprisingly fine bed. Prone on the ground as I was, my head was pointed directly upwards, and on opening my eyes, I was greeted by this land¡¯s alien sky. As if trying to ease me into its strangeness, the patch of mana directly above me was blue with swirls of white and black that could almost be called clouds if one were generous. I spent a while trying to decide if it was beautiful or not before conceding that I didn¡¯t know. I thought it might be. Perhaps I¡¯d ask Verin to make sure. I pushed myself up into a seated position, only to discover that the area before me wasn¡¯t empty. A small amount of meat had been left out for me on a bed of leaves, God¡¯s Eye letting me know it was from some sort of rabbit. The fact that the others had managed to catch it likely meant that I¡¯d been out for longer than expected. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. A few bites revealed that the meat was equally blackened on the outside as it was raw within. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to care enough, mechanically swallowing the rest of it down and trusting my Constitution to figure it out. Out of habit, I tried to activate my Cleansing Shower Gem Pendant both to clean and hydrate myself. It was only then that I realized it was still in my spatial bag, never having been put back on after Warram removed it. It was here that I was thankful for my muted emotions, as the realization would have hurt far more otherwise. Ultimately, it was fine. The Charisma threshold would keep me sweat and odor free. As for fluid intake, I cast Conjure Water, washing down the rabbit by drinking directly from the ball that formed before me. At the same time, I scanned my surroundings, easily spotting both Cal and Verin. Both were busy, and neither had noticed me yet. A wide stretch of the plains had been laid bare, and even now, they expanded it. Whether it was to collect the tall grass or simply to make sure nothing could sneak up on us, I wasn¡¯t sure, but stalk after stalk fell to dagger and blade of ice alike. I considered calling out, but it felt like a great deal of effort. They would notice me eventually, I was sure. While I¡¯d decided to make sure they knew I was okay, a minute or two¡¯s difference wouldn¡¯t kill them. Besides, there was something calming in the repetitive rhythmic motions, the slow but steady progress. Rather than immediately alerting them, I turned to quell the subtle itch of the system which gently prodded at me. You have notifications to review. View now? While not entirely sure I wanted to see all of them, belatedly, I hit yes. Despite having already looked at most of them, I first scrolled back to look at my notifications from the dungeon run. For how momentously hellish the entire experience had ended up, it almost seemed disrespectful how normal they seemed. My advancement to the Apprentice stage of Fire Magic was there, along with the singular level I¡¯d grabbed in Detect Secret. More notably, I¡¯d rocketed all the way up to level 15 in Mining, the three levels I grabbed in the dungeon being unheard of considering the skill wasn¡¯t class-aligned. The bulk of that leveling was from the eternity I¡¯d spent mining the mithril ore that was needed to enter the hidden room. Looking back, I couldn¡¯t help but wish we¡¯d just moved on. The secret room itself didn¡¯t come with many notifications, although having been reminded of it, I recalled the ill-fated weapon I¡¯d received. I¡¯d been storing it in one of my bound weapon slots, allowing me to summon it at will. Unchanged from when I¡¯d seen it first, it was a nondescript block of black rock. God¡¯s Eye, however, had more to say. Imprinting Shell A casing of solidified magma surrounding a weapon undergoing a skill imprint. When the skill imprinting process has been completed, the casing will crumble to reveal the weapon within. Remaining imprint time: 10 days Of course, even before I had the thought, I knew I didn¡¯t mean it, but I was of half a mind to throw the damned thing away. None of the deaths that had happened were simple things ¡ª they¡¯d been many steps in the making ¡ª but if there was a singular cause to it all, it had been this thing. It felt wrong that I should essentially get a reward from their deaths. At the same time, it felt just as twisted to throw it away, as if none of the suffering that had followed was for anything. Not that I knew how Nella or Oachin would feel about it, but remembering how slack-jawed Emin had been at the metals that went into the weapon, the mild-mannered researcher would have probably sworn up a storm if I tried to trash it. Plus, Alara was still alive. If it turned out to be valuable, I still owed her half the value, didn¡¯t I? Right. She¡¯d be fine, and I was going to get out of here. Positive thoughts. Pain Resistance has reached level 11! Heat Resistance has reached level 9! Chill has reached level 10! Frost Magic has reached level 20! Heat Resistance has reached level 10! Archery has reached level 14! Death Magic has reached level 18! Axes has reached level 15! The first few were just from surviving the magma floor. The Archery was from the multiple supercharged arrows I¡¯d fired at the boss, whereas the Death Magic and Axes were from the screaming and hacking away I¡¯d done to end the fight. Rather than dwell on that, I focused on the fact that an entire three skills had hit milestones, though none of them ended up being too exciting. Chill gained an effect that made it more pleasant when used to regulate the temperature of living things. Heat Resistance gained a resistance not just to heat, but to burns as well. Frost Magic granted my spells, both offensive and defensive, some resistance to fire and melting. Along with the level in Frost Magic also came the corresponding class quest completion, and then at last the dungeon notifications came to an end. You have defeated a Reforged War-Titan! Based on your contribution to the fight and spread across all surviving members, you have been granted 1108xp. Congratulations! You have cleared the first floor of the Sylum Metal Mine! For clearing a dungeon floor for the first time, you have gained +5 Prestige! With everything dungeon-related now over with, I knew an even darker set of notifications was coming up. It was almost a relief, then, when my reading was interrupted. ¡°Lady Tess!¡± Finally sparing a glance behind her, Verin spotted me at once. It was only through every point of my Perception that I was able to discern the slightest widening of her eyes. Abandoning her task, Verin started to hurry over, forcing me to abandon any ideas of finishing my notifications. Her low Dexterity, however, was no match for Cal¡¯s who had started bolting for me the moment Verin cried out. Before I could think to protest, a finger was digging into my cheek as Cal poked and prodded at me. ¡°So, does she talk now, or was the demon mage full of shit?¡± I thought that perhaps I was supposed to be annoyed at her were I not able to detect the faint worry lines she was doing her best to hide. Verin, however, was less amused when she finally caught up. ¡°Stop that.¡± She swatted Cal¡¯s finger away, lowering herself to where I sat. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± It was a question that I wasn¡¯t sure I could fully answer yet, though I sensed their tension building with each passing second I remained silent. Deciding to be as positive as I could without actively lying, I responded succinctly. ¡°Better. I think.¡± The three words were enough for Cal to swoop down and crush me into a side hug. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, Verin opted to do the same from the other side, if much more gently. ¡°Good to have you back! Don¡¯t tell her this, but I was a little worried about making it through this with only Verin as a conversation partner. She¡¯s nice, but she acts like she¡¯s a princess or something, you know?¡± Not an ounce of effort was made to lower her voice as she spoke. Making the classic mistake of playing into Cal¡¯s antics, Verin couldn¡¯t keep herself from responding. ¡°Apologies. I have the distinct sense I will regret asking, but, Lady Calilah, are you not a princess yourself?¡± As if anticipating the question, Cal wasted no time in firing off her response. ¡°Well yeah. But I¡¯m one of the cool princesses, you know?¡± Though she managed to keep the bulk of her exasperation off her face, Verin shot me a look as if to say ¡°Do you see what you¡¯ve left me to put up with?¡± As fast as the look arrived, it departed, Verin shifting back into her usual professional demeanor. ¡°Certain ¡®cool princesses¡¯ aside, I believe we are both relieved to see you better, Lady Tess. Is there anything you presently require?¡± Was there? I wasn¡¯t sure. More and more, I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. I was pretty sure the old me would have found their back-and-forth amusing. Endearing, even. The new one didn¡¯t feel much of anything at the moment, nor was she feeling particularly up to pretending. At the same time, I was afraid that the longer they spent around me, the faster they would figure it out. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I worked out. ¡°I think¡­ I think I just need some time to process¡­ everything.¡± I pointedly decided to close my eyes, not wanting to see whatever flash of concern that might have caused. To their credits, though, the two were quick to let go of me. ¡°Very well, then. I do not believe anyone could fault you for that response. We will leave you be, though please do not hesitate to make your needs known should you have any.¡± ¡°What she said, but less stiffly. But also, if you get bored, just holler. I have, like, an entire year¡¯s worth of stories from my time living with a goddess, and I¡¯ve barely even gotten to brag about them to anyone yet.¡± Even as she finished speaking, Cal visibly recoiled as if forcibly struck with a novel new idea. ¡°Huh. Or I guess we could talk about you too? Not that your stories will possibly be as exciting as mine, but that could be fine, I guess.¡± With a muffled huff, Verin began to pull Cal away. Letting herself be dragged off, Cal hit me with a parting wink as she left. And then, at last, I was alone once more. As much as I¡¯d used ¡°processing¡± as an excuse to get some alone time, it was probably true that it was what I needed right now. I tried to pick out anything that I¡¯d been through recently, to reflect on it or seriously engage with it in some way. Instead, I felt my mind just sliding off the memories, not in any magical or skill-enforced way, but in a much more basic emotional sense. In the end, I decided to go with the much simpler route of finishing my notifications. That was also a sort of ¡°processing,¡± right? If perhaps something felt a touch off about that line of reasoning, I decided not to dwell on it. Having finished everything related to the dungeon, I wasn¡¯t thrilled to continue. Before I could get to my time with Warram, however, there was a surprisingly large block of notifications that I¡¯d hastily scrolled through but never registered. Congratulations! You have reached level 14! This much, I¡¯d seen already, along with the increase in Dexterity that had pushed me over the first Dexterity threshold. What I hadn¡¯t realized was just how important reaching that threshold would be to the system. In retrospect, though, perhaps I should have given its significance. Note: You have successfully passed the first threshold in every stat! Achievement gained: Ascendant B4 C6: Ascendant Ascendant You have surpassed the limits of a standard, non-enhanced member of your race in every dimension. Your body and mind have been baptized in and reformed by mana. You are on a path scarce few ever tread: A path to something greater. +500 Prestige Gain Ability: Divine Synergy Divine Synergy Though some in more obvious ways than others, every stat interacts with and enhances the rest. You have embraced this truth and taken it to the next level, becoming stronger in all manners. At each level, +1 to your lowest stat. +5% bonus to all experience gains and skill growth All first threshold bonuses have been strengthened. Note: These bonuses are not retroactive. Getting an achievement for passing all the first thresholds wasn¡¯t that surprising. The extent of the rewards, however, definitely was. Even as drained as I felt, I couldn¡¯t help but be a bit floored. Killing a Protagonist had netted me 250 Prestige. Not even counting the other bonuses, was this truly a feat worth double that? I tried to do the math to figure out just how rare the achievement was. With nine stats that started at 10, it would take 135 stat points to get them all up to 25. Assuming someone had a Rare class, they would get three stats per level from their class, two from their race, and then one point of Constitution. With six stats per level, that came out to¡­ 23 levels worth of stats? Certainly the achievement couldn¡¯t be that rare if it was possible to get it at level 24. Then again, who¡¯s willing to sink so many points into stats they don¡¯t need? It wasn¡¯t as though a warrior would throw 15 points into Wisdom even if they were level 50. Same with a mage and Dexterity or Endurance. Actually, maybe that¡¯s not the right way to think about it to begin with. Most stat points weren¡¯t free points, were they? They were often auto-assigned by someone¡¯s class or race. Constitution was easy considering everyone seemed to get a point each level. Outside of that, though, if you had a Rare class that gave points to Dexterity, Strength, and Endurance every level, and your race alternated between giving points to Intelligence and Wisdom every other level ¡ª an incredibly unlikely scenario to begin with ¡ª then you still wouldn¡¯t be touching Charisma, Luck, or Perception. If that Rare classer only got one free stat point per level, getting this achievement would require them to spend a full 45 levels worth of their free points, specifically into the stats that weren¡¯t helpful to their class. Of course, there were workarounds considering that you could get stats from boons, achievements, potions, and more, but those were hardly common occurrences. Plus, I doubted it would be easy to make it to level 46 in the first place if you kept dumping your free stats into areas that didn¡¯t help you as much. Huh. So outside of freaks like me and maybe some weird all-rounder classes, I guess this basically just doesn¡¯t happen? Regardless of why the achievement was considered so rare, it was undeniably a great benefit to me. Considering the bonuses weren¡¯t retroactive, getting it at such a low level was even better too. My math and musings had helped to take my mind off of some of the darker memories that came with my notifications, but as I moved on, I was plunged right back into the deep end. Pain Resistance has reached level 12! Bleed Resistance has reached level 11! Traum¡­??!on ?? ¡­ed 17. ?!x$$ ¡­ppresion has !!! 18? Trauma Suppression has reached level 17! Trauma Suppression has reached level 18! Warning: Skill instability detected! Further skill usage may result in skill integrity damage. ¡­ Pain Resistance has reached level 15! Bleed Resistance has reached level 13! Mental Resistance has reached level 12! More stable than I¡¯d been when receiving these notifications, I recalled exactly what methods of torture Warram had been using on me during each skill level, filing that information away. Maybe something to look into if I ever need to level those skills more. I was fairly certain there was something wrong with that thought, but I didn¡¯t care. Perhaps the fact that these notifications were not turning me into a blubbering mess was actually a sign of something wrong, but presently, I found myself glad that I could think about them so dispassionately. A few more notifications followed from when I¡¯d grabbed the Status Resistance class skill and learned Movement Impairment Resistance. Then, of course, there was the singular notification that repeated, over and over and over again. You have killed Warram¡¯Goss! You have killed Warram¡¯Goss! ¡­ You have killed Warram¡¯Goss! Even feeling far more emotionally shallow now, I couldn¡¯t help but nod as I read through the dozens of them. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re dead, Warram. Truly. And as if to compensate me for everything he¡¯d done, he¡¯d left a present behind as well. You have slain an Antagonist! You already have the Mark of the Antagonist. For killing another Antagonist, your mark has leveled, and you have gained the previous level¡¯s bonus effect. Bonus: +5% of all experience earned by the slain Antagonist, +1 to their highest stat Unsurprisingly, that stat turned out to be Charisma. As for the experience, it was a sizable chunk, but not life-changing, nowhere near enough to push me to the next level. Your mark has reached a new level: Mark of the Antagonist II +100 Prestige +1 Average Boon Note: As you have received this boon from a one-mark Antagonist, the quality of your boon may be downgraded. Bonus on next mark level: +5% of all experience earned by slain Antagonist, +2 to their highest stat, 1 random Antagonist-related skill The downgrade message was as unexpected as it was vague. It still said it was an Average Boon rather than being minor, but it would be worse than normal? It sounded like it wouldn¡¯t have happened had I killed a Protagonist or a more serious Antagonist. Perhaps perversely, that actually felt fitting to me: Even the system didn¡¯t think Warram was worth that much. You have been granted an Average Boon! Select now? I confirmed, knowing well that I wouldn¡¯t be doing any selection. As a Protagonist chosen by a god of luck, all boons will be randomly selected. Selecting¡­ Boon selected! Minor Class Token (Peace Restrictive) Strangely sentimental, if largely useless. I¡¯d received a Minor Class Token from my first Average Boon, which I¡¯d put to good use to get my class. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure what the restriction was about, but based on the earlier messages, it sounded like a penalty of some sort. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Regardless, it wasn¡¯t nearly as impressive as Warram¡¯s own boon that had brought him back to life, but presumably he¡¯d actually picked that option rather than having it randomly assigned like I had. I would have said ¡°some people had all the luck,¡± but then again, I was the Protagonist of a luck god, and he was¡­ kind of dead. I¡¯d slipped into my coma-like state shortly after killing him, and my notifications were intent on showing me just how how fucked up I¡¯d been. Trauma Suppression has received sufficient integrity damage to render it inoperable. Skill disabled. Note: You have received permanent mental damage! Note: You have received permanent soul damage! You have learned a skill: Soul Resistance Lessens all damage and negative effects to your soul. Note: Soul Resistance is compatible with the Stygian Citadel! Integrating skill. Additional effect: As your mind and your soul have been partially melded, resistance to one protects the other. 10% of your Soul Resistance is applied to your Mental Resistance. 10% of your Mental Resistance is applied to your Soul Resistance. I couldn¡¯t decide if I was supposed to be happy that I¡¯d gained such a rare skill or sad that I needed it in the first place. Still, I was a big fan of resistance skills, especially with how my own class skills strengthened them. As to be expected, there weren¡¯t many notable notifications for a while after that. At least not personal ones. Your settlement has survived a battle! A long list of casualties and damage reports followed which I quickly dismissed, along with a small reward of settlement points and Prestige. That was another matter I knew I had to reflect on given how much of the blame fell squarely on me, but much like most of the other serious matters, I could feel it all sliding off of me. At the very least, if I ever got out of here, I had a host of apologies to give. The notifications largely stopped after that, or at least they had until we¡¯d met the grand magus. One set in particular was helpful if a bit¡­ concerning. You have attempted to analyze a counterspelled spell diagram significantly past your skill level. You have taken mental damage. You are bleeding! Spell Insight has reached level 10! Spell Insight has reached level 11! Spell Insight has reached level 12! The augment I ended up getting for the skill was sadly worthless, only helping me better decipher Initiate rank spells. Considering my God¡¯s Mind-granted Understanding ability already seemed to do that, the augment was wasted on me. The levels were nice, at least, and while the mental damage was concerning, the very next notification allayed some of my worries on that front. Your mental damage has been partially healed! Your soul damage has been partially healed! All mental and soul skills have been redirected into maintaining the integrity of your mind and soul. Mental Resistance, Mental Magic, and Soul Resistance greatly reduced until fully healed. Increases to these skills may yield faster recovery times. It was much as I¡¯d already discovered, although it was nice to have it spelled out for me. Ultimately, that was all that I¡¯d expected from my notifications, and then some. It thus came as somewhat of a surprise when there was still one more set of notifications left. You have learned a new spell: Blip. Blip Teleports a small object a short distance. You have learned a new skill: Spatial Magic. Class Quest Completed: Learn a new advanced school of magic (Repeatable) +5000xp +2 class points Evidently, the grand magus was giving us the option to escape on our own if I could ever raise the skill high enough. How high would it need to go? Forty? Fifty? Given that I¡¯d yet to hit level 30 in any of my spell classes, reaching level forty would likely be a matter of years at the very least. And that was it. The most painful and harrowing week of my life, condensed down into a few pages of bolded text and numbers. I thought perhaps I should have been feeling angry, but no such anger came. In fact, more than anything else, I just felt tired. Or that wasn¡¯t quite right. I wasn¡¯t drowsy or about to fall asleep. I suppose ¡°drained¡± might be more accurate. I¡¯d mustered up the energy to wake up and talk to the others, but already, it was as if I¡¯d run a marathon on atrophied legs. I could feel my mind preemptively rebelling against the idea of doing anything more, especially if that anything involved socializing. All it wanted to do was sit there. I considered fighting that urge, but¡­ why should I? For all that getting stranded in a pocket dimension sounded like a bad deal, it wasn¡¯t like I had class the next day. I didn¡¯t need to meet with Amak or talk about Emer¡¯Thalis. No Antagonists were on their way to kill me. Aside from maybe worrying Cal and Verin, if I just sat here for a year, would anything bad happen? I tried to think of something -- anything -- that truly, urgently required my presence, only to come up blank. I was fairly sure that should have hurt me in some way, but if anything, it was the one truly comforting thought I¡¯d had in a while. Lacking any reason to keep pushing myself, I gave in to my slothful urges. Just a little break after all that. Just a tiny¡­ Bit by bit, my stream of consciousness thickened, until it slowly oozed through my mind like treacle. My senses, normally heightened by my Perception, followed suit, reeling themselves inwards. Thus prepared, I sat there and did exactly what I¡¯d planned to do. Absolutely nothing.
The next few days came and went in a blur. Distantly, I was aware as Cal and Verin spoke to one another, though none of their words ever registered. It was a rare occurrence in any case, as Cal seemed to be absent most of the time. On the flip side, Verin never left, but she was always practicing her frost magic. Through it all, I simply sat there, having slipped into a heavy torpor. Even after telling the others I needed some time, Verin tried to get me to move on three separate occasions. I couldn¡¯t quite recall what she¡¯d said -- something about coming to dinner, maybe -- but each time, I managed to mumble something that got her to leave me alone. Whenever the two of them cooked, they would bring me a bit of meat on some leaves, the same meal I¡¯d woken up to. Each time, it was just as badly burnt and raw, and each time, I mechanically shoved it all down. Though different in many ways, the dungeon we were in was passively illuminated like all the rest. Without any sun or moon above us, night never came, nor did our environment ever seriously darken. I slept when my body allowed it and woke when my body could sleep no more. It was simple. Easy. I could easily see myself staying like this for a few more weeks, if not longer. And wasn¡¯t my aging slowed? What was the real harm in losing a bit of time here or there? Inactive as I was, it came as something of a shock when I eventually received a pair of new notifications. A dash of energy suffused me, pushing me to actually check what they said rather than ignore them. Mental Resistance has reached level 13! Soul Resistance has reached level 2! They were¡­ strange. Was I under some kind of attack that was leveling them? That felt unlikely. Did that mean they just leveled passively now? As far as I knew, it wasn¡¯t impossible. Theoretically, I was using both of them every passing moment just to keep myself together. Interesting, but in the end, nothing life changing. My mind started to slow once more. Before it could fully freeze again, though, I held it off. I liked getting skill levels. They were nice. Made me feel good about myself. Maybe I could train a few more? I expended a bit of effort to run through my skills, searching for any that I¡¯d be willing to train, only to realize that most of them required far more effort to level than I was willing to put in right now. The only possible exceptions might be my armor skills, although I wasn¡¯t sure if I gained any experience from just sitting around. Still, it couldn¡¯t hurt. I summoned up my plate armor, one of the few things I could do with a mere thought. For whatever reason, the armor seemed to wake me up a bit. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure how I felt about that, but for now, I kept it on. And then continued to sit. It was some very rigorous training I was doing. Cal eventually served me my next meal, my armor earning a raised brow but otherwise no comment. I bit into the meat as she left, only to pause as the rabbit touched my tongue. This is¡­ bad. Of course, I¡¯d known that already, hadn¡¯t I? But for whatever reason, it hadn¡¯t really hit me in the same way. And if mine is bad, then probably¡­ I shifted my gaze over to where Cal and Verin sat, watching them eat the same meal around a dim fire, the first ignoring her food entirely, the second, taking pained nibbles at only the burnt sections. I considered turning away, but it was too late now. The sight had triggered thoughts which soon led to more thoughts, pushing up against one another until my mind was forced to start up again. They can¡¯t cook. Of course they couldn¡¯t. Why would a princess or a noble know how to? I can cook. I¡¯d taken an entire course on cooking. Those two thoughts rubbed against one another for a while, forming sparks until at last they lit a fire beneath me. If perhaps a bit laboriously, I found myself rising for the first time in days, advancing towards the others with plodding steps. Noticing my approach, they called out to me, but my mind wasn¡¯t fully back on yet. Maybe in another day or two of rebooting. Ignoring them, I honed in on the sloppily butchered cuts of rabbit laid out next to Cal, sitting on a bed of leaves. I grabbed one of the cuts and a few leaves, placing the meat before me. Pan. No. Pot. No. Spit. No. Not seeing any reasonable way to cook the meat, I made one of my own, snatching a few of the thinner branches from the fire and summoning up my knife. Woodworking made quick work of the wood, and I was left with a small number of sharpened skewers. After cutting the rabbit into more uniform pieces, I loaded the skewers up. There was no convenient way to place them over the fire, but I didn¡¯t need one. Supplying a bit of fire mana to my Gloves of the Arcanist class skill, Hot-plate Hands activated. Amongst other things, the skill protected my hands from any burns while cooking, and placing it to the test, I held the skewers directly above the flames. Cal and Verin seemed alarmed by this development, bombarding me with more words that I chose to tune out. When they realized my hands weren¡¯t frying to a crisp, they eventually calmed down. With Hot-plate Hands giving me an innate sense of temperature, I was able to hold each skewer at the exact right height to perfectly cook them. Not at all minding the boring repetitive nature of the task, I rotated each skewer slowly, evenly applying heat from every angle. With little fanfare, they eventually finished cooking. Cooking has reached level 12! I passed out the fruits of my labor, and new sounds soon followed, far happier than the previous ones. I didn¡¯t respond, but thankfully, neither Cal nor Verin forced me to. Of course, it wasn¡¯t the best meal any of us had eaten. Far from it. I was fairly sure I wasn¡¯t the best company, either. Even so, I was pretty certain that I liked cooking for my friends, didn¡¯t I? It was¡­ nice, maybe. The three of us slipped into a companionable silence, and for once, I didn¡¯t feel any of my energy draining away. We continued to eat until the entire rabbit was gone, and when at last we¡¯d had our fill, I felt a bit warmer than I had before. B4 C7: An Impromptu Excursion As time slipped by, the following days came and went. It would have been nice to say that I suddenly gained a great burst of energy, cheerfully chatting up the others. In truth, even the thought of holding any reasonable conversation exhausted me. Still, I made sure to spare Cal and Verin from the horrors of their own cooking, each day preparing whatever animal Cal managed to bring me to the best of my abilities. After cooking came the eating, and I made sure to sit beside them, no matter what. It was during these meals that I better understood just how good my friends were to me. They spoke to one another, often posing open-ended questions that would allow me to jump into their conversations without feeling entirely directed towards me. When I largely continued to stay silent, they took my conversational reticence with good graces, letting me enjoy their company in silence. Of course, my lack of talking had consequences. Often, I overheard the others talking about more serious matters -- about how we would escape and what steps we needed to take. Neither of them ever tried to push those talks on me. Had this been a few months before, I likely would have been hurt by the exclusion. In this case, though, it felt strangely compassionate. I had no desire to think about all of that quite yet, and I got the sense they knew that. For four more days, we continued on just like that, until I abruptly woke up to a jolt of energy. Though stiff from resting on the cold earth below me, I still felt far more lively than I had since arriving here. I was confused by the sudden change until I took in my latest notification. Soul Resistance has reached level 3! That¡¯s leveling¡­ fast. Not that I was complaining? I looked around to see if anyone had noted me waking up, only to discover I needn¡¯t have worried. Cal was nowhere to be seen, likely scouting or hunting, and Verin was fast asleep. The easy thing to do would be to go back to bed, but I found myself unable to. I knew part of that had to be from the skill level, but there was something else. Something about Verin that I hadn¡¯t been able to appreciate before. Taking in her prone form, a singular, insistent thought prodded at me repeatedly. She looks¡­ wrong. Or ¡°out of place,¡± maybe? It was strange. I couldn¡¯t recall ever seeing Verin wear the same outfit on two separate occasions. More than that, having lain on her bed before, I recalled just how comfortable it was. Her entire form seemed to reject the notion of lying on the ground, her normally inexpressive face pulled into a grimace even in her sleep. That was¡­ bad. She¡¯s strong, though. Capable. She can take care of it herself. Or failing that, she had Cal, too. Right? I could just go back to bed. I thought back to the flickering embers of warmth I¡¯d felt while cooking for the others. To the promises I¡¯d made to myself as I¡¯d woken up. I was tired. I felt empty. I was different than I was before. But that didn¡¯t mean I couldn¡¯t pretend, right? Pretend to do what the old me did, until it stopped being pretending? Wouldn¡¯t it be a good step to help Verin somehow? It would, I knew. With a heavy sigh, I pushed myself up. There¡¯s a forest around here, right? By now, I¡¯d spotted which direction Cal ran off to whenever she went to collect kindling and food, and failing that, I had a clear memory of spotting trees as we¡¯d descended the mountain. I turned myself towards the distant forest. And with slow, plodding steps, I advanced.
The trip out of the grasslands was uneventfully boring, though that suited me fine. If anything, when at last I reached the treeline, I was less excited to venture forth than I¡¯d been to leisurely walk all the way there. Still, I hadn¡¯t come just to turn around, so with as much resolve as I could muster, I entered the forest. It was only a few minutes in when I was reminded of something that somewhat surprised me: I liked forests. Even now, after my mind had been shredded, they put me at ease. That was strange, in a way. I certainly hadn¡¯t felt that way back on Earth. With how much time I¡¯d spent in them in the past year, though, the woods, even as unfamiliar as these ones were, felt homey. Letting myself sink into a sort of comfortable nostalgia, I spent a while aimlessly meandering, temporarily abandoning my reason for coming. It was interesting, or at least I knew it should be. New trees. New herbs. New animals. A shame Hartha wasn¡¯t here to see it. The forest shadow would doubtless have plenty to say about the novel forest. This is kind of peaceful, right? Wasn¡¯t that something that healthy people did? Meditate in peaceful places? I tried my best to empty my mind, retreating inwards to find my inner zen or however it worked. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was actually helping, but I kept on like that for a while, moving deeper into the forest more out of habit than anything else. Belatedly, I recalled that this was not the tranquil dryad-managed forest I was used to. You have been slashed for 280 damage! You are bleeding! You are poisoned! Even as five red-hot lines of pain erupted on my back, I stumbled forward, snapping out of my trance. Though my reflexes hadn¡¯t been quite up to blocking the original attack, I thankfully had enough wherewithal to summon my plate armor directly afterwards, immediately overloading it with earth mana as I did so. It was a good thing, too, as a piece of the armor¡¯s rocky exterior was chipped away at a moment later. Damage blocked! Safe for the time being, I spun about and backpedaled, curious to see what had decided to bother me. A feral, feline face met my gaze with a snarl. Vitality Panther, Level 21, 1100/1100hp Oh. Right. I¡¯m in a dungeon, aren¡¯t I? Whether from the pain or something else, I felt my head clear up a bit, providing me with some much-needed clarity. First, I took in the panther. Though perhaps I shouldn¡¯t have been given its name, I was surprised to find the entire creature was a dull, woodsy green rather than a gray or black. From what little I could see of its skin beneath its grass-like fur, it had a gnarled, thick texture to it as well. Its second attack failing, the panther crouched down before launching its entire body at my chest. At the same time, it swiped down, bringing both its weight and its frighteningly sharp claws to bear. The two of us collided, and- Damage blocked! The beast fell to the ground, momentarily dazed. I mean, I¡¯d really hope so. With my armor enhanced and overloaded, it was the equivalent of two sets of plate armor, plus the layer of rock, plus the additional overloaded mana and standard magic resistance. If a random stealth-based animal in this dungeon could get through all that, I¡¯d have been in serious trouble. All of that ¡ª paired with my Strength threshold bonus and my Force Dispersal class skill making me harder to push around ¡ª meant there wasn¡¯t much the panther could do to me. ¡°One second, please.¡± I took some time to heal myself as the monster regained its senses and continued its ineffective campaign to turn me into a scratching post. The bleed and the poison took a bit of time to wear off, but my healing cantrip had evolved to help restore blood loss, and my resistance to both forms of damage were fairly high by now. The pain, too, was laughable after what I¡¯d been through. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Figuring a cutting edge would be best, I decided against any of my physical weapons, instead conjuring up a sword of death mana. The panther reacted immediately to its presence, abandoning its attack before I could get more than a small cut in. I halfheartedly gave chase, only to discover the creature had another trick up its sleeve. In what had long since become a common scene to me, the vitality panther dove headfirst into a nearby tree, its bark parting for the animal like water. A moment later, it launched itself from a tree behind me, slashing at my back once more. Damage blocked! Huh. Just like Elphaea. I wondered what the dryad would think if she saw the panther copying her like that. I attempted to track the beast¡¯s erratic movements and intercept it with my blade, but quickly realized it was a losing proposition. The panther wasn¡¯t strong enough to hurt me ¡ª that was true ¡ª but it still was a much higher level opponent than I was used to. It was clear all of those extra stats had gone into Dexterity. This is¡­ annoying. I wasn¡¯t in the mood for a fight. Certainly not one where I had to spin around and chase something so much. Maybe that? I cataloged my options, realizing there was one new weapon in my arsenal that I¡¯d yet to try. Mostly just hoping to end the fight, but still vaguely curious at what new powers I¡¯d gained, I funneled a bit of spatial magic towards my feet. Obligingly, the newest variant of Mana Feet revealed itself. Spatial Step Teleport a short distance to any visible location within range. Mana cost varies depending on distance traveled. If I recalled, I¡¯d been hoping for something similar when I¡¯d originally unlocked the Light variant of the skill. Undoubtedly, it was better late than never. ¡°I can make that work, I think.¡± I wouldn¡¯t even have to do too much running, either. I spent the next minute simply standing there, letting the panther continue to jump around and doing my best to track its movements. When at last I was confident I could keep up, I swapped out my mana sword for my soulbound spear, instantly Spatial Stepping directly between the panther and its target tree. Even as fast as it was, it had no time to dodge as it was taken by surprise. I overloaded the spear with a healthy dose of death mana and rammed it downwards, running the creature through and stabbing the weapon into the earth. Given its prodigious health, the beast didn¡¯t die immediately, but all of my weapon training had taught me just how nasty of a weapon a spear could be. With how I¡¯d angled it, there was no simple way for the panther to free itself as it flailed and batted at me, all while the death mana from the weapon spread through it. Working far faster than usual, the necrosis seemed to relish snuffing out the life mana it found within the visibly wilting creature. A short time later, it was over. You have slain a Vitality Panther! You have earned 406xp. Huh. Good experience. I supposed solo-killing a level 21 would do that, wouldn¡¯t it? Well, no matter. I hadn¡¯t come here to fight in the first place, had I? Outside of a pleasant walk, there was no reason to be this deep in the forest. I spent some time slowly retracing my steps, partially from memory, partially from the feel of the mana around me. It was subtle, but I¡¯d noticed a slight inwards pull back to where the grand magus lay, no doubt a result of the mana-gathering array. When at last I returned to where I¡¯d entered, I eyed the towering trees with a bone-deep weariness. A lumber axe counts as a conjurable weapon, right?
Verin awoke stiff and out of sorts, a combination that was growing unpleasantly more commonplace as of late. For the first time in a long time, she wondered if she¡¯d have been better off with a different set of stats. Admittedly, passing the first Charisma threshold had granted her a great degree of control over her body, which was likely the only reason that her stomach had survived the first few days here. Otherwise, the utter disasters of meals she¡¯d eaten would have made themselves known in a number of unpleasant manners. How was she supposed to know that basic cooking would be that hard? Presently, though, she might trade it all for a few more points in Constitution and Endurance. She hadn¡¯t known that sleeping on the bare ground could be so uncomfortable, precisely because she¡¯d never thought to do it. She¡¯d already been at a loss the first time she¡¯d seen where Tess lived in Emer¡¯Thalis. A small tent? A bed of furs? It had been unthinkable before she¡¯d seen it herself. It was funny, that. Now she would kill for even those. Well, no matter. It wouldn¡¯t do for the others to hear her complaining, nor would she bring herself so low as to sulk about. Though it was hardly anything official, she knew that in some sense, she was the leader of the three of them, and she would act accordingly. And besides, if Tess wasn¡¯t complaining, how could she? In comparison, Verin¡¯s plight was barely worth mentioning. Of course, I lack any certainty that she would raise any complaints regarding anything presently. It was good to know she¡¯d healed somewhat, but she hardly spoke these days. They¡¯d opted not to press the point, letting her do whatever was necessary for her healing. Given another day or two, however, Verin wasn¡¯t sure if she could keep watching her previously lively friend act fully mute. Does she at least sleep well? Or if not, better than I do? Checking to see if Tess was managing her bed of dirt, Verin turned to examine her companion and her usual resting place. The very moment she did so, Verin froze. She¡¯s gone. Tess was nowhere to be found. ¡°Lady Tess? Calilah?¡± She called out only to be met with empty silence. Of course the rogue is off doing who-knows-what. Verin wasn¡¯t entirely thrilled with the royal¡¯s frequent excursions, but considering that she was keeping them fed right now, she¡¯d bit her tongue. Could they be together? But no. Certainly at least one of them would have the decency to leave a note. Completely alone, she had a sudden urge to rush out into the grass to find one of them, but she suppressed the foolish thought. There would be no way to reliably find them, and Cal currently held their only reliable means of navigation -- a gift from the grand magus after Tess had passed out. Without it, Verin was hardly certain in her ability to return once she left. An entire hour passed in equally dull and frantic tension. Even as skilled as Verin was in maintaining her composure, she couldn¡¯t help but have negative thoughts. Had something taken them? Were they out there, dead or lost? Hells, had they decided to abandon her here? All ridiculous, especially the last. That hardly stopped her from worrying, though. It was, then, somewhat of a relief when Cal popped into existence ¡ª quite literally, too, canceling her invisibility skill to appear directly before Verin out of thin air. ¡°Heya V. Miss me?¡± She hoisted up the rabbit she¡¯d brought back as if waiting for applause, only managing to irk the high noble more. ¡°Firstly, I would like to make it clear that under no circumstances are you to shorten my name to ¡®V.¡¯ Secondly, do you know where the lady Tess has gone?¡± Seeming to realize for the first time that the two of them were alone in the clearing, Cal slowly spun about until answering the question without answering it. ¡°Huh. Well. Shit, yeah?¡± Her worst fears confirmed ¡ª well, not her worst, worst fears, but some of her less pleasant ones ¡ª Verin grew decidedly more animated. ¡°Find her. You must have some sort of tracking skill, yes? Quickly, quickly, she may be getting farther away with each mo-¡± Abruptly, she paused. In the windless, lifeless plains, the air was perpetually filled with an eerie silence. Having barely passed the first Perception threshold, Verin was offered the perfect backdrop to hear even the faintest of noises. And judging by the distant sounds of grass being flattened and shook, it sounded like something was coming. Something big. Steps of solid ice materialized before her, Verin wasting no time to climb atop them and orient herself towards the noise. The tall grass hid the exact form of whatever was coming, but much as she¡¯d expected, large tracts of grass were falling only to spring back up as whatever creature tampling them moved on. And quite notably, moving directly towards them, too. ¡°Lady Calilah. Ready yourself. Something approaches.¡± Truly, this was coming at the worst time. To the normally flippant woman¡¯s credit, she needed no further words, immediately slipping back into invisibility as Verin dashed into the far grass to conceal herself. Once more, Verin was forced through a painful waiting game, made only worse by the lack of bugs or birds or anything to distract her from the slowly loudening sound of the approaching beast. Closer and closer and closer until the patch of grass on the opposite end of the clearing fell, and- Out stepped an unbothered, unharmed Tess. More than that, she hadn¡¯t returned empty-handed, either. Pulled behind her on a makeshift sled was an entirely unreasonable number of logs, fastened together with grass and vines. Atop it all were the corpses of five of what seemed to be panthers of some sort. With a sigh, half of relief, half of exasperation, Verin stepped into the clearing. At the same time, Cal canceled her invisibility. Spotting them, Tess gently nodded her head. ¡°Hi guys. I went for a walk.¡± Verin forcibly suppressed the urge to pinch her nose in exasperation. She would have to have a long talk with Tess about what she chose to share with the two of them, and perhaps a shorter one on what constituted a simple ¡®walk.¡¯ Saving that for later, Verin motioned broadly to the forest¡¯s worth of felled trees behind her friend. ¡°Lady Tess. Might I ask what all this is?¡± Tess glanced behind her as if just now recalling the weight she¡¯d been dragging. ¡°Oh. Right.¡± Completely casually, she answered as if her actions were the most normal thing in the world. ¡°Well. How would you feel about building a house?¡± B4 C8: Home Building a house, in the end, was not an overly difficult task. Or, at least it wasn¡¯t depending on the type of house. Had I needed to adhere to local building codes and wire in electrical lines and figure out a plumbing system, things might have been a bit tougher. In fact, even had I been trying to make something particularly good looking, I might have had a real challenge on my hands. As it were, though, I had a bunch of logs and only the most basic of tools. I was building a simple log cabin. It was a good, thoughtless task, and I felt that even if my mind slowed to a crawl, I¡¯d be able to do most of it on autopilot. The foundation proved to be the most difficult bit on account of the lack of a good shovel. A good deal of prep time was spent using Arcane Armament to summon different spears, tweaking the spearheads closer and closer to a proper shovel. Ultimately, though, we settled on a slightly less conventional solution, with Verin expertly materializing ice in the desired shape and letting it creep up the shaft of my standard spear. Normally, the ice would have been a ridiculous material to use to scoop up the earth, but Verin was more than capable of reinforcing her conjured ice to withstand a little dirt. She did have to refresh the shovelhead a few times on account of it melting, but between her skill in Frost Magic and a few judicious casts of Chill on my part, I was able to get a full hour out of each shovel. On a few occasions, Verin volunteered to help with the physical labor, having to tap out shortly after she began. Cal, for her part, lounged off to the side, occasionally cheering us on and offering ¡°moral support.¡± Once the first four logs were in the ground, things grew far easier. Notch the logs. Cut them to length. Stack. Even outside of my decent level in Construction, I thought I would have been able to handle this, my memories going into the distant past to a childhood spent playing with Lincoln Logs. An overloaded conjured sword was all I needed to cut them, my enhanced Perception, Intelligence, and Dexterity making any measuring tools, straightening levels, or power equipment unnecessary. The more I worked, the more I fell into it. And strangely enough, it was¡­ good? Or if not good, at least not bad. Simple, repetitive tasks. No real mental energy required. The basic satisfaction of watching something take shape in front of you, bit by bit. It was the sort of routine I thought I might be able to slip into for a few days or months or decades, even in my current state. Even better, neither of the others used my working time to socialize with me too much. I could feel that Verin was holding herself back, seeming to view my recent forest adventure as a sign that I was almost back to normal. Still, whether she was afraid to snap me out of my productive reverie or could otherwise sense that I wasn¡¯t looking for conversation, she relented. At least, she mostly did. The first few times I ran out of logs, she was very vocal about coming with me to get more. Her claim was that if nothing else, she could use her ice magic to reduce the friction under my sled on my way back. While not an awful idea, I¡¯d done fine the first time with my raw Strength, a few casts of Lighten, and the increased traction of my Mana Feet variants. Mostly, though, I just wanted a bit of time alone, and when I pointed out how much walking it would be, she conceded. That didn¡¯t mean I¡¯d been forgiven for my earlier unannounced outing, however. Words like ¡°dangerous¡± and ¡°worried¡± and ¡°communication¡± were thrown around with a bunch of promises wrung out of me not to do something similar again. It was fair, I supposed. Next time I¡¯d at least leave a note. After the foundation, the roof was the most difficult to build. Given the temperate climate and lack of any rainfall so far, I decided to be lazy and go with a flat roof. It was here that my work with Tuk and my construction class in Sylum paid off, letting me know just how to set up the joists to make such a thing happen. Here, I was finally stymied by my lack of actual construction supplies. While the logs were easy to stack, a real wooden roof needed some nails, at the very least. Thinking myself clever, I recalled the first evolution of my humble Summon Pebble skill which allowed me to slightly alter the shape of my summoned stones. A few shattered pebbles later, however, I learned the futility of trying to use rocks for nails. That didn¡¯t mean the idea was fully unsalvageable, though. With Arcane Armaments, I summed up a mana dagger as thin as I could, puncturing the wood with the stiletto-like blade. From there, I summoned each pebble directly into the hole, altering each one to fit the crevice as best I could. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was as structurally sound as using a real nail, but it seemed to do the job. Flooring, I decided to do at a later date. With three precise cuts, I opened up a doorway into the interior, and at last the cabin was complete. Not having used any schematics, I wasn¡¯t greeted with any system notifications listing out bonuses, but that was fine by me. Good. Done. The accomplishment didn¡¯t exactly leave me glowing with pride, and if anything, I felt a strong desire to fall asleep. Still, the same part of me that had pushed me to build it in the first place had more to say. A celebration, right? I think I¡¯m supposed to celebrate something like this. It was a task I felt slightly less excited for, but if necessary, I would do my best.
¡°Tess, have I ever told you I love you?¡± With all the etiquette of a barbarian, Cal bit into another chunk of meat, sliding it off the skewer it sat on and barely chewing before she swallowed the greasy panther meat. She chased it down with a sip of moonshine from a cup of conjured ice, quickly setting the cup aside and holding her hand over the fire to warm it from even the short amount of contact. I opted not to respond as my mouth was currently full. Herbalism hadn¡¯t been able to identify most of the plants I¡¯d found while walking through the forest, so I was still working to figure out which ones were best for cooking. I slipped a few sprigs of a spiky, red-leafed herb into my mouth, finding the taste surprisingly refreshing. You have been poisoned! Ah well. I doubted the other two would enjoy it, but perhaps I¡¯d set some aside for my own meals. Their loss. Combined with my use of Conjure Liquid ¡ª still bound to the moonshine in Emer¡¯Thalis ¡ª I¡¯d managed to make a passable celebratory meal, or at least Cal seemed to think so. ¡°Lady Calilah, I do not believe the meal is going anywhere. Is there a reason you are eating as if you¡¯ve never seen food before?¡± Verin gingerly held the skewers I¡¯d fashioned, the method of eating clearly not something she was accustomed to. Delicately, she wrapped one of the chunks of meat up with a leaf before pulling it off between her thumb and forefinger. The response came out slightly muffled, delivered with a full mouth as Cal rapidly moved onto the next piece on the skewer. ¡°Not far off, honestly. I think I¡¯ve eaten maybe nine or ten meals in the last year, all of them in the last week? Hexaura wasn¡¯t as big on cooking as Tess is.¡± For once, it seemed that Cal had managed to take Verin off guard, whatever retort the noble had been preparing dying on her tongue. If nothing else, she eyed the cube of meat more appreciatively, though. ¡°I do not believe I understand. Do you have some form of hunger resistance skill? Perhaps something to do with your class? Or is eating not required in deific realms? I do not believe your Endurance or Constitution could possibly be high enough for that to be possible.¡± Cal only shrugged. ¡°Something like that. Don¡¯t worry about it. Maybe I¡¯m just trying to make you feel guilty for nagging me. Is it working? Anyway, loosen up. None of us are going to care if you get some grease on you.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Whatever momentary concern Verin had shown flitted away as she grumbled something unintelligible under her breath. ¡°Lady Calilah, Etiquette is one of the skills I have class quests for. If it is easier for you, simply think of this as a form of training for me. Would you deny me that?¡± The loud chewing abruptly stopped as every muscle in Cal¡¯s body seemed to freeze at once. For a moment, I even wondered if Verin had cast some sort of ice spell on her until Cal unfroze, if more subdued than before. ¡°Damn. You know that¡¯s kind of sad, right?¡± If the question struck a nerve, then Verin didn¡¯t show it. ¡°It is what it is. If anything, I view it as a positive that I am able to gain more experience from a skill I would have needed to learn regardless. Trust that I do not require pity for such a thing.¡± The two slipped back into silence after that, and even I could feel that it was more the awkward type than the companionable type. With some mental effort, I pulled myself from my herbs and returned to the fire, raising my hand into the air between the others. ¡°Cups.¡± Having said all I needed to, I cast Conjure Liquid, an orb of potent-smelling booze coalescing before me. Neither wanting to waste the limited resource, they obediently scooped their cups into the sphere, carving the liquid out for a refill. Each took a sip, wincing as they did so. ¡°I will confess, this is truly a horrible brew,¡± Verin bemoaned. ¡°I¡¯m with her. Who would want to drink this stuff?¡± Having left my cup back by my makeshift cooking station, I opted to sip directly from the floating sphere, the close contact almost singing my nose hairs. ¡°Bad,¡± I concurred. We let the collective agreement hang between us. Despite it, or perhaps because of it, we did the only sensible thing. At once, the three of us drained our drinks dry. Happy housewarming, you two. It was a pleasant thought, and had I had my way, it would have been the thought to end an equally pleasant night. Alas, it wasn¡¯t meant to be. Though she had restrained herself admirably thus far, it seemed that my show of building and cooking and filling everyone¡¯s cups had made an impression on Verin -- one that compelled her to finally get me back into the loop. That, or it was the moonshine. Who could say? When at last we¡¯d all had our fill, she pinned me down with her eyes, not giving me any chance to slink away. ¡°Lady Tess. Should you be amenable, I believe now may be an opportune moment to discuss our future plans. In fact, we even have a lovely new command center to use for such a conversation. Does this sound agreeable to you?¡± I briefly wondered if making the cabin had been a good idea before snapping myself out of it. I had decided to make an effort, and an effort I was making. If perhaps with a bit less enthusiasm than was ideal, I meekly nodded.
Lacking any sort of real seating or tables, the three of us sat in the dirt, although this time, inside. For the first time since I¡¯d woken up, Cal and Verin spoke to me about more than basic trivialities. I didn¡¯t expect to hear too much that I didn¡¯t already know, but almost immediately, I learned something surprising: I¡¯d been out for some time after the grand magus had healed me. A full day and half, in fact. During that time, both Cal and Verin had gained important information, if of very different sorts. ¡°Woodland, mountain, desert, lake. That¡¯s what we¡¯re working with.¡± For Cal¡¯s part, she¡¯d spent most of her time scouting out our surroundings. ¡°I don¡¯t think pocket dimensions have norths or souths or any of that, so we¡¯re just going to say that north is the woodlands, east is the mountain, west is the desert, and south is the lake.¡± She used a dagger to draw a small diagram in the dirt, her work leaving much to be desired, especially by the resident artist. ¡°I only managed to check out the forest and the desert, but the first is crawling with wildlife. Toughest thing I saw was some sort of jungle cat, which I¡¯m pretty sure is what Tess fought while gathering wood. I don¡¯t actually have any sort of Identification skill, but I placed their strength a little below the gryphons we saw on the mountain. Similar story with the desert, except giant scorpions.¡± She drew the aforementioned scorpion in the desert section, or at least she tried to. What came out ended up looking like some bizarre scaled dog. Before Cal could further offend Verin¡¯s sensibilities, the noble plucked the dagger from Cal¡¯s grip as she feigned offense. Even as Verin began to draw a far better scorpion, she also began to deliver her news. ¡°While I stayed with you, Lady Tess, I took the opportunity to ask the grand magus more questions. His answers were illuminating.¡± Already done with her tiny scorpion, she added four arrows to the diagram, straight through the four surrounding biomes. ¡°As best as he can tell from the spellwork of the gathering array, the grand magus believes that there are likely to be four of these ¡®mana-storage sites¡¯ that we will need to visit, all of which are in entirely separate directions. To assist us, he returned this.¡± She slid her hand to the center of the diagram to reveal the gem-inlaid locator badge that had brought us here. With a tap, the badge came to life, spinning about until the top of the gem aligned with one of the four arrows. Verin tapped the badge three more times, and it spun to face the other arrows as well. ¡°A compass. The enchantments have been modified to follow the flow of mana to the four storage locations. It also has a fifth setting to lead us back here should we require it.¡± It was certainly far better than us having to wander around blindly, though I couldn¡¯t help but wish he¡¯d given us something more substantial. Sadly, Verin¡¯s final piece of information prevented me from asking the man for just that. ¡°Lastly, given the array he is contained within, he said he had spent far too much mana healing you and teaching you spatial magic. He will need to hibernate for a time, and in no unclear terms, he kicked us out of the room and informed us not to bother him lest it be for an urgent matter.¡± A bummer, but that made things easy, didn¡¯t it? There was pretty much only one thing to do. Summoning up the energy, I made my first contribution to the gathering. ¡°So? Which direction are we going in first?¡± Rather than applaud me for my efforts, Cal chuckled while Verin furrowed a brow. ¡°Uh, not to burst your bubble or anything, but none of them. Admittedly, you did do a pretty good job with the panthers that attacked you, but still.¡± Snatching her dagger back, Cal crossed out Verin¡¯s scorpion and circled her own scaly abomination. ¡°Remember this guy?¡± Either to comment on the artistic desecration or to take over, Verin tried to interject. Before she could, Cal forged ahead with a wide grin. ¡°Basically, if we go in any direction right now, we¡¯re all going to die.¡±
The meeting had ended shortly thereafter, and Cal¡¯s cheery analysis had made one thing abundantly clear: We wouldn¡¯t be doing much traveling any time soon. As an extension, that meant that we were likely to be here for a while. Instead, the final plan had three main goals. One, level up. If Cal¡¯s scouting revealed any place where we could safely fight monsters near our level, we would do so, but that was seeming like the less likely option. Instead, we¡¯d be focusing heavily on skill levels and class quests where possible. Only once we had a few more levels under our belt would we consider venturing off on some grand adventure. Two, settle in. If we were going to be here for months, then we needed to do better than an empty cabin. That was doubly true considering the presence of a princess and a high noble. Verin, in particular, hadn¡¯t been willing to sleep in a tent back in Emer¡¯Thalis. Now, she didn¡¯t even have that. Some thought would have to be given to dwellings and amenities more comfortable than a dirt floor and some bland panther meat. Three, stay sane. Arguably, that ship had already sailed for me, but I understood the sentiment, at least. Days or weeks or months on end doing nothing but skill training was not how healthy minds were made. Given that Cal and Verin had yet to have their minds melted from their trauma, we had to figure out any and every way to keep it that way. Even if I silently thought they were making too big a deal about these ¡°horrible monsters,¡± those felt like decent goals. Unfortunately, by the time our meeting ended, I was far too drained to actually act on any of them. Partially, I assumed it was from all the building I¡¯d done, but more so, the long conversation had sapped what little energy I¡¯d had left. As the other two spent some more time brainstorming solutions, I begged off to head to bed. As drained as I was, it wasn¡¯t long before sleep finally claimed me.
With a start, I threw myself from the ground, jolted awake by a strange sensation. Under the circumstances, I would have normally wondered what had woken me. In this case, however, the mystery was immediately solved as a notification accompanied my abrupt awakening. Skill Imprinting complete. Your weapon is now ready to use. Open now? Right. The weapon we¡¯d created in the dungeon¡¯s hidden room. Despite the mixed feelings I had about it, I wasn¡¯t about to ignore the weapon outright. A quick scan of the room revealed a sleeping Verin and an absent Cal. Whether she was scouting or she liked to sleep in the open, I wasn¡¯t sure, but she was nowhere to be seen. No point in waking Verin. I had no idea what sort of lightshow or noises the weapon¡¯s unveiling would result in. Rather than checking on it immediately, I stepped outside and started walking off towards the tall grass. At the last moment, remembering the earlier wave of admonitions I¡¯d had to endure, I conjured a sword and left a note in the soil. GONE FOR A WALK. BE BACK SOON. -TESS Satisfied I would no longer get in trouble, I ventured out until the humble cabin was far behind me. When at last I was truly alone, I summoned the plain black rock that was supposed to contain my weapon. Focusing on the prompt once more, I gave it the confirmation it was looking for. Open. B4 C9: Healthy Coping Mechanisms Having expected some level of pyrotechnics already, I wasn¡¯t disappointed when cracks and fissures formed along the massive block, all of them emitting the same eerie purple glow I¡¯d come to associate with mental mana. As the cracks spread with an accompanying frightening din, I couldn¡¯t help but worry that I¡¯d been given some sort of egg instead of a weapon. Thankfully, as the outer shell at last broke away to reveal the item within, my fears proved to be unfounded. Examining the treasure now revealed to me, I couldn¡¯t help but be awed. The plain, rectangular block had utterly transformed into¡­ another block. This seems kind of lame, honestly. Admittedly, the new block was a tad more exciting, jagged purple lines running across its surface, matching the cracks that had formed before. On top of that, it exuded a true and utter darkness, so black that even my boon-granted darkvision couldn¡¯t fully pierce it. Still, though, it was just a block. Um. On? Activate? Go-go weapon? Either spurred on by my activation phrases or incensed by my earlier judgements, the weapon reacted. The outer shell of the weapon, having crumbled off and fallen to the ground, suddenly pulled itself together, the flakes fusing into a thin cylinder which attached itself to the main weapon. As they met, a flash of purple temporarily blinded me. When at last I cleared my eyes, the weapon before me was changed. Not too drastically, in the end. The center of the previously uniform block was now cinched inwards, the sides flaring out. One side was simple and flat while the other tapered down into a point. Bevels and subtler detail work now adorned both the handle and the head, turning the plain weapon into something far more regal and noteworthy. Weapon construction completed. You have been granted: Stygian Warhammer. Without even using God¡¯s Eye, a description filled my mind. Stygian Warhammer A weapon of overwhelming strength, forged from an alloy of rare and powerful metals and filled with the essence of a Legendary skill. This weapon is soulbound to its wielder and may display additional powers as their Stygian Citadel gains new features. Built to grow alongside its wielder, this weapon¡¯s weight automatically scales with the user¡¯s Strength. Current Effects: Grants 1.2x Mental Resistance while wielded. On hit, deals additional mental and dark damage, scaling with the wielder¡¯s Mental Magic and Dark Magic levels. All dark and mental enhancements applied to this weapon are doubly effective. After reading through the description, I had to admit that the effects were good. Really good, even. A far cry from anything else I had at my disposal. With such an undeniable boon, I wanted to be ecstatic. To feel like jumping for joy. In the end, though, I could only feel doubly bitter. First at the price I¡¯d paid for it, and second for the conditions of its growth. Fat chance that I¡¯ll be leveling my Stygian Citadel anytime soon. What was supposed to be my incredible Legendary skill was now a mental wasteland, barely held together at all. Perhaps it was the additional Mental Resistance, but for the first time in a while, I felt an actual desire. Faint though it was, I had a want. And what I wanted was to hit something. I glanced down at my new weapon. Would be wrong not to even try it out, right? An image of Verin stiffly sleeping on the dirt filled my mind, and I turned my gaze to the far-off mountains, looming in the distance. She probably wouldn¡¯t mind if I got us some feathers, would she?
What by all rights should have been a boring trip to the mountains quickly proved to be anything but. Before I¡¯d even reached the first hint of rock, I¡¯d had two unexpected revelations. The first, in hindsight, should have been more obvious. Slightly more clear-headed than I¡¯d been before entering the forest, I¡¯d opted to summon up my armor well before I reached the mountain. The moment I started passing mana into it, I noticed that my head felt just a touch less weighed down. It was something I¡¯d noticed while fighting the panther, too, but at the time, I¡¯d dismissed it. Double checking my finding, I dismissed my armor and summoned it back a few times until I was fully certain its presence was affecting my thoughts. It took me a second of running through all my skills to understand why, but once I did, it was fairly straightforward. Status Resistance. It was a recent class skill acquisition, the magical counterpart to my Enhanced Physical Hardiness. While I had my armor on, my non-physical resistances were heightened, and any non-physical statuses had their effects reduced. Coupled with the extra resistance from my new hammer, I felt markedly less dead than I had only a day prior. Was I suddenly roaring to attend a ball or even to hang out with my friends more? Unfortunately, no. If I had to do something big, like build another cabin, though, I was fairly sure that the energy required had gone from ¡°herculean¡± to simply ¡°bothersomely large.¡± If I could help it, I¡¯d have to keep my armor permanently summoned from now on. The second revelation was a good deal larger, if slightly more ridiculous. Curious to see the difference in my mental state without my hammer and also having little desire to lug it all the way to the mountains if I didn¡¯t have to, I dismissed it. That should have been a simple action, but my class had other ideas on the matter. Hidden class quest completed: Soulbind a weapon of Uncommon or higher Rarity. +1000xp +1 class point Hidden class quest completed: Soulbind a weapon of Rare or higher Rarity. +5000xp +2 class points This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Hidden class quest completed: Soulbind a weapon of Epic or higher Rarity. +10000xp +3 class points Instantly, my experience shot upwards, placing me well over half of the way to level 15 despite only hitting 14 about a week prior. It was a ludicrous amount of both experience and class points for something as simple as dismissing my weapon, but I supposed it fit the spirit of my class. More than that, it didn¡¯t look like a repeatable quest, so it was just a one time bonus. A shame I hadn¡¯t had an Epic weapon back when I¡¯d first gained the class. Back then, that sort of experience would have been enough to grant me multiple levels at once. Along with the two points I¡¯d gained from learning Spatial Magic, the new class points were a reminder for me to visit my class space. Soon. This first, though. At last, I¡¯d reached the foot of the mountain, a quick swap through my Arcane Vision variants already pointing out a few gryphons in the distance. Making no effort to hide myself, I hefted my warhammer upwards, the weight feeling perfect in my hands. Even outside my newfound urge to fight, I knew there was no escaping this place stuck at level 14. For all that some of their worried rambling about the local monsters had confused me, I could still understand that Cal and Verin were right about that fact. And my recent luck aside, I couldn¡¯t expect to bridge that level gap through class quests alone. Step by step, I ascended the mountain. When the first gryphon spotted me, it let out a shrill cry. In a rapid dive, it approached, and at once, the fight began.
CRACK. The rocky exterior of the stone gryphon gave way to a brutal overhead blow, darkness seeping into the wound even as the beast reeled from the mental damage. It cried out, but rather than flee, it only intensified its single-minded assault. As sharp as its talons were, however, they proved far inferior to the warhammer. Damage blocked! A set of thin scrape lines appeared on my breastplate, the gryphon¡¯s attack no more harmful than a child with a stick of chalk. A second gryphon swooped down from behind, bowling into me as its front talons went for my neck and its back talons scratched at my shins. While the creature weighed far more than the panthers I¡¯d fought, it had just as much luck. Layering Friction Feet and Heavy Step atop one another, I was immovable. Or at least that was what I¡¯d thought. A moment later, I felt the beast vault off of me before a third repeated its same failed attack. Except, instead of attempting to topple me over, it had the exact opposite idea entirely. I managed to get off one more attack, driving my hammer directly into the wound I¡¯d already made on the first gryphon. It practically caved inwards, and even as I received the experience notification for it, I found myself traveling up, up, and away. Enhancing my armor and weapons with earth mana, my weight skyrocketed even as I compounded the effect with a few casts of Encumber. Incredibly, while the gryphon lurched and wobbled, it managed to remain aloft. Then again, given its own rocky nature, it was already used to hauling around masses of stone. It at last reached a height that would no doubt leave a standard person a thin paste on the ground if they fell. Almost triumphantly, it dropped me. Now, I was no expert when it came to gryphon facial expressions, but as I channeled air mana into my soles, I liked to imagine that its resulting open-beaked mug was full of equal parts affront and disbelief. Both were short-lived, however, as I paired the skill with a use of Jet Step, launching me towards my feathered foe. Given my position, my lack of stable footing made my blow far weaker than normal, pushing me away from the beast more than it dealt damage. Still, aimed right for where its wing met its body, it did the job. With a loud crunch of stone and bone, the gryphon began to spiral downwards. I followed close behind, and once I was firmly on the ground once more, the fight continued. This is better than the panthers, I reflected. Less chasing. Less thinking. Against my better judgment, I paid less attention to my senses, forcefully tamping down my heightened Perception. Comfortable in the knowledge that my defenses were solid, I sank into a sort of trance as my body continued to fight almost on autopilot. Some of my earlier bitterness melted away under the rhythmic cracks and crunches of battle until I returned to my standard, default emptiness. Good. This is¡­ therapeutic, I think? That thought alone would probably be enough to get my license revoked back on Earth, but I really was feeling more collected than I had in a while. Perhaps it was the constant motion. Exercise was supposed to be mentally healthy, right? Not knowing the next time I¡¯d feel quite this ¡°with-it,¡± I tried to force my brain to self-reflect a little. As much as I hadn¡¯t wanted to before, with the added Mental Resistance of my hammer and armor, I was feeling a tad more up to the task this time. Cool. Healthy thoughts. What does a healthy person think about? Probably a bad question for an ex-therapist, but then again, I¡¯d quit for a reason. And besides, that felt like several lifetimes ago by now. Myself? My future? That seems kind of right, right? I smashed into the back leg of a nearby gryphon as I tried to build myself some sort of list for the future. Okay. So easy things first.
  1. I should really check out my class space and spend those new points.
  2. Maybe take a few days to make some basic supplies? Feel like we could use a big pot, even if I have to make it out of stone. Furniture and beds too. Showers or tubs would be a plus, although at 25 Charisma, none of us are getting dirty in the same way we would otherwise.
That took care of the quicker things. The next blow also took care of the last of the gryphons, forcing me to go hunting for the next bunch. Thankfully, I didn¡¯t take long to find another group. What about slightly longer term items?
  1. Definitely should be using more spatial mana. It¡¯s not going to level up on its own.
  2. Maybe go out with Verin and Cal once in a while to level up together? It would be a lot of effort, but the other two hadn¡¯t been able to scratch a single gryphon on their own. Some teamwork was inevitable if they were going to gain more experience. It was odd that they were so helpless against something as easy to kill as the gryphons, but if that¡¯s what they said, I¡¯d take their word for it.
  3. Class trials. I¡¯d stagnated on class growth a while ago fearing that the often traumatic experiences within might prove too much for my Trauma Suppression. I had, of course, been more right than I¡¯d known. Thinking about the trials now, though, I just felt¡­ nothing. Who cared if I died a few times? Most of the time, it didn¡¯t even hurt. I¡¯d needed to bury all of those deaths away before, but now I could tell that they would simply slide off of my mind, finding no purchase.
That feels like enough healthy thinking for a while, right? I let the various strands of my thoughts return to their previous dormancy, even as I tuned back in to the world around me. Dozens of stony corpses were scattered all around. Look at that. Maybe I actually can deal with my emotions in a healthy way. Maybe I¡¯d even tell Cal and Verin about this, if nothing else but to make them feel better about my mental state. They¡¯d be proud, I thought. If perhaps subconsciously or simply by happenstance, I¡¯d ended up leading myself directly back towards the cave the three of us had appeared in. It felt like a solid spot to relax in for a bit, and given my recent progress on being responsible and healthy, I figured I might as well take things one step further, too. For the first time since the grand magus had healed me, I let the gray fog of my class space surround me before depositing me in the familiar arsenal that housed my various class skills. I did a cursory run-through of the three rooms just to verify that nothing had changed. It was a rather decent shock, then, when something had. ¡°Huh. That¡¯s new.¡± After even a brief scan of the newly appeared skill, I was sure. I wanted it. B4 C10: Storage Up until now, the only time I¡¯d seen new class skills was when I¡¯d grabbed the skills leading up to them. To that end, I¡¯d expected maybe one new option for my recent purchase of Status Resistance, but that was it. That was, however, not what I was seeing now. Sitting there on the fourth tier of my Arcane Augmenter room was a new option, joining the boots, the gloves, and the monocles already present. Keeping in the theme of somewhat lackluster wearable items, my new skill option took the form of a plain leather bag. Examining it, however, proved the bag was anything but plain. Arcane Storage Grants the user a persistent storage space, the size of which is determined by their maximum mana and Spatial Magic level. Items placed in storage will be held in stasis, allowing for perfect preservation. Barring living, sentient, system-granted beings, the user can store anything that will fit within. Can store any at-rest unowned object within five meters. Objects taken out of storage can similarly be summoned anywhere within five meters. Given its reliance on Spatial Magic, I could only guess that I¡¯d gained the new option after the grand magus had taught me my first spatial spell. On first glance, the skill didn¡¯t have much going for it that a regular storage bag didn¡¯t. Certainly, it didn¡¯t have as much variety or utility as some of the other skills in the room like Mana Feet. Still, it had three huge selling points for me. First, it scaled on my Spatial Magic level and my maximum mana. I didn¡¯t have a good way of knowing exactly how large it could get, but given my already-high Wisdom and my goal of quickly training up my spatial prowess, I had high hopes for the eventual size. Years down the line, who knew? Maybe I¡¯d have an entire palace¡¯s worth of storage space if I leveled enough. Second, the ability to summon things directly into my hand without reaching into my bag was big. Not that it had come up too often in the past, but I could imagine there were plenty of times where, in the heat of the moment, I wouldn¡¯t have the time to reach into my spatial bag to grab what I needed. Third and most importantly, though, all of our spatial devices weren¡¯t working here. Of course, there was a chance that whatever storage lock was disabling our bags might also disable my class skill, but I was mostly sure that wouldn¡¯t happen. I hadn¡¯t been blocked from summoning my soulbound armor or weapons, so if this skill worked in a similar way, I strongly doubted it would be blocked. There was a real chance that the three of us might be stuck here for a long, long time. Having to physically lug everything around for months or even years on end would be taxing if not impossible. Case in point, there was no way I was going to be able to drag all of the gryphon corpses back to the cabin. Even if I did, their meat would quickly go bad unless Verin could keep some sort of massive freezer up and running. As had previously proven to be the case with my Gloves of the Arcanist, the only catch proved to be the cost. Would you like to select Arcane Storage for 5 class points? It was more than I wanted to spend, but given my recent influx of points from binding an Epic weapon, I was sitting comfortable at eight total points. Deciding the skill was a necessity for my time here, I decided to bear the high cost and pull the trigger. You have learned Arcane Storage. Your current storage capacity is: 4 cubic meters. I didn¡¯t have a good mental benchmark for how much that was, but my spatial reasoning was very literally magically augmented now. Some quick visualization let me know that I was working with about as much space as two door-wide reach-in closets. If not yet a palace, it was more than enough for a few gryphons. Regrettably, no new skill appeared on the fifth tier of the Arcane Augmenter room, but I doubted I¡¯d have enough points to purchase it even if I did. With my remaining points, I debated between grabbing some Weaponmaster or some Armorist skills, but ultimately decided Armorist was more important. As I¡¯d just proven, my new hammer already packed enough of a punch, whereas the only reason I was able to fight so hard in the first place was the strength of my armor. Of the three of us, I was also clearly the ¡°tank¡± of the party, too. If we encountered enemies later on that were actually able to hurt me ¡ª either by puncturing my armor or through some sort of unconventional status effect ¡ª I had few illusions that any of us would be surviving. More than that, if I found an enemy I wasn¡¯t strong enough to damage, as long as it couldn¡¯t damage me either, I could always just run. Vice versa, that might not be an option. As it stood, my current Armorist skill ranks were as follows. Arcane Arsenal Skill Options Bind Armor - 5/5 Arcane Armor - 5/5 Resist Magic - 4/5 Mana Sink - 0/5 Overload Armor - 1/5 Enhanced Physical Hardiness - 1/5 Force Dispersal - 2/5 Status Resistance - 5/5 Reactive Armor - 0/1 Overload Resistances - 0/1 Of all of them, the only one I had little interest in was Mana Sink. Without too many seriously mana-heavy skills or spells, my already high Wisdom was more than enough to keep me topped off during most fights. Otherwise, there were a number of skills that had done well by me that still weren¡¯t maxed out, and I heavily considered throwing my remaining points into Resist Magic, Force Dispersal, Overload Armor, or Enhanced Physical Hardiness. At the end of the day, though, I didn¡¯t necessarily need to do better in the things I was already great at. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. With Arcane Armor at the full five out of five, I¡¯d yet to find anything capable of damaging me with slashing or piercing damage. Resist Magic wasn¡¯t nearly as powerful, but it had been a long time since I¡¯d been seriously injured from straight magic damage either. I could stand to have slightly higher resistances if we ever found part of the dungeon based around frost or fire mana, but for now, training those skills was more important than a few extra points in Enhanced Physical Hardiness. As for Force Dispersal, it already overlapped with the bonus I¡¯d gained from passing the Strength threshold. The new skill I¡¯d gained from putting points into Status Resistance turned out to be Overload Resistances, a one-off skill that upgraded my Overload Armor to enhance both Status Resistance and Enhanced Physical Hardiness. As its effectiveness scaled off of Overload Armor, though, I had little desire to grab the latter skill until I put more points into the prior. If there was anything I was actually weak to, it would probably be slow deaths ¡ª burying, drowning, starving, etc ¡ª or surprise attacks, like the damage I¡¯d taken from the panther¡¯s first blow. The first, I couldn¡¯t fully protect against yet. As for the second, it was nice that I had the perfect skill waiting for me. Reactive Armor Automatically summons your most protective armor whenever you would be hit by an attack which catches you unaware. Negates any bonuses that opposing attacks would gain for being surprise attacks. For the second time in short succession, I was met with an unpleasantly high cost. Would you like to select Reactive Armor for 3 class points? As much as it would drain me dry, I decided it was worth it. You have learned Reactive Armor. As it is your most protective set, your plate armor will be summoned to defend against unexpected attacks. Given my recent goal-setting, I promised myself I would start running my class trials again soon, but opted to wait until I was back in the cabin. With no more points to spend, I made a quick exit from my class space. Making a beeline for the closest slain gryphon, I attempted to use my new class skill to store it away. Much as I¡¯d expected, it disappeared. With only a single thought more, it reappeared before me. That would have been embarrassing if not. I managed to stash a few more bodies before my storage space was mostly filled. The rest, I¡¯d earmarked for two important uses. First, I found a decently large rocky overhang, abandoning my hammer for a much simpler mana blade. Even after overloading it with fire mana, it took some effort to carve into the solid rock, but eventually I managed to make a thick line in the ground from one end to the other. Swapping the blade back for the hammer, I slammed my weapon into the ground as hard as I could. Instantly, the rock snapped, breaking along the faultline and falling much like a felled tree. It tumbled down the mountain for a while, and I dove after it, stopping myself with Featherfoot when it finally came to a rest. A bit more hacking and chiseling away yielded a large block of stone in the perfect dimensions. Cooking pot secured. It would take a long time to work it into the right shape, but if there was one resource I had a lot of right now, it was time. Having gotten one step closer to a soup-filled future, I did my best to fill the small remainder of my space with feathers, plucking as many as I could. It was here that I was relieved to discover that the plumage of the gryphons was not the part that gave them their high defense, their hard, stony hides covered with soft, bird-like feathers. If nothing else, the three of us would have some pillows to look forward to. Enjoying my heightened mental clarity, slim though it was, I decided to keep both my armor and my hammer summoned as much as I could from now on. Knowing the others would be excited to see what I¡¯d brought them, I descended the mountain and began the long walk home.
It was with no small measure of consternation that Verin found herself once again alone when she awoke. Unlike last time, she was not nearly as worried. On the flip side, she was far, far more perturbed. ¡°Does she believe this is what constitutes properly informing me?¡± Having looked about their make-shift camp grounds, Verin impatiently tapped her foot by a hastily scrawled message in the dirt. Happy though she was that Tess was somewhat better, at this rate, her friend would be the death of her. With not much else to do, Verin spent the time practicing her ice magic, materializing as much ice as she could and casting her more advanced spells. Each cast was only a drop in the bucket towards reaching the next level, but it wasn¡¯t as though she was foolish enough to wander off seeking real fights. She¡¯d need multiple more levels before she seriously considered doing so, at least on her own. When finally someone wandered into the clearing, Verin had expected it to be Cal, much like last time. If for no other reason, she was half-convinced that Tess would return with another set of logs or some such nonsense, making a ruckus as she came. But no. Tess simply strolled towards the cabin, entirely unconcerned. That, however, only made one of them. ¡°Lady Tess. Despite your evident firm intentions to cause me worry, might I ask for your assurances that the blood covering you is not your own? Furthermore, is there a reason you presently appear to be outfitted for war?¡± Bedecked in a full set of plate armor, Tess hefted a hammer, the likes of which Verin had never before seen. Not having previously fought alongside her friend, Verin had nearly mistaken her for a stranger. Even before seeing Tess¡¯s face, however, the ridiculous paint job on the armor cleared up any suspicions. Seemingly intent on embarrassing his adoptive granddaughter, Chamber Head Suds had commissioned the armor in the style of a miner, with a paint job that made the set look like overalls. Even the helmet looked like nothing so much as a hard hat. She likely would have commented on that if not for all the blood. Tess looked down at herself as if seeming to realize her own state for the first time. In a flash, her armor vanished before reappearing a moment later, now completely clean. ¡°Hi Verin. I¡¯m fine. I just got a new weapon.¡± Verin waited for her to elaborate, but no words followed. ¡°Is there anything else you would like to say?¡± Tess seemed to consider this for a moment before understanding dawned on her. ¡°Oh yeah. I got a spatial skill. Look. Feathers.¡± Before Verin could even think to ask what she meant, multiple bloody gryphons materialized out of nothing. It took every ounce of her Etiquette not to cry out, and even so, she nearly sent a wave of icicles out before realizing the beasts were already dead. They thumped into the ground with a macabre finality. Under normal circumstances, a stream of choice words would have been filling Verin¡¯s head as she decided how to gently lay into her friend for such a scare. In this case, though, all she could do was stare at the corpses in disbelief. ¡°Lady Tess, are¡­ Did you slay these by yourself?¡± Her armored friend merely shrugged before wordlessly walking into the cabin. Stunned, Verin made no move to follow. Neither Cal nor I were able to scratch even a single gryphon. Was she always this strong? Verin was well aware that Tess had performed admirably in her dueling course, but this was another thing entirely. In part, it was sobering. Almost humbling, even. Much more than that, though, it was thrilling. If Verin were to accompany her on a similar hunt, her levels would rocket upwards far faster than from simply standing in one place and casting ice magic. Doing her best to hide her distaste, Verin looked about the empty clearing with its primitive closet of a cabin. And if that¡¯s the case, perhaps we will not be stuck here for nearly as long as I thought. B4 C11: Forced Rest The day after my outing, Verin cornered me to float the idea of group monster fighting. With how easily I¡¯d dealt with all the gryphons, she imagined if the other two accompanied me, it would be a steady source of experience for all of us. While there was something calming about fighting alone, naturally, I agreed. Given that I didn¡¯t need the help, all that Verin would really need to do was make sure to keep herself safe. I could try to protect her, of course, but there had been times where three, sometimes four of the beasts had attacked me all at once. Especially given their ability to fly and their predilection for diving down and striking from above, there wouldn¡¯t be much I could do if a few of them ignored me and went straight for her. For whatever reason, this did not thrill Verin. She visibly paled, a notion I¡¯d up till then discarded as an impossibility given her chalk white skin. Group training, she decided, would be postponed for now. Something about her needing to level up a bit more. To each their own. This, however, left me with a problem. Once again, there was very little for me to do. With my armor and hammer equipped, alongside my slowly rising levels in Mental Resistance and Soul Resistance, I was able to push past the general malaise that ever-threatened to sink into me. With each passing moment that I wasn¡¯t in motion, though, I could feel myself solidifying, congealing, calcifying. An insistent tug tried to pull me back into that empty, indifferent state I¡¯d found myself upon waking from my coma, and I knew that if I let it, I would struggle to break free from the inertia. With some effort, I quashed the voices inside of me whispering ¡°would that be so bad?¡± I needed to busy myself. To my great dismay, the answer wasn¡¯t non-stop fighting. It would have been a low-thoughts-required action that was actually productive, but when I returned to the mountains, I discovered them to be largely barren. The gryphons, evidently, did not respawn every day. After enough trips to and from the mountainside, I deduced that they returned about once every five days, leaving me four days of down time after I fought them. I started running my class trials once again to keep myself mentally active, although it didn¡¯t help all that much. To start, no time passed while I was in my class space, so I was left with just as much time to kill one way or the other. My head wasn¡¯t in the right place for it, either. The trials for Arcane Armory and Arcane Arsenal turned out to be shockingly like their counterparts for Bind Armor and Bind Weapon, with the first forcing me to run an obstacle course while switching between armor enhancements, and the second pitting me against waves of monsters that required different weapon enhancements to kill. Easy in theory, but I was finding it difficult to muster up the required energy. Especially with how the trials reset my stats to 10, running dodging attacks took so much effort. What did it really matter if I got hit once or twice? At the very least, I didn¡¯t seem to be suffering any consequences from dying in the trials. That had been a concern back when Trauma Suppression was active. Now¡­ Much like anything else, it didn¡¯t faze me. A few fake deaths were just that. Fake. I couldn¡¯t really recall why they¡¯d affected me so much in the first place. Maybe the old version of me had been defective, too. If not fighting and class trials, the obvious answer to my conundrum was skill training. After all, it was what the others were doing. Save for when she was fully out of mana, Verin was near-constantly practicing her ice magic, and Cal was rarely around, likely scouting or trying to uncover some manner of secret for her class quests. She seemed to spend the bulk of her time in the forest, often returning with small game or foraged nuts and berries. The big problem there, though, was much simpler: I didn¡¯t want to. If something had a clear beginning, middle, and end? I could do that. I could walk to the mountain, fight everything I saw, and come back. I could run a class trial. When it came to skill training though, things got murkier. When exactly did the monotony stop? If I wasn¡¯t going to see results anytime soon, it couldn¡¯t hurt to take a break, could it? Inevitably, the break shifted from five minutes, to ten, to twenty, until I was back on the ground with an empty, heavy head. There were only so many times that could happen before I had to accept I just didn¡¯t have the necessary willpower to push through right now. The answer, in the end, was something far more mundane.
You have learned a new skill: Stonemasonry. The notification heralded the completion of my grand creation. There, seated before me, was a large, magnificent, world-shatteringly beautiful¡­ pot. Or, at least sort of. Hours of chiseling the stone I¡¯d brought back from the mountains had yielded a misshapen, lumpy bowl, thick enough that I questioned if it would even heat up properly if held over a fire. Given that I was forced to summon a mana hammer and was using a mana dagger as a makeshift chisel, the results weren¡¯t terrible, but I was afraid that if I tried to thin it out any more, it would crack. Reluctantly, I discarded my first attempt, and after a long trip back to the mountain to fill my spatial skill with rock, I tried once more with the benefit of my new skill. The going was slow until I remembered that I was missing something: Gloves of the Arcanist. Imagining that earth mana was the obvious choice, I funneled a bit of it into my hands and was rewarded with a new skill variant. Carver¡¯s Cuffs While carving, allows you to slightly alter a stone¡¯s consistency. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Reduces the chance of carved stone accidentally chipping or cracking. Increases the final durability of any carved stone item. +5 to Stonemasonry Given my low level in the skill, it was the flat bonus that proved the most useful, guiding my hands towards the right spots and helping me hit the rock at the right angles. The consistency augment was also well-appreciated -- while it hardly made the stone soft as butter, it did make each hit go much further. When at last I had a working pot before me, I rapidly carved out three simple bowls. With that, there was only one thing left to do.
¡°Tess, have I ever told you that you¡¯re a goddess?¡± Cal tipped her bowl backwards, emptying its contents into her gullet at a frightening pace. ¡°Actually, scratch that. I¡¯ve met a goddess and you¡¯re even better. This is the best soup I¡¯ve had in my entire life.¡± I highly doubted that was true, of course. My Initiate tier augment enhanced my meals when I cooked for friends, and my Hot Plate Hands gave an extra bonus on top of that, but the soup was still far too plain. I lacked ingredients besides rabbit, gryphon, and herbs, the first two of which I still didn¡¯t know how to properly butcher. The result was a thin broth, far too lacking in salt, only redeemed by its bonuses. Suspending the new pot over a fire had proved too difficult as well, so we¡¯d had to boil the water with hot stones, courtesy of Summon Pebble and Flameploof. Still, I couldn¡¯t deny it was a nice break from skewers, nuts, and berries every day. Verin, as it turned out, was of a similar mind. ¡°I will admit, this was a good deviation from our standard fare, even if¡­ difficult to consume.¡± She took another tentative sip, struggling with the lack of proper utensils. ¡°I am curious to see what you will be able to create if we can remedy our current dearth of culinary options.¡± It was hardly some grand accomplishment, but much like building the house, it felt¡­ nice. Or if not nice, correct. Like I¡¯d passed some sort of test, one step closer to the old me. Over the next few weeks, our clearing became a mess of stone and wood as I forced myself to chase that lingering feeling.
Woodworking has reached level 11! Stonemasonry has reached level 4! As it turned out, there were quite a number of things worth making once I put my mind to it. Much to Verin¡¯s delight, silverware was first on the list. Stone spoons and ladles proved to be trivial, and while I ended up having trouble making forks without the tines falling off, I had no such issue with wood. Knives were a bit too tricky for me, but given that I could summon real ones whenever I wanted, that wasn¡¯t much of an issue. Cups were next, followed by mugs with handles for hotter beverages. Not that we had any, but I imagined it wouldn¡¯t be impossible for us to find an herb that would work well for tea. With the success of the pot, I went for a few pans as well, spending a few days carving out a crude elevated grate to rest them on above the fire. I opted to make a second pot as well, though this one was meant to be used as a cauldron should I ever wish to level my Alchemy. Lastly and most importantly, I carved out a large hollow box with a removable lid. Periodically, I uncovered the box and cast Conjure Liquid, giving us a storage site for one of our most precious commodities. Given that I could only use the spell¡¯s augment a few times a day, I figured it made sense to bank our moonshine when we could. Naturally, we celebrated the box¡¯s introduction with a celebratory shot, courtesy of three new stone shot glasses. I had, after all, focused on carving the necessities first. Stone, however, was not ideal for everything, nor was it what I was most skilled with. Though by far the least used aspect of my Carpentry, Construction, and Carving class, furniture crafting was at least nominally a skill I possessed. One of my midterm projects had even required me to make a chair. It only took me a single week to outfit our cabin with a no-frills table and a trio of chairs. I would have done more, but I didn¡¯t see the point. Why make a wardrobe when we had no clothes? Why craft a bookshelf without books? Perhaps a bed frame would have been nice, but where would we get a bed? Out of everything, that was the point that bothered me the most: I¡¯d gone out of my way to get all those feathers, and for the life of me, I had no idea what to do with them. Intermittently, I paused my carving projects to try my hand at creating a pillow, but all my attempts failed miserably. After all, what was I supposed to use to keep all the feathers together? Gryphon hide was out given its stony texture. Rabbit hide would have been perfect in theory, but whatever tanning process I needed to follow to make it workable might as well have been ancient Greek to me. I even tried weaving grass together into the rough shape of a pillow, but the end result alway seemed to unravel. Ultimately, my grand crafting spree had proved a welcome diversion. In fact, at the beginning, my work had done exactly what I¡¯d been hoping it would: keep me moving. With each new item that I crossed off the list, though, I could feel the heaviness creeping back in. With every halfhearted smile, with every piece of forced conversation, I could feel a strain, entirely different from what Trauma Suppression had put me through, but coming to a tipping point in its own way. I needed the activity. The companionship. They were lifelines, preserving what little part of me still felt human. At the same time, they were taxing, like overworking a freshly atrophied muscle. I pushed back on the strain as much as I could -- didn¡¯t we need decoration in our cabin? Figurines. We needed figurines, right? I carved out a set of penguins, one from wood, the other from stone. They were cute. I knew that. Looking at them should have filled me with something warm and fuzzy, but at that moment, all I felt was exhausted. The pressure clamped down on me, filling my bones with lead and my head with fog until I knew I would be forced to take a break whether I wanted to or not. Not here. Not like this. I¡¯d been doing well! So well. Verin was almost back to talking to me in a fully normal tone with fully normal sentences. Cal was shooting me far fewer concerned glances when she thought I couldn¡¯t see. Not that I minded much either way, but they weren¡¯t supposed to spend all their time worrying about me. Old Tess would have been sad about that. Feeling my heels start to drag, I rushed over to Verin as fast as I could force myself to. ¡°Lady Tess. Is all well with you?¡± Her words made her out to be concerned, but I couldn¡¯t tell if it was her general concern for me, or if my current state was bleeding through. ¡°Yes. Of course. I wanted to tell you I¡¯m going to the mountains again. I have a few skills I want to try. They might take me¡­ a few days. I just wanted to let you know. So you wouldn¡¯t be worried.¡± I could feel the hesitance radiating off of her, though I¡¯d made plenty such trips before, even if not quite as long. She knew I¡¯d be safe. Right? ¡°I¡­ suppose I have no right to stop you. And it is certainly true that we need to train our skills. Just come back soon, or we will have cause to worry, yes?¡± I didn¡¯t even hear whatever words left my mouth as I bolted off, chaining Spatial Steps one after another, leaving Verin far behind now that I had her approval. In something of a fugue state, I arrived in the mountains. There may have been a gryphon or two barring my way at one point. Whether I fought them or not, I wasn¡¯t sure. A cave. Empty. Perfect. Hasty stonework, more stonebutchery than anything else, and I was left with a giant slab, barely movable. Leaving only enough space for a bit of air, I blocked off the entrance to the cave. When at last I was sure I was safe and alone, my body collapsed, and for three days, I slept. B4 C12: Keeping Busy It was hard to say when the exact moment I woke up was, if only because my waking state wasn¡¯t all that far off from being asleep. Much as I¡¯d feared, the utter cessation of stimulus was enough to send me nearly back to square one, leaving me lying there on the cold cave floor. It was only by virtue of my next notification that I managed to fully rouse myself. Soul Resistance has reached level 6! The overwhelming pressure, already greatly lessened from my time alone, peeled itself away from my mind as the additional resistance came into play. Remembering myself, I summoned my hammer, its bonuses the final needed piece to return myself to some semblance of normalcy. When all was said and done, I pulled myself from the ground with a heaving sigh. Lesson learned. I need to keep myself busy, but I¡¯m also going to burn out if I¡¯m busy all the time. It felt like a losing proposition either way, but hopefully I¡¯d manage to work out some sort of balance. A few days to myself here and there, maybe? On second scan, I realized the cave I¡¯d haphazardly rushed into was actually kind of quaint. It had just enough room to really stretch my legs without feeling uncomfortably cavernous. It wasn¡¯t as if I¡¯d get much privacy anywhere near the cabin. Maybe here, though? It was a thought, at least. On exiting, I spent some time marking the slab I¡¯d used to seal the entrance, leaving the cave closed. It wouldn¡¯t do to have some gryphon take up residence if I wanted to come back. And speaking of gryphons, it had been over five days since last I¡¯d fought them. By now, Verin and Cal were probably starting to get worried, and I wanted to hurry back. Still, I had time for a little detour, right? A good few hours later, I arrived back at the cabin, this time having recalled to clear the blood from my equipment. As was often the case, it was Verin who first greeted me, the clearing filled with frost as she practiced her various spells. ¡°Lady Tess. It is good to see you unharmed and to have you back. While not the foremost reason to be grateful for your return, our meals have been¡­ lacking in your absence. I trust whatever skill training you wished to do proved fruitful?¡± I did my best to don a smile that reached my eyes. It still felt like a partial failure, but nonetheless, I found the act far easier than I had a few days prior. ¡°Yup. Had a busy and productive time. Nothing to worry about!¡± Deception has reached level 7!
Now that I better knew my limits, I realized my lifestyle had to change. More than that, I didn¡¯t trust myself to just wing it, letting myself work until my instincts told me to stop. That would take far too much introspection and judgment. If I had to spend effort, I would do it now and then never again. Lacking any real form of ¡°weeks¡± here, I decided to base my new schedule on the five days it took the gryphons to respawn. Naturally, I would want to fight them whenever possible, especially as I wasn¡¯t doing the same intense skill training that the others were to gain their experience. Given that the fighting wouldn¡¯t take all day, I decided I would swing over to the forest afterwards. The panthers were far less enjoyable to fight, but with how often we made fire, we always needed more wood, and I was also on the hunt for any edible plant life to spice our diets up. On day two, I¡¯d continue with my various home improvement projects. I¡¯d knocked out a lot of the simpler options, but there would always be more. With my most recent level in Soul Resistance helping counteract some of the general apathy, I decided I¡¯d try to devote day three to simple training. It was possible the day would fall apart much like my past training attempts had, but I figured if I stuck to only the simplest and most important skills, I¡¯d have a better chance. For me, those were Mental Magic and Spatial Magic, the first to help my mind recover faster, the second to enlarge my spatial closet and eventually get us out of here if we didn¡¯t manage to free the grand magus. If I got bored, I¡¯d just try something else. Day four was my rest day. If I had the energy, perhaps I¡¯d figure out a few personal projects to work on, but mostly I planned to pass out in my new cave, away from any expectations or concerned gazes. Funny. It almost feels like I¡¯m back in Sylum. Not quite what I¡¯d imagined at the offset, but it looked like I¡¯d finally figured out my schedule for the next semester. Just like that, weeks passed by, and my classes moved into full swing.
Treasure. After moving far deeper into the forest than I would ever admit to Verin (who thought I was keeping to the outskirts of the wooded area), I¡¯d at last found my first real score in the entire dungeon. Though similar in shade to a ruby, it was far more valuable than any gem, and while it shone in the omnipresent light, it was worth more than its weight in gold. Ultimately, it was God¡¯s Eye that tipped me off to my life-changing discovery. Gnome¡¯s Cap A rich and flavorful mushroom useful in culinary endeavors. While the umami taste and the softer-than-average texture make this fungus ideal for both broths and frying, limited alchemical uses also exist. Gnome¡¯s Cap grows quickly under ideal conditions. Herbalism has reached level 9! The prospect of something new to eat made me envision the joy that Cal and Verin would feel later that day, already marking the day as a success in my book. Better yet, rather than finding a single shroom, I¡¯d found an entire clearing practically covered with the things, sprouting out from decaying logs and forest detritus. If I was careful I was fairly certain I could remember the way back here, too. I went through each stalk, plucking it and sending it into my storage space for later use. As I did so, I identified it over and over again, partially in an effort to level up God¡¯s Eye and Herbalism, partially just to reiterate my good fortune over and over again. Gnome¡¯s Cap Gnome¡¯s Cap Gnome¡¯s Cap Gnome- Gnome- Gnome- This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Twenty Deadly Hells Mush- Gnome¡¯s Cap Pause. What exactly had I just read? I pulled the aberrant fungus from my spatial storage, identifying it once more. Twenty Deadly Hells Mushroom Commonly mistaken for the more common Gnome¡¯s Cap, this mushroom forms a symbiotic relationship with its look-alike, taking nutrients from the surrounding mycelium. In return, it protects the mushroom patches from over-predation, killing off whatever eats it and providing the remaining mushrooms with a new source of nutrients. When ingested, paralyzes the target and deals 800 damage over 60 seconds. May cause internal burns and respiratory issues when eaten cooked. Mildly horrifying, especially given that I¡¯d been thinking of serving it to the others. I still grabbed as many as I could find, but I made sure my spatial storage could differentiate between the two, sequestering the edible variety away from the poisonous. After leaving enough to let them regrow, I began the long walk back to the cabin. With every step though, a nagging thought assaulted me. The description never actually said what the poisonous ones taste like, did it? I grabbed one from my inventory and spun it around between my fingers a few times. If I just have a tiny nibble, it won¡¯t be the full 800 damage, right? ¡­ Huh. Nice and spicy, actually. You have been paralyzed! You have been poisoned! Poison resistance has increased to level 15!
¡°Ow.¡± Blip. ¡°Ow.¡± Blip. ¡°Ow.¡± Spatial Magic has reached level 4! Blip proved to be an interesting spell. Like most cantrips, its actual utility was fairly limited, but teleportation was impressive, even if I was limited to small objects and short distances. Nonetheless, training it was a struggle. Even back when I¡¯d been training my other spell classes in the forest outside of Sylum, I¡¯d had to invent little games or tasks to keep myself focused. Considering I¡¯d been mostly sound of mind and had a strong deadline back then, one could understand why similar training would be harder to pull off now. As such, I¡¯d had a few false starts, but eventually I¡¯d figured out a way to incentivize my training. Presently, I was sprawled out in the middle of the grassland clearing, carrying out one such method. Courtesy of Flameploof and Summon Pebble, a burning hot stone fell through the air once more before landing on my exposed stomach. ¡°Ow.¡± Blip. With only a small dash of mana, I removed the offending pebble and sent it back into the air. It probably wasn¡¯t the most efficient way to train. I had to take constant breaks to reheat the pebble, especially given how hot it had to be to break through both Heat Resistance and Pain Resistance. Past that, if I really wanted to level my advanced magics, I would have to wrap up my class trials so I could use them on my weapons, armor, eyes, and gloves. Still, all things considered, it wasn¡¯t too shabby. Periodically, I¡¯d catch sight of one of the others as I went through my training, occasionally making eye contact. Having learned the gesture from me, Cal shot me two thumbs up, cheering me on. Verin, for whatever reason, seemed less thrilled. I considered myself an expert at this point when it came to deciphering her expressions, and that tiny, fractional curl of her lip seemed to say that she found what I was doing¡­ distasteful, maybe? Maybe because I¡¯m using fire instead of ice? That would make sense, wouldn¡¯t it? I¡¯d have to see about getting some ice cubes from her later. If I constantly cast Chill, there was a chance I could keep them from melting, too. Well, no matter. That could be for another time. ¡°Ow.¡± Blip.
My next improvement project was long overdue, with the only reason I¡¯d put it off being that it involved one of the most difficult activities for me: digging. Just as we had for the cabin¡¯s foundation, though, Verin and I slowly made do, using her frost magic to form a shovelhead atop my spear. In a convenient twist, it also looked like my Arcane Storage could be used to store any dirt once I removed it from the earth. Admittedly, it would have been nicer if the skill had let me store it directly without using the shovel to begin with, but that was probably too much to ask for. The goal this time around was an underground room. Originally, I¡¯d planned to burrow straight down far enough, and then tunnel under the earth. Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t really sure how to keep a tunnel like that from caving in on me. I could fake it, using tree trunks as support beams, but being buried alive was one of the few things that could kill me. In the end, I decided it was probably worth figuring something else out rather than possibly dying. Instead, I first created a room without a roof, digging down over the course of weeks until the space was almost as large as the cabin. From there, I dug a small ramp to act as an exit, along with a stone slab to seal the ramp off when necessary. Finally, I built a roof of my own. It was primitive, in a way, using branches and mud rather than industrial wooden beams with nails or joists, but that was by design. Mud, after all, was a much better insulator than standard wood. When at last everything was finished, I called over the star of the show.
¡°I will confess, I continue to be impressed by your handiness, Lady Tess. I do not believe I would have been capable of such a feat.¡± Verin surveyed the space, her words filled with praise despite the humble dirt walls surrounding her. She shuddered to even think of the strain all of that digging would have put on her body. More than that, the amount of dirt and mud she¡¯d watched Tess wade through had been ungodly. Of course, Verin hadn¡¯t been called here to get her hands dirty. Her part to play was much simpler. ¡°Shall I begin, then?¡± The moment Tess gave her the go-ahead, the temperature began to plummet. Verin threw her mana into her workings, and her magic answered, frost rapidly spreading out from her feet until it began to creep up the walls. At the same time, she materialized as much ice as she could, forming it into giant blocks which she stacked atop one another. Colder and colder and colder the room grew, until- Ah. I suppose I was perhaps slightly overeager, yes? Verin¡¯s magic sputtered out as her mana pool emptied itself, a raging headache left in its wake. Hardly the climactic finish she¡¯d been envisioning, but after four trips, she¡¯d at last completed her task. Ice blocks lined the walls, and the chamber¡¯s interior was downright hostile in its frigidness. It was beautiful, in a way. Or, at least it was until Tess unceremoniously dumped five bloody gryphon corpses onto the floor. ¡°Thanks Verin. Those were taking up a lot of space.¡± For once, though, Verin didn¡¯t mind the grisly display. Nor did she mind that her strongest magic had been relegated to creating something as mundane as a freezer. After all, of course she didn¡¯t. She had something far more important to hold her attention. Frost Magic has reached level 40! Congratulations! You have reached the Adept rank in Frost Magic! Class Quest completed: Raise Frost Magic to level 40. Her eyes skipped over her new augment and her quest rewards, honing in on the only notification that truly mattered. Congratulations! You have reached level 17! Finally. Finally! It was somewhat amusing, in fact. Months spent training as hard as she could, and what had ultimately pushed her over the edge was a simple freezer. In the end, though, not even the influx of class points could hold a candle to what was truly making her happy right now. Fixing her companion with a rare grin, Verin said the words she¡¯d been waiting to say for a while now. ¡°Lady Tess. Should you be amenable, I believe it may be time for the three of us to go on a hunt.¡± And with that, we shall take our first step to rid ourselves of this godforsaken place. B4 C13: Like Crab Sand. I¡¯d never been a particular fan of the stuff, and that was when I¡¯d visited pleasant, summertime beaches. When it came to monster-infested deserts, my dislike of the gritty substance was only intensified. Of all the four surrounding biomes, the desert was the one I¡¯d least expected to visit. After Verin¡¯s new level had warmed her up to the idea of having me help her and Cal fight, though, it was the only real option. The mountains were a no-go. I had no trouble fighting the gryphons, but the others could barely scratch them, nor was I certain I could keep them safe if enough of the creatures dive-bombed us. The forest was obviously out. Even ignoring their stealth attacks, the panthers were speedy enough to finish off someone like Verin before I had any chance to help. The water was¡­ water. None of us could fight well while submerged, and we weren¡¯t about to build a giant boat and fight atop it. It was possible that Verin¡¯s ice magic could be useful there, but considering that drowning was one of the only easy ways to kill me right now, there wasn¡¯t any reason to risk it. And so. The desert. Because apparently compared to fish, cats, and glorified birds, the giant scorpions were the safest option. The only thing that had delayed our journey was, of all things, me. I¡¯d been doing far better when it came to regulating my energy and taking breaks, but out of an abundance of caution, I¡¯d locked myself away for another three-day nap before we¡¯d headed out. Coupled with one more level of Mental Resistance, as long as I had my armor and hammer out, I was feeling more level-headed than I had in some time. Despite the fact that we were actively looking to fight, the three of us proceeded cautiously over the sand. Even with the rolling dunes partially obstructing our view, we were still able to see much farther than we would in a forest, and with Cal acting as a forward scout, we weren¡¯t too worried about being caught unawares. At least, that was true for things above the ground. I kept Tremor Sight active continuously, the feedback somewhat jumbled from the sand, but ultimately good enough. As an extra layer of precaution, Verin froze our surroundings as we walked, transforming the easily parted substance into unburrowable ice. Normally, that would have sent us slipping and sliding, but Friction Feet came to my rescue here. Verin naturally had skills to allow her to traverse her own ice, and thankfully, Cal had some sort of traction skill as well. We¡¯d already walked for a while ¡ª mostly parallel to the border to keep us from going too far in ¡ª and I was beginning to worry that our trip would be a bust when at last we spotted our quarry in the distance. After confirming that we were all ready, it fell on me to do the honors. Cal lazily waved me off even as Verin summoned a thick set of regal ice armor. Not feeling the urge to run, I slowly advanced until I was in range of what would hopefully be our first victim. In a strange evolutionary move given our tan surroundings, the creature was a dull black, with a thick segmented carapace covering its body and eight legs. From the looks of it, the monster must have weighed more than all three of our combined weights. A quick scan let me see what we would be fighting. Sand-encrusted Scorpion, Level 22, 1600/1600hp Not seeing anything too far out of expectations, I nocked a wind arrow and fired. The attack met its mark, not doing anything in the way of real damage, but when the creature finally spotted me, it charged with a hiss. And with that, the fight was on. While the enraged arthropod was clearly on a different level than a standard animal, that didn¡¯t mean it was that much smarter. With a single-minded fury, it raced towards me, making it trivial to lead it back to the swath of frozen earth that Verin had created. Fast though it was, I had no issue staying ahead of it. In fact, I slowed down so that we arrived at the ice patch almost at the same time, the first of its massive legs at last making contact with the slippery surface. Tragically, the ice wasn¡¯t quite the trump card we¡¯d been hoping for: As the scorpion''s legs slammed into the frosty sand, they went straight down, cracking through the ice far more efficiently than any ice boots ever could. There was some level of floundering at the unexpected change in friction, but not nearly to the extent to take the scorpion out of the fight. But then again, we¡¯d planned for that. Something told me that the old Tess wouldn¡¯t have suggested what followed next. It was a move I was calling ¡°The Alara.¡± With the charging, hissing scorpion only moments away from mowing me over, I spun about, maximizing my friction on Friction Feet and activating Heavy Step for good measure. Already decked out in my plate armor and with Force Dispersal hopefully protecting me from the worst of what was about to come, I summoned my hammer. With every fiber of Strength I had, I slammed the oversized weapon forward, meeting the scorpion¡¯s charge. Dual crunches rang out from the impact. You have suffered 180 blunt force damage. You have sustained multiple fractures! Hammers has reached level 5! Heavy Armor has reached level 9! A series of battle notifications mirrored the myriad of bruises and pains that erupted all over my body, as if to gently suggest I figure out a new battle plan next time around. Any thoughts of the future, however, were cut off as a harsh, alien cry filled the desert, the scorpion¡¯s breath whipping against me as it shouted out in pain. Even a cursory glance revealed which of us had won our trade. Half of the creature¡¯s already-disconcerting visage was smashed in, blue blood freely flowing over its swollen and mauled pink flesh. The damage hardly ended there, either, with wide fissures running down the chitin on its thorax and even further. Though hardly dead yet, it seemed like it would only be a matter of time with it in such a state. In a blind rage, the beast swiped at me, its pincers alternating between trying to bludgeon me and cut me in half. Still doing my best impression of Alara and her Immovable Object skill, I batted away each attack as it came. When the blows did connect, I was happy to note that, without the additional momentum of the original attack, the scorpion lacked the power to get through my defenses. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. As I occupied our foe, the others weren¡¯t idle. Frost crept up the scorpion''s legs, and while it proved able to rip itself free, it was slow to do so. Icicles flew with pinpoint precision at the exposed portions of the creature, even as Cal flitted in and out of view, her daggers a blur. In between her impressively dexterous blows, Cal also found some time to cast a few spells, healing light undoing some of the initial damage I¡¯d taken. Fractures aside, it almost seemed too easy considering how high-leveled our enemy was. Of course, that was precisely when the creature revealed its own skills. Before Cal and Verin¡¯s attacks could do much serious damage, sand began to stream into the air, leading me to fear the worst. If it can control and attack with sand, there¡¯s absolutely no way I can keep it from targeting Cal and Verin. I prepared myself to jump away and protect the others at the smallest sign that it was attacking. As it turned out, though, I needn¡¯t have worried. Rather than forming an attack with it, the scorpion summoned all the sand to its body. Rapidly, the sand began to flock to the cracks in its chitin, and as I watched, its vulnerabilities began to fill in. At last, I started to understand why God¡¯s Eye had labeled it a Sand-encrusted Scorpion. What had looked like a short and simple battle was now shaping up to drag on much longer. Or, at least, that was what I initially thought. The more I watched, the more I realized that not much sand was making its way to the creature¡¯s wounds. Belatedly, I traced the streams of sand back to their source, noting that all of it was coming from between the cracks in the ice below us. Unable to manipulate the ice-encrusted sand, the scorpion was left with only a trickle for itself. More than that, when the sand did touch its flesh, it seemed to shriek even louder than when we hit it. I couldn¡¯t figure out why until, with a spark of inspiration, I rotated through my vision skills, with Frost Sight providing the answer. Perhaps to be expected, the sand was cold. Even the bits that weren¡¯t frozen solid were much frostier than they should have been, courtesy of Verin¡¯s magic. I watched as that low temperature spread from the sand and into the scorpion¡¯s flesh, its entire body slowly growing colder and colder under the gaze of my class skill. It¡¯s cold-blooded, isn¡¯t it? I was at least fairly certain that¡¯s how scorpions worked. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop -- for the creature to activate some hellish acid attack, or for its tail to suddenly lengthen and skewer us -- but no. Outside of its natural size, strength, and armor, it seemed that our foe was a one-trick pony. It grew weaker and weaker as the fight bore on, until it was no longer able to free its legs from Verin¡¯s frost. Not wanting to steal any further experience from the others, I backed off at that point. In less than a minute, the creature turned into a pincushion of icicles mixed with countless dagger holes. While its health pool was truly massive, it was only shortly later that the expected notification arrived. You have slain a Sand-encrusted Scorpion! Despite being liberally coated in sand and blue blood, Cal cheered enough for the three of us. For my part, I was feeling exhausted after forcing myself to be so mentally present for the entire time. Still, there was one thought that helped to lessen some of the drain. No longer burdened by all of the gryphons in the freezer, I reached out to Arcane Storage and targeted the scorpion. With little fanfare, it vanished. I wonder if the others will like scorpion meat. As we began the long trip back to the cabin, I voiced that exact thought. Somehow, despite the overwhelming success of her plan, Verin didn¡¯t seem overly thrilled on the entire way back.
With our first team kill under our belts, there was no choice but to celebrate. That night, we made a heavy dent in our moonshine reserves, and I went all out for our food, preparing rabbit, gryphon, and scorpion alike. Our gnome caps made an appearance as well, though I notably did not grace the others with its lookalike. To say it was a true gourmet meal would have been a lie. I needed salt. And oil. More than that, I had to figure out how proper butchering was supposed to work. I knew just enough to know the cuts of meat we were eating weren¡¯t quite right, but not enough to fix it. Still, I could honestly say it was the best meal we¡¯d had since arriving. Mushroom and three-meat shish kebabs were the hit of the night, but we quickly discovered that scorpion added a warm and familiar flavor to any broth. It was crab-like, in a way, and it made me reconsider my aversion to visiting the water biome. Some real seafood would really broaden our culinary horizons. Ultimately, though, the celebration did what the fight couldn¡¯t do on its own, sapping me of the last of my energy. By the end of the night (or at least when we called it quits, given the lack of any sun or moon), I felt much like the scorpion must have, as though cracks were forming all over my body. Though it messed up my schedule, I took the following day off, spending it alone in the mountains. In a way, that worked out well, as my schedule needed to change in any case. With proof of concept for our hunting trip, we decided to make it a regular occurrence, eventually agreeing to go back to the desert once every six days. I shifted my other activities by one day, lengthening my ¡°week,¡± so to speak, but I knew it was necessary. The others needed to level. And over time, we did level. With Verin still a long way off given her recent level up, it ended up being me who leveled next. I¡¯d had to take a two weeks¡¯ break off from fighting just to be 100% sure that my heightened Constitution had fully healed my fractures, but even so, it was unsurprising. Given how much I fought compared to the others, I was raking in far more experience. Compared to how it often went, I found the entire experience refreshingly anticlimactic. For the umpteenth time, I hammered down one of the gryphons, and just like that, the experience pushed me over the hurdle. Congratulations! You have reached level 15! +3 Constitution +1 Strength +1 Intelligence +3 Wisdom +1 Endurance +1 Luck God¡¯s Mind Activated +1 Wisdom +1 Intelligence Divine Synergy Activated +1 Dexterity I was past the point where I needed to care about thresholds, so in some sense, I didn¡¯t care as much what I got anymore. Nonetheless, I was initially disappointed by how many points were ¡°wasted¡± on Wisdom until I recalled that my storage space scaled with the stat. From its humble beginnings, my storage had ballooned from a standard reach-in closet to a mildly swankier walk-in closet. It was also the first time I¡¯d seen my new achievement¡¯s effects, granting me an extra point in my lowest stat, Dexterity. With God¡¯s Mind also hitting me with its once-per-three-level bonus, it was undoubtedly the most stats I¡¯d ever gained in a single level. That aside, I was surprised to find that I felt noticeably better mentally. Whether that was from the level, all of my stats combined, or just my Wisdom, I wasn¡¯t sure, but I would take it. It was much needed, too, as I¡¯d noticed myself struggling to hold myself together now that my breaks were more spread apart. When Cal finally leveled a month later, though, I knew our days of easy gains were over for a while. Even with how much higher-leveled the scorpions were, it would take the others the better part of a year to level again at the pace we were going. Perhaps it was no wonder, then, when Verin once again approached me with a new question. ¡°Lady Tess. I believe we have proven conclusively that we are well-equipped to handle the dangers that can be found in the desert. Though it may feel a bit rash, I believe we are as ready as we will be. What do you say we clear the desert and discover what lies on the other side?¡± B4 C14: Desert Preparation Our grand excursion into the desert was agreed upon and set in stone, but rather than jump into it immediately, we decided to prepare a bit. And in this case, by ¡°we,¡± I was strictly referring to Cal. For all the rogue had spent her time wandering about, she still hadn¡¯t fully explored the desert. Part of that was a matter of personal preference -- the forest was far more interesting, and it allowed her to contribute to our stash of herbs and small game whenever she went out. The other half was more logistical in nature. She had wandered across the sand for two days once, but when she found nothing but more sand and scorpions, she figured it was time to call it quits. After all, there was only so long she could be gone before we started to worry. In light of our decision to try clearing the desert, though, she reconsidered that stance. For the next six days, Cal would push as deep into the biome as she could, mapping out a route for us, and placing markers for where we would camp. If by the end of day six, she still hadn¡¯t found the end, she would return either way, giving us a total of 12 days to ourselves. Initially, I was against such a plan, figuring that it would be easier -- and safer -- for us all to go together. That was doubly true considering Cal lacked a working spatial pouch to store food and water, and she would eventually have to sleep out in the open. When I raised those concerns, however, she waved them off. Neither, according to her, would be an issue. Odd as that seemed, by now, I¡¯d heard bits and pieces of what she¡¯d been through with Hexaura. If perhaps I didn¡¯t understand exactly where her confidence came from, I could at least trust her. And if there was some challenge or second type of enemy waiting for us deeper within, I could admit that knowing ahead of time would be well appreciated at the worst and life saving at the best. And so, more down time. Whatever responsible part of me still existed whispered that I should use that time to throw myself into training before our big trip. In reality, though, I doubted it would matter. Twelve days wasn¡¯t even close to enough for me to level, and an extra level in a skill or two wouldn¡¯t do much in the grand scheme of things. Of course, there was one easy source of instant power I had available: my class trials. I¡¯d been attempting them for months by now, and unlike the trial for Mana Feet where that had been reasonable, the new trials were laughably easy. I had no doubt the old me would have been horrified to see how long they were taking. Without any real deadline, I just hadn¡¯t been able to force myself to give them my all. I had a hope, though, that with my steadily growing mental and soul resistances, coupled with the upcoming deadline, I could finally force myself to finish them properly. Over the next few days, I attacked the trials with a renewed resolve.
If nothing else, the Arcane Armament trial was chaotic. Bind Weapon, at least, had only really had five different choices, one for each of the weapons I¡¯d been able to bind. Much like had been true for Mana Feet, though, Arcane Armament had a full nine different mana types for me to switch through. If that wasn¡¯t enough on its own, the trial provided me with both a bow and a sword, forcing me to swap between them at a moment¡¯s notice. Fire ants. A swarm of insects rushed out of a newly formed ant hill, very literally blazing as they advanced. I had long since learned to take care of them first before they grew unmanageable, dropping all else to fire a water arrow directly at the hill. The hill disappeared when struck, and my arrow¡¯s splash damage brought the surrounding ants down with it. The nearest enemy capitalized on my distant attack, questing forward with a heavily bandaged hand. With a backwards jump and the barest of nicks from a fire sword, the dry cloth caught fire, rapidly spreading to the rest of the mummy. Right as my feet hit the ground, a thick vine wrapped around my ankle, yanking me down. Rather than fight against it, I helped it along, diving towards the base of the vine. Like a gardener from hell, I pruned the vine right at its base, channeling death magic into my sword. Though it was hardly instant, the necrotic energy spread beneath the ground, and half a dozen other similar vines wilted, killed from the root up. Over and over, this continued, new enemies spawning whenever I felt like I¡¯d have even the tiniest of breaks. While the enemies in the Bind Weapon trial had already been strange, my new foes took that to the next level. Whoever had designed this trial had either been strange or deranged. Bizarre, fleshy eyeless creatures approached on tall and slender limbs, their only defining feature being a spike of metal buried into the back of their heads. A well-timed earthen arrow sent them tumbling backwards, driving the spike into their heads when they fell. As if to make up for the lack of eyes, another of the abominations was nothing but eyes. It zapped any arrow out of the air save for those enhanced with light magic. Flying creatures that looked like dark fairies appeared, always at the spot the very farthest from me, peppering me with long-distance bolts of arcane energy. The moment I got too close, they vanished, forcing me to accurately shoot them down with wind-enhanced arrows from afar. Shrouded, ninja-like figures confounded me, perfectly parrying every blow unless I hid my blade with darkness. My only reprieve in the fight was a number of ethereal copies of myself that popped up from time to time, with little in the way of real offensive power, but good at keeping enemies off of me. Lest they die immediately, I was forced to heal them whenever I could, either with a healing blade or afar with an arrow. And if all that wasn¡¯t enough, there were the catalyst elementals. They began in opposite corners of the room, one made from flames, the other, a green sludge. Absolutely nothing I¡¯d tried was able to kill them as they slowly walked towards one another, and if they met, the entire trial ended in a massive explosion. The entire fight, I had to keep striking them with as many frost attacks as I could, slowing their advance until the trial ended. It was, to put it lightly, a mess. A chaotic jumble of too many elements that I struggled to keep track of. With months to get it right, though, half of my attacks had become automatic. For the other half, I focused as much as I could stand to, forcing the entirety of my warped mind to react. Three earth arrows were followed with dull thuds as an arcane bolt clipped my shoulder. I spun about and killed the demonic pixie before it could get another attack in, lunging to the side to avoid one of the eye-beasts even as I slashed at one of my copies with a sword of healing mana. Bit by bit, the room cleared out, until, after what felt like hours, the catalyst elementals were the last two enemies in sight. Only steps away from one another, it was all I could do to stand between them, striking back and forth with frost mana to keep them from meeting. When nothing else seemed to happen, I resigned myself to another loss. No, I reminded myself. No defeatism. Try. Do better. Even as I stabbed and slashed the two elementals, I scanned the remainder of the room as best I could, my artificially lowered Perception making the task a struggle. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. With only seconds left to spare, I finally saw it. There. A single, lone ant crawling towards me. In a blur that pushed all ten pitiful points of my Dexterity to the max, I fired one final arrow. The two elementals reached out with their amorphous limbs, sheer centimeters away from filling the room with a fiery death. Until, all at once, they vanished. Calculating score¡­ Time score: B Health score: B Minimum requirements met! Gray fog swallowed me, and before I knew it, I was back in the central room of my class space, all traces of the battle left behind. After months of bashing my head against the wall, giant golden letters filled the space before me. CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE COMPLETED A CLASS TRIAL! You have demonstrated mastery over your class skill Arcane Armament, and in doing so improved it in the process. The following upgrades have been granted: All damage from weapon enhancements multiplied by 1.25. All secondary effects strengthened. Grants the ability to use up to two Arcane Armament variants concurrently. Unlocks the ability to use advanced and composite mana types with Arcane Armament. All basic weapon skills are now considered class-aligned until level 50, increased from the base of 40. The majority of those bonuses had been at least somewhat expected, but it was still good to see that my expectations had been met. More than anything else, it was the ability to use advanced mana types that I was after, although I was certain that layering two mana types atop one another would greatly increase my strength as well. The only true oddball was the final bonus, answering a question I hadn¡¯t even realized I¡¯d had. I¡¯d known in theory that skills could lose their class-aligned status once they rose high enough, but I hadn¡¯t known exactly when that would happen for me. It was mostly a moot point considering I was nowhere near level 40 in anything, but it was good to know I still had a while to go before my skill leveling would taper off. Having finally achieved my goal, I exited my class space and moved on to my slightly more mundane daily activities.
Something that I was slowly coming to terms with was that my improvement projects were overly functional. It had been a good two months since the three of us had started fighting scorpions, and I¡¯d made a lot of headway on improving our living situation. Still, just about everything I¡¯d built revolved around practicality or convenience. Two new additions graced our prairie home, both of which followed that rationale. First, a bath. Rather than dig it directly into the ground, I¡¯d painstakingly carved one from stone, raising it off the ground and above a fire pit to appropriately warm the water. It had taken several attempts to get the distance just right so that we ended up in hot-bath territory rather than boiling alive, but I¡¯d gotten there eventually. These days, I was having trouble remembering exactly why the old Tess used to have such strange hangups, but out of deference to my past self, I then built walls around the bath. No one needed to watch me bathe. Second, I expanded our cabin. While Cal never seemed to use the building and I had my own space in the mountains, it felt wrong that we were all forced into one room when there was no shortage of space to use. Three new rooms now sprouted from the sides of the cabin, one for each of us. For starters, I¡¯d made a chair and basic desk for each. Once I figured out enough sewing to make blankets and pillows, I¡¯d follow that up with some bedframes. As I got better at faking my old thought patterns, though, I belatedly realized that my choices had been somewhat uninspired. Normal, healthy people needed more than basic amenities to stay sane. One trip to the forest later, and I had the singular tree I would need to start remedying that oversight. Careful carving, guided by equal parts Perception and Dexterity, winnowed the large trunk down into a perfect rectangular prism. Slowly and carefully, I cut into the corners until they were gently rounded. The next portion of my crafting session was the one I was least happy with. Having found a tree that released a sticky sap, I¡¯d used it to cover one half of a rock and then coated the rock in desert sand. It was very far from perfect, but as I ran the sandy stone over the wood, I was happy to see that the makeshift sandpaper worked at least a little bit, smoothing down the few rough patches and corner imperfections. From there, I summoned a thin blade and charged it with mana before cutting into the wood as if it were a loaf of bread. Slice after slice yielded dozens of wooden rectangles. ¡°Carving or burning?¡± I voiced aloud to no one. Both would work, but in the end, I decided burning would yield a more visually pleasing contrast. It was a struggle to summon up something I could draw with until I recalled those thin needles that ninjas were supposed to throw around. With that image in mind, I pushed at Arcane Armament. There was a brief moment of pushback, but the skill conceded, and a tiny needle of fire mana appeared in my hand. Hour after hour, I dragged the needle across the slices of wood, taking great care to only apply enough pressure and heat to blacken rather than burn. Perhaps Verin could have done a better job, but when I examined my finished work at the end, I could honestly say I¡¯d done well. ¡°Huh. Should probably make a box for them too, shouldn¡¯t I?¡± Woodworking has reached level 12!
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE COMPLETED A CLASS TRIAL! Five days after clearing its counterpart, I at last managed to squeeze out a victory in the Arcane Armor trial. With proof of concept that I could, in fact, push myself to finish them, my subsequent attempts yielded far better results than in the past. It was a good thing, too. The obstacle course for the trial was particularly hellish. As best I could tell, it was built so that it was impossible to block some of the attacks, forcing me to spend half the trial in my life armor to keep the accumulated damage from finishing me off. Not that I truly minded that much, but expending enough willpower to push through the trial had been taking a toll on my energy levels. Already, I¡¯d used three days since Cal left just to recover. If somewhat predictably, the completion bonuses were essentially identical to the Arcane Armament bonuses. The only true downside to finishing the trial was that it limited my options moving forward. I¡¯d never filled out the next tier of weapon or armor skills, leaving me with only the Arcane Vision trial left for now. Unfortunately, from what little I¡¯d seen of the trial, it was just as involved as Mana Feet had been. I made some half-hearted attempts to clear it, but I¡¯d yet to last more than ten minutes before an invisible spear ripped through my chest. That, I decided, would be a problem for another day. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the twelfth day after her departure, Cal at last returned. While she hadn¡¯t managed to make it to the end of the biome, she was able to confirm that there was nothing but sand and scorpions for at least six days out. With no real reason to put things off, we decided to head out the next day. But first, I had a surprise. ¡°I thought you two might want to do something fun before we left.¡± I pulled a simple wooden box from my inventory and presented it to the two of them. Without a hint of hesitance, Cal grabbed it immediately, leaving Verin to grumble softly. When she opened said box, her face lit up. ¡°Oh shit, Tess. You made these?¡± Cal lifted one of the wooden rectangles out of the box and displayed it for all to see. An image of a king stared back at us, one of the few pictures that was the same between my childhood and Sylum. ¡°Playing cards,¡± Verin whispered. ¡°I hadn¡¯t even thought to do such a thing. They¡¯re lovely.¡± Rather than spend any time admiring my artistry, Cal cut straight to the heart of things. ¡°Perfect! So? What are we wagering?¡± The answer, as it turned out, was shots of moonshine. A good many hours later and after all manner of games were played, the three of us were drunk as skunks. And yet, it was worth it, I thought. When the three of us finally left for the desert, I could tell both Verin and Cal were in higher spirits than they¡¯d been in months. And with any luck, their moods would only brighten further from here on out. As we took our first step out of the prairie and into the desert, I could only hope our trip would prove blissfully uneventful. B4 C15: Sand Given that all of my experiences in the desert thus far had been fairly brief, there was something that I hadn¡¯t fully appreciated up till now. The desert was hot. A simple fact on the surface, although the more I thought about it, the stranger it felt. It wasn¡¯t as if there was a sun, after all. Still, whatever faux realism the dungeon had created seemed to include basic temperature and humidity control. Not hard to deal with for an hour or two, but notably unpleasant after more than a day. Heat Resistance paired with a healthy dose of Chill and my frost armor was enough to mostly ignore it. Unfortunately, unlike a real desert that grew colder at night, the artificial environment never cooled down. Each morning, I woke uncomfortably overheated, only saved from being drenched in sweat from my Charisma threshold bonus. Still, considering that the climate was my biggest complaint so far, I had to admit that things were going well. Three nights had passed as we followed the course that Cal had set for us, mostly going straight, but occasionally slipping behind the rolling dunes to avoid attention. Unlike during our hunts, we were doing our best to conserve energy, straying from fights whenever possible. Naturally, we weren¡¯t always successful, but so far, we were only averaging about four fights a day. Night for us was just whenever Verin needed to sleep. Given that she had the least Endurance out of any of us, the journey was hard on her, though with her frost magic, she had little to fear from the ever-present heat. When she grew too tired to go on, we hunkered down in whatever defensible location Cal could find for us. Lacking any mattresses, we slept directly on the sand, a fact which Verin openly bemoaned when she woke up covered in the irritating grainy substance. Naturally, we kept watch. Or at least Cal did. I¡¯d offered to take the job from her a number of times, but she consistently refused, claiming she had some manner of anti-sleep skill. That didn¡¯t sound like something an Infiltrator would have, let alone a princess, but considering I didn¡¯t once catch her dozing off, eventually, I relented. She did a rather good job at keeping watch, too, as evidenced by the multiple times we were prodded awake to fight off an impending scorpion attack. We had a single close call when a very groggy Verin had taken too long to fully wake up, but weeks of fighting scorpions had lessened my reliance on her. Rather than taking their charge head-on, I¡¯d grown adept at dashing to the side and hammering off entire legs, rendering their sand armor meaningless. When we grew hungry, we ate from the weeks¡¯ worth of food I¡¯d pre-cooked and stuffed into my storage. When we grew thirsty, I conjured water and passed out cups. Just like this, we pushed deeper and deeper into the desert, mostly in companionable silence. As we neared the six-day mark, though, our thoughts couldn¡¯t help but wander to what would lie beyond this expanse of sand, and after that, our eventual escape from this bizarre dimension. Right as we were about to fall asleep on the fifth night, it was Verin who broached the subject. ¡°I am curious. What is the first thing you are looking forward to once we exit this place?¡± Already lying down, she stared wistfully out at the roiling, patchwork sky. I¡¯d never been one to think particularly long-term, and that was only triply true as of late. For months, my life had been portioned off into six-day chunks, and it was vanishingly rare that I was able to think more than that far in advance. It was thus no surprise when Cal answered first. ¡°Oh man. I don¡¯t even know, honestly. Probably a whole month where I just do whatever I want, no limits. As soon as something pops into my head, I¡¯ll just do it, over and over again.¡± She spread her hands out before her as if asking us to envision such a sight. Her words were met with an amused huff. ¡°Lady Calilah, forgive me if I am incorrect, but is that not what you already do?¡± ¡°Exactly! If it¡¯s not broke, don¡¯t fix it, right?¡± She chuckled to herself until, perhaps sensing Verin¡¯s disapproval, she settled down. ¡°Real answer, though, I¡¯ll probably go home for a while. Check on my dad. Make sure he hasn¡¯t started any new wars. I could use a nice bed and a palace chef -- no offense, Tess -- and everything else. Plus, if I end up continuing to level like this, by the time we leave this place, I think I¡¯ll be on a better footing to have a more equal relationship with my dad.¡± It was a surprisingly well thought-out answer, and for once, not even Verin had anything to say in judgment. As if embarrassed to have said something mildly serious, Cal immediately deflected attention away from her, thankfully skipping me for now. ¡°What about you, Miss Noble?¡± The vague impression of a mischievous smile crossed her face causing Verin to look far more like Cal than she ever had. ¡°I am afraid I have quite a number of duties and expectations placed upon me and will need to travel home immediately. But if you must know, perhaps I will be a touch¡­ rebellious. I am planning on soaking in the Emer¡¯Thalis bathhouse for an entire day prior to my departure.¡± No words were offered in response to her declaration, save for a single cough from Cal. When the silence dragged on, it grew clear that neither of the others were going to force an answer from me, and something told me they wouldn¡¯t like the real answer. Sleep, I thought. Sleep for a hundred years. Maybe build a cabin somewhere no one can find me. Hunker down and try not to attract any Antagonists. That wouldn¡¯t be so bad. Instead, I answered more diplomatically. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve leveled a lot of professional skills lately. Maybe I¡¯ll take a year just for hobbies.¡± To sell the facade, I put in the effort to add an entire extra sentence. ¡°I think there¡¯s a way to make professional skills class-aligned for me, so maybe it wouldn¡¯t be too hard.¡± Given that clearing the Mana Feet trial had made movement skills class-aligned, I could only imagine something similar would happen for Gloves of the Arcanist. Despite my final words being fully truthful, it seemed the system recognized the lie buried beneath it. Deception has reached level 8! Seemingly sold, the other two encouraged my goal. For the next ten minutes, they came up with all sorts of projects for me. They would commission some carvings from me. We could make stone statues of us to put up in the middle of Emer¡¯Thalis. I could build Cal and me houses to put right next to Verin¡¯s vacation home, and whenever they got tired of being princesses and nobles, they could teleport in for a drinking night. Failing that, Cal said she would get me some sort of illusion charm and hire me as a royal crafter in Ftheran. It was all very nice. And who knew? Maybe by the time that we left, I¡¯d even want to take them up on some of that. I didn¡¯t think so, but then again, more than the others, I was expecting to be here for a long time. Thankfully, the conversation eventually shifted, and Verin and Cal spent the better part of half an hour debating the relative merits of their cities. Despite being the only one who¡¯d spent any reasonable time in both of them, I was blissfully not asked to weigh in. Eventually, Verin could take no more, trailing off as she fell asleep mid-conversation. Naturally, Cal did not join her, but shortly thereafter, I went to sleep atop my sandy bed. My final thought before I passed out for the night was one that Verin would heavily approve of. I should really make us mattresses somehow.
Neither day six nor day seven led us to the end of the desert. They did, however, bring about some manner of change. As if some minor afterthought, a small number of bushes and cacti poked up from the ground every so often. Paired with the sparse vegetation was some equally sparse wildlife, as the occasional lizard skittered across the sand. God¡¯s Eye didn¡¯t mark anything as a threat, but out of an abundance of caution, I shot one down with a wind arrow. As best I could tell, they truly were just normal animals, neither venomous or otherwise dangerous in any way. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Still, that didn¡¯t stop me from dispatching a few more. Who knew what they would taste like when properly cooked? It was strange, in a way. The dungeon had gone all out for the forest, forming an entire ecosystem within. In comparison, the desert was barren, as if the dungeon had started rendering it and gave up halfway through. Then again, maybe that was to be expected: The dungeon wasn¡¯t supposed to be ready to delve for another few centuries, right? Maybe by then, there would be a dozen types of monster here, along with all manner of wildlife. If perhaps it made for a rather monotonous eyesore at times, I wasn¡¯t complaining. If we could cut through the desert without any real incident, that was only for the better. And it seemed that we would do just that, too. On the eighth day, we climbed a particularly tall dune, and our destination finally came into view. ¡°Dark,¡± Cal helpfully offered. Then again, there wasn¡¯t much else to say. Off in the distance, about a day¡¯s walk away, the sand abruptly cut off, replaced with a formless expanse of dimness. Or at least it was just dim to me. The others described it as a wall of pure black. I imagined my boon-granted darkvision was to blame for this. With any luck, it would make the next stretch of our journey effortless. Not that we planned to cut through to the next section immediately, but we would at least dip our toes in and get some information. Otherwise this trip would have been meaningless. Feeling more energized with our goal in sight, the three of us set off anew. Perhaps happy to see us off, the desert even left us with a parting gift. As we began to descend the massive dune, a gentle breeze passed over us, cutting some of the cloying heat. I dismissed my frost armor, letting myself bask in the feeling of the wind on my skin. ¡°Kind of weird that this is the first time we¡¯ve seen any wind in all our time here, yeah?¡± Cal held a hand out, testing the direction of the winds. ¡°Not that I¡¯m complaining, but what gives? Something to do with being near the next section?¡± Who knew? I was perfectly content to let it happen without questioning it too much. Or, that¡¯s what I thought, at least. That opinion quickly shifted as the breeze started to kick up a few grains of sand, not strongly enough to hurt, but enough to get into my boots. I was wrong. Maybe this is the desert¡¯s way of telling us to get lost. I wondered if the dungeon was sentient enough to be angry at us for killing so many of its scorpions. If I understood, it was forced to use more energy to respawn the monsters every time we killed them. As if to prove that theory correct, the wind intensified further until I was forced to resummon my armor. I initially worried for the others, but I needn¡¯t have. Verin took a similar route, donning her ice armor, and Cal activated some sort of permeability skill, the sand passing right through her. Neither, however, seemed to overly enjoy this new development. ¡°I will admit to feeling slightly¡­ unsettled by this change. Perhaps we should hasten our advance? I doubt this will be an issue if we are able to reach the next section, and I do not relish the thought of falling asleep in this weather.¡± Given that Verin was the slowest of all of us, no one would argue with her if she wanted to pick up the pace. From a standard walk, we broke out into a jog. Bit by bit, however, the wind began to intensify. From a simple discomfort, it evolved into a full-blown impediment as it pushed and pulled at us, threatening to bowl us over. After a particularly nasty gust, I activated Heavy Step to stabilize my footing. ¡°Fucking sand!¡± Cal yelled. ¡°Once we get back, I¡¯m never setting foot in a desert again!¡± It was a sentiment I was quickly growing to share with her. As bad as the wind was, it had nothing on the waves and waves of sand which came along with it. The force of it wasn¡¯t too horrible given our respective skills, but it worked hard to limit our vision. In no time at all, the darkness was fully obscured by an endless wall of tan, at which point, I could no longer deny it. A sandstorm. Not an errant burst of wind that would end in a few seconds, but a real, honest-to-gods storm. With how calm the weather had been thus far, it hadn¡¯t even occurred to me that this was a possibility. I cursed myself, remembering that a long, long time ago, I¡¯d won a pair of contacts from the dungeon in Drawgin that would have been perfect for this situation, making me immune to getting sand in my eyes. Having taken them out, though, they were lying unused in my malfunctioning spatial pouch. By now, my vision was so poor, I could barely even see the others, opting to close my eyes for a moment to protect them from the sand. Cal was shouting something again, but she seemed to have grown distant. Even with my Perception, her words were swallowed by the wind. I tried to reorient myself, running to the sound of her voice until I could make out what she was saying. When her words finally registered, my blood ran cold. ¡°WHERE¡¯S VERIN?¡± I spun about, finding no trace of her. With as much urgency as I could muster, I ran back the way I¡¯d come from. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, I grabbed Cal, initially surprised to find my hand pass right through her until I remembered she had a skill activated. Understanding my intent, she deactivated it, and I took hold of her wrist. Where, where, where? Why had I agreed to this? I wouldn¡¯t have been willing to go south over the water biome because of the risk of drowning, right? How was sand really any different? Worse, I could tell that I wasn¡¯t nearly as worried as I should have been. Verin was a friend. I cared about Verin. I needed to save her. I knew that. Why wasn¡¯t I worried enough, then? My thoughts spun about in a jumbled mess of self-flagellation and forced focus until I snapped myself out of it. Belatedly recalling I had more options, I kicked myself for not thinking to use my spells and vision skills sooner. Sense Minds rippled out. Nothing. Thermal Vision. Nothing. Tremor Sight. Nothing. Vitality Sigh- There! I yanked Cal along, eliciting a startled squawk from her as I layered Light Step onto my existing Heavy Step. I flew over the sand faster than I¡¯d run in ages, not blinking for a second on the off chance that I¡¯d lose sight of Verin. For the briefest of moments, I worried that Vitality Sight was misleading me, guiding me towards a scorpion instead of my companion. But no. At last I grew close enough to see her without the aid of my vision skill. It was a good thing I¡¯d found her, too, as the sand was clearly too much for her to handle. Already up to her thighs, it threatened to swallow her, fully locking her in place. Unthinking, I dashed for her, clasping her hand while my other still held Cal. ¡°Verin! It¡¯s okay! We got you!¡± Come on. It¡¯s going to be fine. I braced myself and pulled, watching with great satisfaction as I forced her slightly upwards, the sand now at her calves instead of her thighs. Given how well my initial efforts had gone, it was with some confusion, then, that I noticed that Verin was no longer moving upwards. Figuring I needed some better leverage or to pull from a different angle, I started to walk backwards. At least I tried to. As soon as I attempted to move, I felt resistance from my feet. Glancing down, I discovered that the sand had swallowed me past my ankles. When simply lifting my legs wasn¡¯t enough to unstick them, I resorted to more forceful measures, trading Heavy Step for its fire variant. I chained together a few Jet Steps, hoping the force would be enough to push me up and out. Instead, the flames had the opposite effect, and I could feel as my movements grew even more limited as the sand seemed to fuse to my feet. Hoping to at least slow my burial, I activated my wind armor in an effort to divert the sand¡¯s advance. I could tell that it was working, too, as the area around me started to clear up. It was with no small measure of horror, then, that I realized the sand was still climbing upwards. Or no, I realized. It wasn¡¯t that the sand was moving up. I was moving down. ¡°We¡¯re sinking,¡± I whispered to myself. I ran through all my options, sure that one of my spells or skills would get me out of this situation. Spatial Step came to mind until I learned the hard way that the step part of the name was very literal. If I couldn¡¯t at least take a full step, it wouldn¡¯t activate. I considered what else I could do, coming up completely blank. ¡°Verin! Cal! Do either of you have anything?¡± But of course they didn¡¯t. If Verin had a relevant skill, she wouldn¡¯t have needed our help in the first place. Worse yet, it appeared that being partially buried kept Cal from activating her incorporeality. Recalling one singular spell that might help, I rapidly cast Blip, moving tiny patches of sand away from me while thrashing about. Impairment Resistance has reached level 5! The skill level, much like my spell attempts, was just a drop in the ocean. As the sand moved from my knees to my waist, from my waist to my stomach, I stopped trying as my mind went empty. Distantly, I could tell that Verin was holding back tears while Cal was saying something glib, her smile never faltering for a second. I figured I should say something. What exactly? I didn¡¯t know. That I was thankful for all they¡¯d done? That I was sorry it was my fault they¡¯d gotten trapped here? Before I could settle on anything, it became a moot point as the sand covered up my mouth and then my ears shortly thereafter. Buried beneath the sand with no way out, down and down we sank. B4 C16: Palace-y I couldn¡¯t, in full honesty, say that sinking through the sand ranked on my top ten worst experience list, though that wasn¡¯t for lack of trying. I could only be thankful for the small number of levels I¡¯d picked up in Breath Control last semester which kept me from immediately sucking in sand into my lungs. As I sank deeper and deeper, I found myself filled with an unnatural calm. I did not expect to get out of this situation alive. That was bad. I did not expect Cal or Verin to get out of this situation alive. That was bad too. Amongst other things, it was also sad that I¡¯d never gotten to cook that lizard I¡¯d caught. Probably less bad, but still. All in all, though, I¡¯d had a decent run, and it was far better than dying in a burning car. If nothing else, dying in the sand would simplify a lot of problems for me. Still linked with Cal and Verin, I squeezed their hands in comfort and simply waited. Not the best way to die, but I accepted it for what it was. It was with no small level of shock, then, that I felt the sand release its grip on me. For a brief moment, I was falling through the air before landing on something soft, only to have something soft land on me directly afterwards. Opening my eyes revealed the bruised and groaning form of Verin beneath me, with Cal on top, none the worse for wear. ¡°We survived¡­¡± I mumbled the words more for my own benefit than anything else, but Cal picked up on them immediately. As she scrambled to get off of us and to her feet, her self-assured grin never left her face. ¡°Of course we did! Weren¡¯t you listening up above? Like I was saying, I had a good feeling about the sand. Had some Infiltrator class skills going crazy. Plus, dying to a sandstorm would be way too lame. Did you really think that¡¯s how you were going to go out after meeting literal gods?¡± I had not been listening, and judging by Verin¡¯s poorly hidden shaking and shell-shocked expression, neither had she. Either that, or her breath control wasn¡¯t so hot, as she was panting uncontrollably. Especially after losing her in the storm, I felt like I should comfort her. I bent down and rubbed her shoulders as she ever so slowly calmed down. Whether through sheer willpower or possibly with some input from her Etiquette skill, she collected herself in short order, straightening herself out as she returned to her standard composed state. ¡°That was outside of my expectations,¡± she admitted. ¡°Thank you for coming to my aid. I do not relish the thought of being trapped down here by myself. With that said, perhaps we should spend some time determining exactly where ¡®here¡¯ is, yes?¡± I personally thought it would be fine to take a few more minutes to marvel at being alive, but she had a point. That was doubly true if we couldn¡¯t find a way out, as that would mean we¡¯d only traded a fast death for a slow one. ¡°Lady Tess. A light if you would?¡± Despite her high Perception, Verin looked about in a squint. Belatedly, I realized that whatever strange force usually lit the dungeon was much reduced down here. While not pitch black, it was eerily dark. Not that such a thing mattered much to me, but as requested, I cast Illumination a few times. It was one of my better researched spells, and with a few tweaks with Spell Manipulation, I summoned them at a distance, multiple balls of light scattering all around us. The scene that was revealed was, surprisingly, not just sand. ¡°Neat. Looks kind of palace-y, doesn¡¯t it? What do you think -- can we find another princess down here?¡± As unlikely as the latter half of her words were, the prior were entirely correct. Though clearly worse for wear, the tan bricks that made up the walls were covered in gaudy but faded tapestries with a muted purple carpet beneath us. A small stream of sand poured in from the same hole in the ceiling we¡¯d somehow dropped through, though it seemed to disappear when it hit the floor, as if from some cleaning enchantment. Most notably, though, were the large, gold-plated double doors which appeared to be the only way out. ¡°I believe the word is ¡®palatial¡¯, Lady Calilah. And forgive me for saying so, but if this sand princess of yours would be half as much a handful as you, I am afraid I must advise against seeking her out.¡± More than anything else, Cal¡¯s words seemed to bring Verin fully back to herself. Rather than rise to the jab, Cal simply nodded. ¡°Fair enough. I guess there can be too much of a good thing.¡± Verin scoffed, but Cal pretended not to hear her. ¡°So? Everyone ready? Time to open the big door?¡± Was it? Having been blindsided by the sandstorm and losing track of Verin, I felt like it was best to plan ahead a bit more. At the very least, before we opened the door, I cast Sense Minds to make sure the coast was clear on the other side. When it came back blank, I relaxed, but still decided to rotate through my vision abilities. Even having done so for the express purpose of gathering information, it was still with some surprise when one of them actually registered something. More than that, it was one of the variants I¡¯d almost never had any luck with: Ghosteye. Two spots on either side of the door were showing up a sort of wispy purple-black that I hadn¡¯t seen before. According to the skill description, Ghosteye was supposed to highlight the recently dead and the undead. I¡¯d even used it once or twice before -- I¡¯d found the bones of a buried shadow wolf back in the darkness dungeon. The visual feedback then, however, had been entirely different. It was not particularly hard to draw the unfortunate conclusion. ¡°Two undead waiting on the other side,¡± I informed the others. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll deal with it.¡± I had agreed to challenge the desert with Cal and Verin despite both of them being weaker in combat. Whether that had been out of blind optimism (unlikely) or general apathy (more likely), it was my fault either way, and we¡¯d almost ended up dead because of it. With unknown enemies ahead, matters of pride and gaining experience would have to be put to the side. From now on, I¡¯d deal with the fighting. ¡°You got it-¡± ¡°I do not believe-¡± Cal and Verin started talking over one another, and rather than give them time to come to a mutual conclusion, I left them behind and made a beeline for the door. It was open before they fully finished their sentences. Much as expected, my enemies were waiting for me. Standing ramrod straight and bedecked in basic chainmail, two skeletons wielded rusty longswords. As soon as they saw me, their bony skulls unnaturally swiveled my way. They were actually, in fact, not the first skeletons I¡¯d fought, that honor belonging to the conjured skeletons in my Bind Weapon trial. Still, even on the second go around, I had to admit that skeletons were far creepier than movies or games made them out to be. There was something deeply unsettling about their movements that CGI or even stop motion couldn¡¯t fully capture. Distantly, I was aware that Verin was running up to come help. It wasn¡¯t needed. And if the skeletons had any sort of special abilities, they never had time to use them. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The reassuring weight of my hammer appeared in my hands. I spared no expenses, and with my newly upgraded Arcane Armament, I layered both fire and light enhancements onto the hulking weapon. With a dash of Overload Weapon just to make triply sure, I smashed the weapon into one skeleton and then the other. Even with their armor, the two were pulverized, nothing more than piles of bone shards once I was done. Given that they were undead, I waited a moment to make sure they wouldn¡¯t start reassembling or any such nonsense, but when I saw the kill notifications and they continued to lie there inert, I let myself relax. Verin appeared by my side a moment later, staring at the re-dead enemies with a complicated expression. ¡°That was¡­ rather effective, I must admit.¡± Her mouth opened as if to append something extra before she ultimately closed it, only speaking again after staring me down for a while. ¡°I suppose I have no qualms with you serving as our vanguard. We are not, however, helpless. Please feel free to rely on us should you so desire.¡± Feeling at least 50% sure that her words were the sort of thing a person was supposed to nod at, I nodded. When she seemed slightly placated and stopped staring at me quite so intensely, I figured I¡¯d made the right choice. ¡°Cool! Everyone¡¯s made up. I would like to vote that we explore the underground palace now. If we hurry, I¡¯ll even let you guys have some of the treasure we find.¡± Ignoring the fact that I would be leading the way, Cal raced by, beckoning us on. With one beleaguered sigh and one indifferent shrug, Verin and I moved to follow her.
Very quickly, I was forced to reevaluate my opinion that the dungeon had skimped on designing the desert environment. Instead, it seemed that all the resources it had allocated to the desert had simply ended up down here. Partially, that could be seen just from the details surrounding us. If perhaps lackluster compared to what it would have looked like in its heyday, there truly was no word to describe this place except ¡°palace.¡± Banners, tapestries, and mosaics covered every other inch of the walls, and while the carpet was certainly a touch threadbare, it was still soft all these years later. Then again, I wasn¡¯t actually sure if this place was old or if the dungeon had just created it all like this. Odds were actually pretty good in either direction -- if Emperor Diorus had found a natural pocket dimension rather than creating one artificially, it was perfectly possible that some civilization had existed here in the distant past. It was actually a common occurrence for dungeons to incorporate and repurpose existing infrastructure in those cases. From what I¡¯d learned about Sylum¡¯s dungeon, that was likely the case for the forge that had created my hammer, in fact. Either that, or the dungeon had just made all this up. Who knew? The rich artwork occasionally took more portable forms as well, and Cal wasted no time snatching gold vases and figurines off of pedestals before seeming to recall that I was the only one with a way to carry them. Whether by sheer luck or her class skills, I was happy to note that nothing she took activated any horrible traps. That was not to say, however, that there were no traps, which was the other reason I could tell the dungeon had really gone all out. ¡°Tripwi-¡± ¡°Trip-¡± ¡°Tr-¡± Three voices announced an upcoming trap, mine, then Cal¡¯s, then Verin¡¯s. Despite not being the one to spot the wire first, Cal gave Verin a smug grin. Detect Trap has reached level 12! Yes, the area was supposedly meant for those much stronger than us, but when it came to traps, we were laughably overpowered. Even Verin, the one whose class and skills had nothing to do with traps, had passed the first Perception threshold. Much to her well-hidden consternation, that didn¡¯t put her on an even playing field with Cal¡¯s Infiltrator and Trap Detection skills, but three pairs of eyes were still better than one. Despite a few levels of Trap Disarmament I¡¯d picked up while Cal was with Hexauara, I left all of that work to her now that she was here. One after another, all the standard traps were disarmed or bypassed, ranging from the classic arrows in the walls to the less imaginative pitfall under the carpet. ¡°Hold.¡± The hallway curved to the side up ahead, and Ghosteye confirmed that there were some more skeletons just out of sight. I left the others behind and dashed around the corner only to discover my initial assumption had been wrong. Huh. Not skeletons. The new enemies were wrapped up in thick bandages, somehow shambling towards me despite their eyes being fully covered. Mummies. It was strangely comforting in a way. Skeletons just like in my Bind Weapon trial, and mummies just like for Arcane Armament. Almost on reflex, I bit into them with a hastily summoned fire sword. They didn¡¯t light up quite as easily as the ones I¡¯d trained on, but a few more cuts with Overcharge Weapon saw them light up soon enough. I half expected to encounter ghosts or zombies or some other form of undead further up ahead, but as we delved deeper into the ruined palace, we were only met with the two types of foes. Over. And over. And over. Eventually we had to admit to ourselves that, much like our trip through the desert above, this would not be a one-day affair. I briefly wondered if we would eventually pass from the desert biome into the darkness section, but a check of the compass revealed that we were headed almost backwards towards the cabin. If that was the case, then theoretically, we could have as much as eight days to travel. More if the hallways looped around enough. As we fell asleep on the first night after walling off the area ahead and behind us with ice walls, Cal did her best to cheer us up. ¡°Hey, at least you get to sleep on a carpet instead of on the sand, right? And I¡¯m, like, 90% certain I won¡¯t have to wake you up to deal with a scorpion attack while we¡¯re down here.¡± Truly, sometimes it was the little things. For five days we wandered about, often having to backtrack as we encountered dead ends. On a few occasions, we found rooms that were less uniform -- an old armory filled with unusable, rusty equipment; the non-fantasy kind of dungeon, complete with some empty holding cells; and a run-down barracks where I was forced to smash through so many skeletons that my stamina sank to its halfway point. Of much more interest was the handful of secrets we found nestled within the palace walls. Or perhaps ¡°we¡± was being unfair -- for once, I was entirely outclassed when it came to locating secrets. Whether it was from Cal massively leveling up her class skills since last I¡¯d delved with her, or from her being far more familiar with finding secrets within palaces, she essentially made my skills an afterthought. The bulk of the secrets were simple passageways, which we at least hoped were saving us time and spitting us out closer to our end goal, whatever that was. A smaller number revealed concealed compartments and rooms, but of a much less fleshed out variety than official ¡°hidden rooms¡± in dungeons. Frustratingly, most of the treasure we found was in the form of precious metals. While I grabbed it all, we had little use for wealth these days. The only actual upgrade we found was an ornate dagger with a golden handle, somehow untouched by the ravages of time. Naturally, it went to Cal who was exceptionally happy given that most of her weapons were locked away in her spatial pouch still. As if specifically created for the desert, it had a weak armor penetration enchantment and could cut through sand more easily. Even had she not been the only dagger-wielder amongst us, Cal had more than earned it. Ignoring her secret-finding abilities, once it had become clear that we didn¡¯t know how long we would be down here, she hadn¡¯t let us give her any food. Not that we were going to immediately run out, but she was adamant that whatever strange ability she had would cover her. In the end, however, her sacrifice proved unnecessary. Though in theory it was impossible to know where the palace ended, on our sixth day, all of us agreed that we¡¯d reached our goal. ¡°Oooh. Big.¡± If a bit obvious, Cal¡¯s words echoed my own thoughts on the matter. Two doors loomed above us, each of them made from pure, solid gold. The only larger doors I¡¯d ever seen were those to my Dungeon of Tragedies, and given that those weren¡¯t exactly physically real, it wasn¡¯t a fair comparison. While somewhat expected, Ghosteye revealed that there were indeed some number of undead inside, though the range of the skill made it unclear just how many we¡¯d be facing. In a nicer world, we would have refreshed ourselves for a while, or maybe even camped out for another night before we made our move. Failing that, we could have talked strategy for a while, preparing for whatever we might find inside. As the sandstorm had already proven, though, this dungeon realm was rarely so kind to us. With a great, creaking groan, the massive doors began to open. B4 C17: Break Throughout the entire palace, not once had I let the others help with the fighting. While there¡¯d been some cursory attempts on their parts to help out, I¡¯d shut them down quickly, not willing to take any chances. It was, after all, partly my fault we¡¯d ended up here for going along with their overly optimistic plans in the first place. Given that I hadn¡¯t let Cal or Verin fight the basic skeletons and mummies, then, naturally I would not be letting them follow me into what clearly looked like a boss chamber. Even as the doors began to reveal what lay within, I was explaining as much. ¡°I¡¯ll go in. Stay he-¡± Seemingly deaf, Verin passed me, walking boldly towards the opening doors. ¡°Lady Tess, while I will acknowledge your fighting prowess, if you attempt to fight whatever lies ahead completely on your own, I will be lodging an icicle in your thick skull, with all due respect.¡± With a shrug that seemed to say ¡°might as well,¡± Cal followed hot on her heels. I caught up quickly and ran a few paces ahead in case anything tried to take a bite out of them, all three of us now firmly past the double doors. Even as I debated how to handle their recklessness, I spared a moment to take in our surroundings. And they were strange. Undeniably, this was not the sort of room I¡¯d expected to find behind such imposing yet gaudy doors. Half of it made sense, at least: Much as I would have guessed, we were in a throne room. The wide purple carpet that led up to a golden throne on a raised dais made that more than apparent. Everything else, however, told a very different story. The first oddity was the size of the room. It was long. Freakishly so, in fact, with the distant throne several kilometers away. Were one to ever fill it with petitioners, I had to imagine it would take a king several months just to listen to all their pleas. Had that been all, however, I would have counted it as a win. Unfortunately¡­ ¡°So what do you call one of these? A crypt? Mausoleum? Catacomb? Sorry, I¡¯m not really up to speed with all the undead lingo. More importantly, those can¡¯t all have an undead inside, can they?¡± While I flat-out ignored the first half of Cal¡¯s rambling, the latter half mirrored my thoughts exactly. Stone coffins filled the entirety of the room, laid out on a precise grid pattern, leaving only the central carpet untouched. In and of itself, that would have been alarming, but the coffins were actually the less distressing feature of the room. Carved into the walls was a series of recesses, each the perfect size for someone to lie down in. Out of context, the sight reminded me of a few ads I¡¯d seen for rentable ¡°sleep pods,¡± available in lieu of living in an actual apartment. If some cheap landlord had skimped on every possible expense and opened such a venture in a dingy morgue, I imagined it would have looked much like what lay before me. That sense was only reinforced by the many slumbering forms I spotted within. With the burial alcoves stretching from the floor to the ceiling and running the entire length of the wall, there had to be thousands upon thousands of corpses here, if not more. ¡°All right. Not to state the obvious or anything, but I¡¯m getting kind of bad vibes here, you know?¡± Cal took a step away from the nearest coffin, grabbing a hold of Verin by the shoulders and using her as a barrier. Even as Verin started to retaliate, I was busy deciding exactly how to get them to leave the room. Stern words were less likely to get me into trouble with Verin later, but at this point, I was ready to physically throw the two out. Before I could commit, however, the choice was taken out of my hands. Far, far faster than they¡¯d opened, the massive doors whipped shut behind us, nearly sending the three of us to the floor with the resulting gust of wind. While already knowing what I would find, a strong shove confirmed it. We were locked in. As much as I had some choice words to deliver right about then, they would have to wait. Now, I had expected to have to fight some number of undead on seeing the layout of the room. Perhaps the coffins would open whenever I approached one of them, or a few skeletons would pour out from the walls now and then. Not even in my worst nightmares could I have prepared for the truth, though. Across the entire room, the many hundreds of coffins all began to slide open at once, skeletal hands rising from them, light glinting off the ornate silvery armor encasing them. At the same time, bandaged forms began to spill from the walls, soft thuds repeating over and over again as they slammed into the ground or atop one another. Even before any of the undead had fully risen to their feet, their heads all tilted as one, honing in on us with a single hive mind. ¡°This is¡­ beyond my expectations. I am¡­¡± Even as the undead began to get their bearings, Verin trailed off until her voice returned far more confidently only a moment later. ¡°A room such as this would not be present were it not defeatable, yes? Standard tactics for large numbers of enemies dictate forming a choke point. Let us not waste any time.¡± Walls of ice sprung up to my left and right, starting at the door behind us and angled inwards to present only a narrow opening out. With how many undead I¡¯d seen, I wasn¡¯t sure this was a reasonable strategy, but anything else would have likely seen us swarmed, so I held my tongue. Having used similar formations with my previous dungeon delving group, I knew what was expected of me, moving to plug the gap. Soon thereafter, the first of the skeletons reached the killing grounds. My hammer, primed and ready, swung down. With horror, I watched as it left only a small dent on the undead¡¯s armor, a set of silver plate mail that was leagues above anything we¡¯d seen thus far. I aimed my followup strike more carefully, a savage two-handed swipe to the skeleton¡¯s neck, successfully shattering its skull and part of its spine even with its armor. It crashed to the floor with a loud clatter, its animating force leaving it once its head was destroyed. As the next undead took its place, I could only grimace. One down. Ten-thousand more to go. With little else to do, I squared my stance and got to it.
As I lashed out with my fire sword for what felt like the millionth time, I could only thank whatever gods had designed the first Charisma threshold. Without it, I knew that I would be up to my neck in sweat right now, only my increased control over my bodily functions preventing me from drowning in my own fluids. Even as the mummy fell, I rapidly switched to my hammer, the next skeleton climbing over the burning corpse of its companion. Standing atop a heaping pile of other undead, it loomed above me, and I was forced to go for a low blow rather than taking its head. Using enough force to smash through the bone behind the armor, I wailed on its legs, and the skeletal warrior crumpled. With its head now at my level, I brought the hammer down once more, cracking its skull like a chestnut. ¡°Break!¡± I shouted. With the addition of the last skeleton, the pile of corpses was now tall enough to completely block us off from any further fighting. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t last long. With whatever little intelligence the unnatural creatures had, they would soon tear down the barrier. As a small grace, though, they would go that route before trying to chip away at the ice wall. With the minor respite, all three of us relaxed, relishing the few seconds of peace before everything began anew. I unsummoned my armor just to feel the cold air against my skin, hastily gulping down some conjured water. A brief stretch, and I was back in action. With the lesser-used priestess part of her class, Cal refreshed a weak defensive barrier on me as well as a few regeneration buffs. For her part, Verin refreshed her ice barrier, the only thing keeping us from being completely swarmed. The last of the corpses was pulled away, and a new enemy presented itself. A slash. A swing. For five more minutes, I fought mindlessly, on autopilot save for the occasional glance towards my stamina and mana. The prior was holding steady at about half full. Thankfully, the latter had barely budged from being topped off. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. A break. Five more minutes. A break. Five more minutes. On and on I fought, the simple, repetitive actions appealing to me. As much as it was a matter of life and death, as much as I fought for all that I was worth, in some twisted way, I found the activity low-effort. I could almost feel myself slipping in and out of consciousness at points, letting my muscles take over. Eventually though, the sheer weight of the eternity I¡¯d spent fighting caught up to me, forcing me to admit the unpleasant truth. This isn¡¯t working. With how high the ice wall was, perhaps the others couldn¡¯t understand. Right at the choke point, though, I could see out into the rest of the room. While most of my forward view was blocked by the endless horde of undead, I could still see the walls to my left and right, and even now, more mummies fell from their cubbies. I hardly had the time to do a detailed count, but by rough guesstimation, I doubted we were even a tenth of the way through. There has to be something else. What would make sense? This was a kind of boss chamber, right? There was probably an actual boss somewhere out there. Plus, casting Sense Minds came up blank. If the abominations assaulting us weren¡¯t actually sentient, then they had to have something controlling them. At least, that was how I thought this was supposed to work. Dealing with whoever was in charge had to be easier than this. It simply had to be. The throne. Admittedly, I¡¯d spent most of my time trying hard not to think too much, but I still cursed as I came to what felt like the obvious conclusion. Whatever¡¯s controlling all of these is probably all the way up at the throne. Given how far my goal was, I considered just sticking with our current plan, draining an ocean one drop at a time. But no. I could feel my mind starting to slip more and more. Already I¡¯d gone for weeks without taking my usual break, and like a frayed knot, my mind was on the verge of unraveling. Enough for even an hour more of this if I really pushed myself, but as I took in the unending throng of enemies, I knew not even that much fighting would be enough. Another five minutes. A break. I explained myself to the others, asking the questions that even now weighed heavily upon me. ¡°Will you two survive if I leave?¡± I knew Cal could go invisible. Verin had her ice armor, and hopefully she could layer enough ice walls atop one another to hunker down. But would their mana hold? I wasn¡¯t sure, and yet I couldn¡¯t think of any other way to handle the situation. ¡°Before we consider taking quite such a drastic course, perhaps we should consider what other alternatives we may have.¡± Lacking the energy to argue, I let the two of them squabble, the indecision forcing me to fight for another five minutes until the next break. When Verin continued to waffle, I could tell my words weren¡¯t going to be enough to sway her. In a flash, I circled her, wrapping my arms around her waist even as she cried out in protest. Before she could even ask what I was doing, I cast a series of Jet Steps, pushing us into the air. As her head crested the ice wall, Verin¡¯s cries cut off, the sheer scope of what we were up against growing clear to her for the first time. When we returned to the ground, she grew mute, her porcelain skin taking on the unhealthy pallor of the skeletons seeking to end us. Once more, I was forced to fight as she digested what she¡¯d seen, but it was once and only once. When next I turned to her, her indecision had transformed into icy resolve. ¡°Go,¡± she urged. ¡°We will survive.¡± Beside her, Cal nodded along with a quick thumbs up. It was what I needed to hear, and with a quick Jet Step, I was off.
Flight was a powerful ability to possess, especially when your enemy didn¡¯t have any ranged options. At the same time, it was expensive, much more so when the sheer distance I had to cover came into play. Undeniably, I was strong, but with how many of my class skills only came into play when I had mana, I wasn¡¯t keen on starting some grand boss fight running on fumes. Spatial Step, for all its benefits, was ruled out for similar reasons. Very quickly, I touched back down, coming to land atop one of the stone coffins. As one small mercy, the skeletons were largely unarmed, but even so, their grasping hands sought to tear me from my perch. Before they could cross the distance, I was already off, engaging in a hellish game of leap-frog as I moved from coffin to coffin. Though it made me feel naked to do so, I swapped my plate armor out for the battle apron from my cooking-themed set, the flexibility and lack of weight letting my heightened Dexterity truly shine. Even with the morbid stepping stones and my reduced weight, such a path wouldn¡¯t have normally been possible to take. With how packed the room was, mummies were already spilling over some of the coffins. In rarer cases, a few skeletons had yet to leave their burial places as well, striking at me from below as I landed. In a pleasant turn of fate, however, one of my newest skills made the journey far simpler. Taking advantage of my recently upgraded Arcane Armory, I funneled the barest hints of spatial mana into my apron, recalling the strange new effect it granted. Compression Armor Twists and warps the space about you, adding additional distance between your armor and the outside world. Grants significantly heightened defenses against all spatial attacks. The Arcane Armament version was similar but inverted, lessening the distance between my target and my weapon, and while I could tell that both variants were powerful, I¡¯d strayed away from using them thus far. More than any other of my mana types, I found it unintuitive, tripping me up almost as much as my enemies. Whenever I tested them, strikes that looked as though they weren¡¯t going to connect suddenly did, the unexpected recoil jarring me even as it took whatever poor gryphon or panther I was attacking by surprise. Blows that I was sure were about to hit me never landed, encouraging me to dodge less and less until I overestimated the ability and suffered the consequences. For now, though, the effects were perfect. A few centimeters out from my armor, any object started to look compressed and slowed down as my eyes tried to make sense of one area of space having more space in it than another. My new mental variants were equally powerful, with a chance to beguile and confound any enemy who struck or was struck by me. Had the undead contained any actual minds, I would have been using the skill liberally. As it was, only the spatial enhancement held any merit. And so, as thousands of bony fingers and bandaged limbs just barely missed their marks, I bolted past the rows and rows of coffins en route to the throne. Well before I arrived, I was gratified to see that my theory had been correct. As if reacting to my rapid approach, there was a change to the distant throne. Straight from the golden seat, a blocky, human-shaped figure was pushed out, not too dissimilar to how Elphaea exited her trees. I wondered what sort of strange monster I was fighting until the golden mass split down the side and opened up, finally cluing me into what I was seeing. A sarcophagus. Planted directly within the throne, somehow. As perhaps to be expected, the figure revealed within was undead, though it was unclear whether it counted as more of a mummy or a skeleton. Thick bandages wrapped around its chest and legs, almost like a set of armor, while its skeletal head and extremities were bare. A crown with wicked, jagged spikes sat atop its skull, and it gripped a gem-encrusted staff in one hand. God¡¯s Eye at last informed me what the true boss of this room was. Necropolis Lord: Level 23, 800/800 hp It was a surprisingly manageable level, and its health was equally low compared to some of the monsters we¡¯d been fighting recently. Altogether, I found myself optimistic for the first time since entering the room. Of course, things could never be so simple. Even as the sarcophagus melted back into the throne, depositing the ruler in his golden seat, the sides of the throne rippled in turn, spitting out three more sarcophagi on each side. Much larger than they had any right to be, they split open to reveal hulking skeletons, each of them almost half again taller than me. Unlike the silver armor their lesser compatriots wore, these six were bedecked in shining gold plate armor that covered everything but their heads and hands. If that weren¡¯t enough, each of them held a massive greatsword. Skeletal Champion: Level 21, 1500/1500 hp Their readouts alone were painful. Making it clear that my progress had not gone unnoticed, the six of them turned directly towards me as they fanned out in front of the throne. I cursed. Can I ignore them maybe? With neither the energy nor the desire to fight seven powerful enemies, the very moment I was in range, I fired off an arrow enhanced with air mana. It sailed directly for the lord, and when the champions made no move to get in front of the attack, I celebrated. Prematurely so. I watched with dread as the arrow struck an invisible barrier, bouncing off. A part of me considered stopping right there. If I lowered myself into one of the coffins and closed it, would they still bother me? I would fight them. I would! But after a nap. That¡¯s what you were supposed to do before big fights, right? Rest up? Mentally prepare yourself? Certainly, I would need to be in peak condition if I was going to fight seven strong enemies at once. Failing that, I could just switch back to my plate armor and let myself fall to the ground. The basic skeletons and mummies couldn¡¯t really hurt me, could they? Perhaps I would have done just that had it been only me. That would be rude, though. Cal and Verin were waiting on me. They probably wouldn¡¯t like it if I took a nap right now, would they? Faced with the fully unreasonable trial before me, I could feel as my mind continued to slip, but if I wasn¡¯t allowed to sleep, there was nothing for it. At last, I reached the raised dais of the throne, a single Jet Step enough to place me before the six champions and their lord. It felt as though my sigh should have bowled them all over with its force. When, against all odds, they remained upright, I was forced to continue. Plate replaced my apron. My hammer appeared in my hands. A shout rang out from someone who sounded suspiciously like me, and as I ran forth, I reflected with much regret that, once again, my break was over. B4 C18: Clocking Out This should not prove overly difficult, yes? As Tess flew off into the distance, Verin took stock of their situation. While she would not deny feeling more at ease with Tess around, her absence did not overly worry Verin. If anything, with how little Tess had let her contribute to fighting in the past week, Verin was almost eager to flex her magic a bit. True, undead weren¡¯t her preferred sparring partners, but with how many Tess had killed -- and how effortlessly -- Verin was not anticipating much trouble. Yes, the sight of the sheer number of the foes had perhaps minorly shocked her, but that was all. ¡°I do not believe we possess the same level of Endurance that the Lady Tess has; however, we should manage fine if we trade off holding the choke point. Does this sound reasonable to you? If so, I will go first.¡± Verin swore she saw some level of doubt in the Lady Calilah¡¯s eyes, but skeptical or not, she shrugged amenably. ¡°Take it away, Lady V. Let¡¯s just hope Tess doesn¡¯t take too long.¡± As much as Verin would have liked to correct the rogue¡¯s usage of that ridiculous moniker, there was no time. The barricade of corpses plugging the choke point had already been pulled aside, and a skeleton was slowly pushing itself forward through the gap. With little desire to get too friendly with the creature, Verin formed an icicle and shot it off with great accuracy. The sharp ice unerringly crashed into the undead¡¯s skull, the sound of the impact and subsequent shattering filling the small, enclosed space. Verin allowed herself a faint grin at the sight. It was an expression that quickly vanished when the chips of ice cleared, revealing a fully undamaged skull. The bone is¡­ much tougher than expected. No matter. She was hardly limited to only ice bolts. She sent out a wave of frost next, beads of ice forming on the purple carpet before likewise covering bone and armor alike. While the skill had begun as a rather basic slow, after enough class points, it generally arrested a target¡¯s motion entirely. With a painful crack, the skeleton lifted its foot from the icy carpet and took another step forward. I suppose the effect is more pronounced on flesh¡­ naturally. This was proving to be rather tedious, wasn¡¯t it? She was confident she would discover the optimal way to dispatch the skeletons after a few more bouts, but she was aware that she needed to put the garish creature down now, before more had time to spill through the opening. Moderating the height of her Ice Wall spell, she created a barrier only a few centimeters high, watching with satisfaction as the mindless skeleton tripped and fell. Not my preferred form of combat, but no matter. An elegant dagger of crystal clear ice condensed in her hand, and she leapt forward, slamming it into the creature¡¯s spine right at the neck. Impossibly, her blade chipped on impact, the bone undamaged. Before she could ponder the how or the why of the matter, her calf lit up with pain, and she gasped, reflexively jerking herself backwards. Instead of disengaging, however, Verin found herself falling backwards as she spotted the sharp and bony fingers which even now pushed themselves into her flesh. That¡¯s¡­ not¡­ All at once, her head emptied itself. Which was ridiculous. She was a high noble. She did not freeze up in such situations. Her very station meant that she¡¯d been trained for both capture and torture scenarios. If perhaps her physical stats weren¡¯t high enough to earn her the actual Pain Resistance skill, she¡¯d found workarounds -- an ice-aligned nerve freezing spell was one of her favorites. If that weren¡¯t enough, she¡¯d spent the last semester running her own city¡¯s dungeon many a time. Admittedly, she¡¯d taken the role of a backline fighter, and her party members were all hand-selected to best protect and empower her. If pressed, she would be forced to admit she could not recall ever being damaged by a monster at such close range, and certainly not in such an uncontrolled environment where she couldn¡¯t simply teleport away with one of her accessories. But still! Verin remained level-headed and calm in all situations. She was immune to such mental slip-ups. And yet, for all the noble¡¯s prodigious Frost Resistance, she could not deny that presently, she was frozen. The skeleton¡¯s other arm quested forth towards her, and it was all she could do to stare at it, uncomprehendingly. ¡°Why.¡± Crunch. ¡°Is.¡± Crunch. ¡°This.¡± Crunch. ¡°Fucker.¡± Crunch. ¡°So. Crunch. ¡°Tough!¡± POP. Right as Verin was about to suffer from a second serious wound, Cal appeared out of thin air, straddling the skeleton¡¯s shoulders. A conical dagger, much thicker than what Verin had used, pounded down into the same spot she¡¯d struck earlier. The initial strike did nothing, but Cal was unrelenting, her hands a blur as her dagger struck out in rapid succession. With her final blow, the abomination¡¯s skull popped off, its arms at last going limp. With a single swift motion, Cal ripped its phalanges from Verin¡¯s leg and pushed her away. ¡°Damn, what kind of Strength is Tess packing these days? Not the point. Look alive, V! Lots more to go.¡± As if to prove her point, a mummy already towered above her, queued up and ready to replace the felled skeleton. Swapping from her thicker dagger to her newly discovered golden blade, she cut into the mass of bandages. A wide gash appeared in the cloth, but otherwise, the mummy showed no signs of change. ¡°You know, I¡¯m getting the sense this might not be a good matchup for us¡­¡±
What followed could only generously be described as frenetic and pitiful. Dagger and blade of ice alike bounced ineffectually off of bone and armor, rendering each new skeleton impervious to both of their basic attacks. With the mummies, it was almost the opposite, their bandaged forms easy to slice into, but resulting in cosmetic damage only. Even worse, both types of enemy proved largely resistant to Verin¡¯s frost spells, the mummies growing slightly stiff from the cold, but otherwise unimpeded. It was only through great physical exertion that they managed any form of victory, tripping and hastily hammering off skulls and sawing off the bulk of each mummy¡¯s legs until they collapsed. Cal was thankfully able to heal the worst of the leg wound Verin had taken, and after summoning up her ice armor, the noble was far better protected. Even so, the close range fighting took its toll, dozens of scrapes and scratches managing to get through. On the rare occasions where she was slow enough to let one of the mummies grab hold of her, something even worse happened. For the first time in as long as she could remember, Verin felt cold. Not the familiar and comforting cold of common frost, but something much worse. It sank into her bones, filling her with the unsettling chill of the grave. Through all of that, she was getting better. More efficient. Though it rankled at her sensibilities, she swapped out her beautiful dagger of ice for a more mundane hammer and nail, letting her pop off each skull in as little as three blows, as long as they didn¡¯t move too much. A long, thin blade worked better against the mummies, and when she needed to buy some time, she pinned them to the enemy behind with a spear. For all the improvements, though, it was clear they were steadily losing if for only one simple reason. Verin was exhausted. Cal too, to a lesser extent. It was clear that the rogue hadn¡¯t focused overly much on her Endurance. Verin, however, was in a league of her own. Born with a pitiful Endurance of 8, she¡¯d never bothered to raise it once. Even this much exertion had her huffing and puffing, and if the enemies didn¡¯t put her out of her misery first, she wondered if her heart would eventually give out. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. As much as it gnawed at her pride, Verin knew something would have to change, with only one clear solution presenting itself to her. ¡°Lady¡­ Calilah¡­ I will be closing the gap. Let us pray it is enough.¡± Not even waiting for a response, Verin cast Ice Wall once more, fully blocking them off from the surrounding undead. And for a moment, it seemed like that would be it. The undead weren¡¯t that intelligent after all. Now that they were out of sight, perhaps they would leave them be. An eerie silence suffused their makeshift igloo, until- Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk. What felt like hundreds of hands started to knock on the ice. Robbed of their clear path inside, the undead seemed intent on making one for themselves. For a while, the thick ice held fast. Just as the skeletons had proved able to claw through her armor, though, so too were they able to break down her spell. When the first of their bony fingers pushed through the ice, Verin could feel her heart pounding in her chest. ¡°Chop the fingers off! Should slow down their digging.¡± Already following her own advice, Cal darted to and fro, her golden dagger slashing off questing digits. If a touch behind, Verin followed. When finally the wall was on the verge of collapsing, she cast the spell twice more. Unable to create the new walls directly atop the old, the defenses were now slightly closer together, cutting into their available space. Undeniably, this new state of affairs was easier on both her mana and her stamina, but this too had a limit. With every few minutes, the walls closed in on them more and more, until they were cramped and packed together. While the digging had slowed dramatically, it was still just a matter of time before the undead broke through. ¡°Honestly, I think we¡¯ll both have a better chance if I duck out,¡± Cal ventured. ¡°We¡¯re about to run out of space, and if this doesn¡¯t last for too much longer, I think I¡¯ll probably be okay with my invisibility?¡± In truth, Verin did not relish the idea of being left alone, but she could think of no valid counterargument. A simple nod was all it took, and Cal vanished with a ¡°Good luck!¡± No longer having to worry about freezing her companion, Verin dumped her mana into her defenses. The entire space slowly transformed into one giant mass of ice with her at the center. It made her feel safe. Secure. And yet, the arhythmic thunk, thunk, thunk steadily grew louder, closer, until she was forced to admit her ice was not enough. Her mind raced as she tried to think of a way out. Maybe height? If she summoned a pillar of ice, would the undead prove unable to make the ascent, or would they simply climb it? Or worse yet, would they knock it down? It was a moot point regardless, as a quick glance at her mana confirmed that she was far too low for any serious spellwork. Though it ate at her pride, there was only one thing she could think of with a good chance of working. With a good chunk of the little mana she had left, Verin hollowed out the ice above her until it formed a makeshift blow-horn. Then, with more volume than she¡¯d likely used in all her life, Verin shouted. ¡°LADY TESS! I AM IN SOME MEASURE OF TROUBLE. I WOULD IMPLORE YOU TO PLEASE HASTEN WHATEVER IT IS YOU ARE DOING!¡± As the first of skeletal hands grew visible through the distorted ice surrounding her, Verin could only hope her words had their intended effect.
More than half done more than half done more than half done more than¡­ As I looked towards the pulverized forms of four skeletal champions spread out around me, the phrase was the only thing on my mind. It repeated itself over and over again like a worn-out mantra, keeping me going. Four champions were down. Two to go. Plus the lord. Four out of seven. More than half done. You have taken 40 damage from a death bolt! Can¡¯t stop. Pay attention. More than half done. The spell, courtesy of the Necropolis Lord, sank through my armor and bit into my flesh. I¡¯d long since enhanced my armor with life mana, resisting a good portion of the damage and slowly healing the rest, but it was a good reminder to finish up quickly. I¡¯d barely even noticed it flying towards me, and I could tell it wouldn¡¯t be much longer before I¡¯d be easy pickings. Next one. Here we go. A massive greatsword swooped down to cleave me in two, its twin lunging forth from my side to cut off one avenue of escape. It was no use. Strong though the champions were, they lacked the Dexterity to truly threaten me. At least that was true with only the two of them. The original six had made things far more touch and go, but with enough mana dumped into my movement skills, I¡¯d managed to avoid being trapped or encircled. Spatial Step in particular had shown its worth. In fact, the fight wouldn¡¯t have been that bad except¡­ Ducking beneath the first champion¡¯s sword, I threw all of my Strength into my hammer, caving in the golden armor covering its ribcage. Despite its massive size, the entire skeleton went flying. It landed in a heavy crash. And then slowly lifted itself to its feet, none the worse for wear. So. Damn. Tough. I liked to believe that I didn¡¯t have an inflated view of my own strength. I¡¯d come too close to death too many times for that to be the case. Still, when I¡¯d first seen the seven undead, I¡¯d expected the fight to be over with far faster. While the lord had been a nuisance the entire time -- casting death bolts, summoning skeletal hands that rose from the ground to grab my feet, empowering the champions with extra speed and defense -- it was the heavily armored champions that were the real issue. More so than the scorpions, more so than anything I¡¯d fought in the metal or mud dungeons, they just would not go down. Slowly though. I can win. More than halfway done. The fractures in their bones would add up, or they¡¯d be too slow to get up in time. I was wary of casting too many more spatial steps until my mana rose a bit higher, but I¡¯d manage. I¡¯ll just do it slow- It was at that very moment that a faint shout sounded out from the far end of the room, barely carrying over the multitudinous chattering of thousands of bones and the dull thuds of mummies falling to the ground. ¡°LADY TESS! I AM IN SOME MEASURE OF TROUBLE. I WOULD IMPLORE YOU TO PLEASE HASTEN WHATEVER IT IS YOU ARE DOING!¡± To my great discredit, I responded to the message in the exact wrong way, momentarily freezing up. Faced with one more task, one more issue, I could feel as my brain started to shut down, though not before it finally parsed Verin¡¯s words. Fast. We do this fast. Not even glancing at my mana, I Spatial Stepped away from the champions, moving directly to the lord¡¯s barrier. Unsure if the flat hammer would fare as well against the barrier as my sharper pickaxe, I swapped weapons and flooded it with mana. Down I swung the weapon, no different than how I would for standard mining. Up, then down, then up again. Each time, the pickaxe recoiled forcefully. Strange. Strange, strange, strange. What am I mining again? With the way my pick kept bouncing off, it was probably mithril, wasn¡¯t it? That was good. Mithril was pretty rare, I remembered. You have taken 40 damage from a death bolt! You have taken 133 damage from Necrotic Cleave! Oof. That was some nasty recoil, wasn¡¯t it? I think I¡¯d thrown out my hip too, as I could feel it ache with each swing. You have taken 136 damage from Necrotic Cleave! You have taken 40 damage from a death bolt! You are bleeding! You are suffering from necrosis! For some bizarre reason, my body was shoved away from my mining site. Some other miner jealous of the vein I¡¯d found? I didn¡¯t care. On autopilot, my body found a proper mining site and continued. Feeling myself grow tired far faster than normal, I decided to pick the pace up. I flooded my weapon with as much earth mana as I could until it felt unbearably heavy. Raising my body high, almost as if in prayer, I readied my strongest blow yet and brought it down. CRACK. Free from the past strikes¡¯ recoil, it continued down until it impacted a thin, purple carpet, mangling it. Needing something new to mine, I looked ahead, only barely understanding what I was seeing. A skeleton? That was¡­ odd. Why was that here? You have taken 133 damage from Necrotic Cleave! The question was too hard for me. Just as I was about to give up, though, my sore muscles erupted in a wave of pain from a job well done, and an epiphany hit me! It¡¯s like Slippy, isn¡¯t it! That was right. Sometimes you were supposed to mine a monster, weren¡¯t you? Only, this one was till moving. That was different. Well, no matter. Eager to finish a hard day¡¯s work, I shot forward, my legs feeling strangely battered. The bandaged wrapped skeleton attempted to move away, but even as tired as I was, there was no contest. Apparently more tired than I¡¯d realized, I stumbled at the last moment, crashing into the creature and riding it to the floor. Perfect. ¡°Good mithril vein. Stay riiiight there.¡± I dumped my mana into my weapon once more, for the first time in ages feeling my mana pool bottom out. Down the pickaxe fell, directly into the skull beneath me. CRUNCH. This time, there was no resistance. As if to applaud me, the room was filled with all manner of clacking and clattering and crashing before it grew strangely silent. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure why, but I was pretty confident that meant I was done. Oh. Not done. One more thing. I had the lingering feeling that there was someone I was supposed to talk to. A teacher? A foreman? Was Merve around somewhere? I felt my body moving of its own accord, seeming to know where to go better than I did. My eyes drooped for a moment, and when I blinked, I was somewhere else. Somewhere full of ice? It felt like the person I needed was inside all of that, and for a dreaded second, I thought I might have to cut through it. As if to reward all my hard work today, though, the ice split apart a moment later, two women stepping out. Both were covered in all sorts of scratches, cuts, and bruises, with the white-haired one many times worse off than the black-haired one, the prior shambling forth while leaning on the latter. The instant I saw them, I could tell that I¡¯d found who I needed to. ¡°Hi guys,¡± I mumbled. ¡°I think I¡¯m¡­ clocking out¡­ for the day.¡± All at once, I collapsed, at last taking a well deserved post-work nap. Book 3 Now Live! Hi hello, all! It''s rare that I do chapter updates as opposed to doing them in the pre/post-chapter author notes, but it''s a big day for the series! Book 3 is now live on Amazon. Woohoo! This book launch is a bit special, as it''s the first book I''ve published since quitting my job to write full time. That also means it''s very important for me, as it''s going to serve as a good litmus test for how viable it is to keep writing as a career. All that to say: The success of this launch matters to me a lot! If you''d like to support the series or snag a copy of the book for yourself, that''d be wonderful and mean a lot to me. If you aren''t going to grab the book (which is of course more than okay -- I''ll always be posting here for free), then it would also mean a whole bunch if you found the time to give it a rating or review on Amazon. You do not need to have bought the book to do this, and as you''ve all read book three, you''re all eligible to do so. In the case of a rating, I''m pretty sure the entire process is just three clicks -- pretty much as low-effort and fast as it gets! In that vein, I will give the usual Amazon spiel which you may have heard from other authors by now: Pretty much anything beneath a 4.5 star rating on Amazon will get the book hidden from Amazon promotions and signal bad things to readers, so please keep that in mind! A five-star rating on Amazon largely means "I liked this book enough that I think people should see it and read it" whereas a four-star rating and below are various degrees of saying "this book should be downranked/people should not read or buy this." If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. It''s a kind of annoying system, especially if you like using ratings to compare how much you like different books, but I think it''s always good to keep in mind. This is quadruply true if it''s a smaller/independent book like this, as ratings pretty much single-handedly determine if the book and series sells or tanks (and whether I have to get a day job again). More than that, the version on Amazon is considerably more polished, so if you''re on the fence between any ratings, I''m hoping that whatever you think needs some work has already been fixed in the published version. If you do want to give a harsher review or use the star system to compare your favorite books, a Royal Road review is a pretty good place to do so. Ratings spiel, over! My next big goal for the rest of the year is to see this series talked about a bit more on all the various LitRPG and Progression Fantasy outlets. In particular, really hoping to see this title name-dropped more whenever people make posts on r/litrpg and r/ProgressionFantasy looking for book recommendations. Or more concretely, I''m really hoping to see the series on at least one of the "tier lists" that people seem to be posting a lot on those. Here''s hoping this is the book that kicks some of that off, and wish me luck! That''s about all I got! As always, a major thank you to all of you for supporting this series, whether it be on Amazon or here on Royal Road. I''ll probably be spending all of today hopping between various sites to post about the launch and anxiously checking the sales reports and ratings as they roll in, but it looks like I''ll manage to get through this without an admin week. Slowly building up a backlog again, and with any luck, I''ll be back here posting about a book four launch not too far in the future. Next chapter Thursday, and don''t forget to leave a rating or review if you can! Thanks all! B4 C19: A Secret When I finally woke up, I was sore. Given my recent less-than-optimal sleeping conditions, that wasn¡¯t too abnormal. Quickly, however, it became clear that this was no mere muscle stiffness. As if to drive that understanding home, the first thing I noticed on opening my eyes was the blood. Hell. What did we even fight that bleeds that much¡­ The bulk of it was dried, forming a sticky crust all over my skin and clothes, both of which were looking worse for wear. Skin-wise, I noticed a few gray patches, belatedly realizing that some of my body felt completely numb. My outfit was even worse off. Unlike was true for the others, nothing I wore had any self-cleaning or self-repair enchantments, but with how I tended to wear my armor during any serious scuffle, they¡¯d fared pretty well so far. The very worst they¡¯d received was the scrape I¡¯d gotten from that first Vitality Panther. Now, though, I wondered if I could even call them clothes, more scraps than anything else. With the state of my clothing, I had a fairly slow realization. That blood was probably mine, wasn¡¯t it? ¡°What even¡­¡± A response followed immediately: ¡°She lives!¡± Before I could even process my surroundings, Cal was in my face, prodding and poking at me. ¡°You do live, right? Because it would be really awkward if you¡¯d turned into some sort of undead after all that.¡± After sufficiently assuring Cal that I had not turned into some sort of Tess zombie, I moved onto more important matters. ¡°What happened?¡± With a shrug, Cal flipped the question on me. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be telling us that? Best we can tell, you went off and beat whatever was controlling all the undead, and then they just fell apart. Good timing, too. I hid invisibly in one of the mummy cubbies, but when my mana ran out, they all found me and I had to run around. Got a few wounds here and there. Pretty similar situation with Verin. Another minute or two, and we might have been undead ourselves.¡± For the first time, I fully took in my surroundings, noting the thousands and thousands of corpses. I did that? I remembered starting the fight with Necropolis Lord, but as the battle continued, my memories grew foggier. Wasn¡¯t I mining something? I could feel as God¡¯s Mind ever-so-slowly pieced things together for me, but not nearly fast enough to clear anything up. ¡°Anyway, once things ended, I went to help Verin -- we¡¯re being nice to her right now, by the way. Apparently ¡®being trapped and immobile in a block of ice as skeletons slowly claw at your flesh¡¯ wasn¡¯t as fun as it sounds -- and then you showed up looking like a zombie yourself. Did my best to heal everyone once my mana came back and then pulled you out of your armor. Think it¡¯s been a day since then?¡± Verin sat a short distance away, by no means far enough not to overhear Cal¡¯s remarks. For once, she made no move to correct the rogue, and as I took in her form, I could see why. Huddled up with her knees to her chest, her eyes had a despondent look that felt all too familiar to me. I felt like I was supposed to do something to cheer her up, but I had no idea exactly what. Laid out behind her was all my armor, my class skill keeping the plate mail around given that I hadn¡¯t manually dismissed it. Even more than it had for all the blood and clothing damage, my mind refused to take in what it was seeing. Dents, holes, and gashes polka-dotted and striped my armor, making the entire set look like some demonic zebra/cheetah-skin hybrid. In the very worst of my fights, I¡¯d never seen that much damage to my armor. Was that the result of all those greatswords the champions had wielded? When had I gotten hit that much? Unwilling to think about that any further, I dismissed the armor immediately, resummoning it in its pristine state. ¡°Anywho, not to rush you or anything, but neither of you have eaten in over a day now, and after that, we should really get going.¡± Preemptively answering my next question, Cal pointed back to where I¡¯d fought the lord. A portal, much like the ones that formed at the end of dungeon runs, hung in the air, making it clear just how she planned for us to make it out of here. I followed her suggestions in somewhat of a daze, going through the motions of making us all food and conjuring water. It was one of our more tense and silent meals, and I could tell that all three of us were eager to finish. Not forced to make any form of small talk, I decided to fill my time by reviewing my notifications, having racked up a surprising amount given that I¡¯d only been in one fight since last checking them. With far too many kill notifications, I urged the system to group them all together, glad to see it comply. You have killed Skeletal Guard x 93. You have killed Hollow Mummy x 289. You have killed Skeletal Champion x 4. You have killed a Necropolis Lord. Based on your contribution, you have earned 17,315xp. It was a staggering amount, both in terms of kills and experience. The part of me that knew we needed to level up to escape almost considered asking the others if they thought we could run the sub-dungeon again somehow. Had I kept fighting the remainder of the summoned undead, I would have had even more experience, the thousands of corpses around me that I hadn¡¯t gotten experience from serving as a painful reminder. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure why, but something told me that this was not a good question to ask right now. As it turned out, all that fighting was good for more than straight experience, too. Life Magic has reached level 18! Bleed Resistance has reached level 14! Heavy Armor has reached level 10! Congratulations! You have reached the Initiate rank in Heavy Armor! Based on your skill usage, you have received an augment. Augment of Enhancement Increases the effects of defensive enhancements applied to your heavy armor by 5%. Class quest completed: Reach level 10 with an armor skill (repeatable). +1000xp +1 class point Hammers has reached level 10! Congratulations! You have reached the Initiate rank in Hammers! Based on your skill usage, you have received an augment. Augment of Weight When striking an opponent with a hammer, all damage and force will be calculated as if your hammer weighed 10% more. Class quest completed: Reach level 10 with a weapon skill (repeatable). Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. +1000xp +1 class point Ignoring the fact that Bleed Resistance was quickly becoming one of my highest skills, it was good to see that Hammers was finally working its way up to my other weapon skills¡¯ levels. It had started at a pitiful level 3 when I¡¯d arrived, but it turned out spending every few days smashing high-leveled gryphons for hours really supercharged its growth. In comparison, Heavy Armor had taken ages to level, as I did my best not to take big hits when I could help it. Given how heavily I¡¯d been damaged in the last fight, I figured I¡¯d probably put the new class points into something defensive, but now that we were out of danger, I decided to sit on it for a while. Notifications completed, I scarfed down the remainder of my meal. When at last we¡¯d all had our fill -- even Cal this time -- the three of us approached the portal which would hopefully lead us out. As was true of any good dungeon portal, though, there was something we needed to take care of before entering it. ¡°Loot! I¡¯m getting a weird sense that you two aren¡¯t nearly as excited about the loot as I am, but you know what? I¡¯ll handle the excitement for all three of us. You do the honors, Tess.¡± I bent down beside the first of the champions to see if it had anything worth taking. Save for its weapon and armor, though, there was nothing. Admittedly, its weapon and armor were pretty good, but also unusable. Neither had any form of resizing enchantment, and I was nowhere near large enough to use them. For good measure, I grabbed some anyway, collecting the least banged-up set of armor and one of the swords, but more as a memento than anything else. The lord was similar in his lack of anything besides his equipment, though his was perhaps more interesting. His weapon, a gnarled mass of blackened wood with a gray gem atop it, was a good find in its own right. The crown that had once rested on his shattered skull was what truly stood out, though, a Rare item while the weapon was only Uncommon. Ultimately, it was hard to get too worked up over either of them. While they increased a smattering of basic spellcaster stats, all their other bonuses were strictly for Death Magic, the bulk of them empowering the usage of undead minions. They went into my storage, but unless one of us suddenly became a necromancer, they were effectively useless. It wasn¡¯t as if we had anyone to sell them to, after all. Which, frankly, left me feeling like the entire trip had been a bust. No sooner than I thought that, though, did something catch my eye. It was small, almost insultingly so, but there, resting atop the throne, was a box. With its diminutive size, calling it a chest felt wrong, but otherwise there was no real difference. I opened it immediately, before even thinking to wonder if it was locked or trapped. Thankfully, it was neither. There, as a reward for all of our hard work, was a¡­ roll of bandages? Not sure what I was looking at, I identified it. The Necrolord¡¯s Unending Army The great secret behind the necrolord¡¯s endless forces, this enchanted bandage roll can form up to five meters of cloth a day. Directly imbued with the chill of the grave, it is possible to raise a mummy directly from the bandages, without requiring an underlying body. All undead created with this material will be empowered and deal frost and necrotic damage on touch. My heart started pounding the moment I read the description, and I stashed the bandages away immediately. ¡°Anything good in there?¡± Cal stood on her tippy toes and craned her neck over my shoulder, only to see an empty box. ¡°Yes,¡± I answered honestly. ¡°But it¡¯s a secret.¡± That earned me a look I struggled to parse, but thankfully, she didn¡¯t push. Speaking of secrets, the very moment that the bandages had disappeared, I¡¯d noticed something unexpected. Detect Secret has reached level 13! My Detect Secret skill. After reaching the Initiate rank, it had gained an extra feature, letting me gain a rough sense of how close we were to discovering all the secrets in a dungeon. For entire months, including the past week of finding hidden chambers and passageways, I hadn¡¯t felt any feedback from it. By now, I¡¯d figured that it just didn¡¯t apply to an open-world dungeon like this. But right as I claimed the bandages, at last, I felt it. One percent. All of that, and we¡¯d only moved the bar up by a smidgen. The scope of it floored me. How many secrets does this place even hold? And equally importantly, would they all be like this undead palace? Did each biome have its own big secret? It was ultimately too soon to be sure of anything, but between me and Cal, I was sure we¡¯d be finding more sometime soon. Secrets taken care of, it was time to go. After a quick once-around to make sure there was nothing we were missing, we said goodbye to the death-infested palace we¡¯d been trapped in for an entire week. As one, we exited the throne room through the portal, returning to the sand and heat of the desert above.
The trip back to the cabin was thankfully uneventful, barring the usual scorpion suspects. No new sandstorms swept us away, nor did we get pulled into any strange sub-dungeons along the way. There hadn¡¯t even been a discussion about pushing forward to the darkness section like we¡¯d originally planned. Not one of us thought that was a good idea. Having apparently spit us out far closer to the prairie, our return trip only lasted three more days. To say that everything that returned to normal once we got back wouldn¡¯t be entirely fair. For one, our group trips into the desert came to an end. On the surface, it was because we couldn¡¯t be sure we wouldn¡¯t be dragged into another similar situation we weren¡¯t prepared for. While I was still struggling to understand what others were thinking these days, even I could see that wasn¡¯t the real reason. The only times I saw Verin in the next week were when she needed to eat, or the singular time she slunk out of her room to recharge the freezer. I wasn¡¯t sure if she was spending all that alone time productively or not, but I had the vague sense that her behavior was concerning either way. Lacking the proper toolkit to help her with my words, I tried something far more hands-on, leading to the second big change since our return. I had a big new project. For three weeks, I went back to my previous five-day schedule, training, fighting, and resting as usual. When it came to my home-improvement day, though, I made sure to do everything in my mountain cave, away from prying eyes. When at last I¡¯d completed everything I¡¯d set out to, it was time to present my results.
When the knock came at Verin¡¯s door, it was all the noble could do to stifle a sigh. Some variety of intervention, then? In some sense, she was surprised it had taken this long. Still, she was hardly looking forward to it. Briefly, she considered just not answering the door -- had she mentioned how wonderful it was that Tess had built them all rooms with doors? -- before deciding against it. That would only worry her companions more. As she moved to answer the door, Verin rehearsed her words in her head. Yes, I am fine. I have simply realized this place is more dangerous than I initially understood. I will be training for some time until I feel adequately prepared to manage it once again. All completely true. There was no reason to burden them with any more information. If perhaps she sometimes woke up to the phantom sensation of bones piercing her flesh, of her ice running red with her own blood, then that was a personal matter. And naturally, she was not so foolish as to base her future decisions off such drivel. She was staying within her room for good reasons, out of an entirely normal sense of caution. Thus prepared to fend off any and all lines of questioning, Verin was caught somewhat off guard when she opened the door to reveal Tess, her companion only uttering three words. ¡°Close your eyes.¡± Instinctively, Verin searched for a reason to deny the peculiar request. Not immediately finding one, she complied. Something heavy crashed to the ground behind her, followed by rustling. On the verge of opening her eyes to investigate, Verin was once again taken aback when her feet left the ground, her body swinging into the horizontal position of a bridal carry. She was placed back down before she could even protest, surprised to note that the ground was far softer than either dirt or wood. A moment later, something equally soft was nudged behind her head, and a warm and heavy fur was draped across her. Most unexpected of all, however, was when someone latched onto her, one arm wrapped beneath her while the other stretched across her chest. ¡°Okay. You can open them.¡± Doing just that, Verin was stunned to see that she was now in a bed. A real one, complete with a wooden bed frame, a mattress, some pillows, and a fur blanket. Admittedly, the mattress was a touch lumpy, more of a giant bag than an actual rectangle, and a few feather ends were poking out of the pillow, but it was more comfortable than she¡¯d felt in months. In fact, everything beneath her had a pleasant chill to them, as if her pillow was always flipped to the cold side. ¡°Lady Tess. What is all this?¡± Had she truly managed to make an entire bed on her own? Ignoring the question, Tess said something else entirely. ¡°This place sucks. I¡¯m sorry about the skeletons. I know you don¡¯t like sleeping on the ground. I hope this is better.¡± Her words came out strangely slowly, as if each sentence was a massive undertaking. Verin wasn¡¯t quite sure why that would be, but with how polite she¡¯d been trained to be, she decided not to force any more words out of her companion. It was a pure matter of Etiquette, and not at all that she wished to enjoy her first drop of comfort in so long. Though not particularly tired, it was only shortly thereafter that Verin drifted off to sleep, wrapped up in an embrace she hadn¡¯t asked for, in a bed she hadn¡¯t even conceived of. For the first time in weeks, no nightmares came to her that night. It wasn¡¯t until the following morning that she thought to examine her new furniture more closely, including the strangely familiar white cloth which made up the pillow and mattress. Realization dawning on her, Verin tried and failed to keep the edge out of her voice as she questioned the giver of her gift. ¡°Lady Tess. Would you mind telling me what exactly you made this out of?¡± B4 C20: The Perfect Therapist For whatever reason, it took some time to warm Verin up to the idea of sleeping on mummy bandages. It didn¡¯t help that once Cal learned of what I¡¯d done, she¡¯d laughed about it for days, only adding to Verin¡¯s trepidations. In the end, though, between a comfortable mattress and a floor, there could only be one winner. As if calmed by the mattress¡¯s comfort, she began to leave her room more, even if only to return to her earlier single-minded training. If perhaps I didn¡¯t end up telling Verin about the bandages¡¯ other properties, then that was between me and the gods. With Verin taken care of, I turned my efforts to myself, slowly repeating the process on my home-improvement days to make a second bed. Despite not really needing one, Cal requested a third, and then past that, I figured we could use some comfier furniture for the common room. The cloth wasn¡¯t rigid enough to properly turn into a couch -- at least not with my skills -- but after filling large enough sacks with fur and feathers, the end result could generously be considered a sort of bean bag. It even earned me a new skill. You have learned a new skill: Clothworking. In the midst of making all that, I tried to replace my battered clothing. The aesthetics of anything I wore didn¡¯t matter all that much considering I tended to wear my clothes under my armor, and for my first attempts, I leaned into that spirit. This caused me to look a lot like a mummy myself, and then after a few more trials, like some sort of street fighter who wrapped up their arms. It didn¡¯t help that I lacked any real sort of thread or yarn, instead relying on thinly cut strips of bandages and needles I summoned with Arcane Armament. Still, bit by bit my skills grew. While I never ended up earning a separate Tailoring skill, well before I¡¯d finished my or Cal¡¯s mattress, the skill had climbed to level 3. With my home-improvement days all figured out for a while, I turned my efforts towards my training days. Two skills in particular received the brunt of my focus. The first was nothing new: Spatial Magic. Maybe I was feeling pessimistic, but after our lackluster performance in the desert palace, I wasn¡¯t much liking our chances of escaping this place by freeing the grand magus. That left my own magic. Now able to funnel spatial mana into my weapons, armor, and shoes, I was having little problem powering through the novice levels. Already, the skill sat at level nine. On the surface, the second skill I trained was a bit stranger: Breath Control. Why Breath Control? Because I¡¯d recently discovered what it felt like to slowly drown in a sand pit. Had the journey from the top of the desert to the palace taken much longer, I would have died just like that. It would be an embarrassing way for it to end, and on top of that, it was one of the few defensive weaknesses I had left, so I figured I would spend some time on it. All of that was doubly true if we ever wanted to cross the water to our south, too. As an added bonus, it was very, very easy to train. The initial skill had required me to be in an environment where it wasn¡¯t possible to breath, like underwater. Leveling the skill up, however, had no such restrictions. All I had to do was¡­ hold my breath. I had some sense that consistently holding your breath, on and off again, all day long was supposed to be unthinkably unpleasant. It was here that I found an unexpected bonus to my broken mental state. When it came to the discomfort from holding my breath too long, I just¡­ didn¡¯t care that much? Sure, it didn¡¯t feel good, but who cared? If anything, it was the other way around. Whenever I grew conscious of my own breath, it was breathing that required effort. Not breathing only required me to do nothing. As it so happened, nothing was something I was very good at doing. What started as a training-day-only practice soon grew into something I did around the clock, resulting in the skill skyrocketing upwards faster than any other I¡¯d ever had. A common skill, it didn¡¯t require much to level, either, and before I knew it, the skill had already hit the Initiate rank. The augment was a fairly lackluster flat bonus to my lung capacity, but I would take whatever I could get. Besides, even if the skill wasn¡¯t class-aligned, I had a feeling it wouldn¡¯t take too long to get the next augment. Those two skills, for all the effort I put into training them, were not the only two to level either. There were, after all, a few skills I had that were forced to work whether I tried to use them or not. Directly after an almost manic surge of Clothworking productivity, I¡¯d retreated to my hidden cave for a rest day. After sleeping for even longer than usual, I awoke feeling more clear-headed than I was used to. Soul Resistance has reached level 8! Mental Resistance has reached level 15! The dual levels were the first set of unabashedly good news I¡¯d gotten in a while. The skills¡¯ leveling speed had been slowing down for a while, to the point that I was worried they¡¯d stopped entirely. To have both level in a single night was an unexpected blessing. In fact, maybe it¡¯s time¡­ In all the months that I¡¯d been stuck here, there was only truly one thing that I¡¯d been avoiding. Not the heat of the desert or the claws of the panthers. Not fighting my way through hordes of gryphons. Not even the much more terrifying prospect of holding a long conversation. No, if there was one single thing I¡¯d yet to do, it was return to my mental space. After all, why bother? My mind was wrecked. I knew that already. I didn¡¯t need a constant reminder, and my last trip there hadn¡¯t been particularly sunny or pleasant. On the flip side, it was the site of my one Legendary skill. More than that, there was a chance it had healed a good bit by now, right? My resistances had continued to creep upwards, and as they always say, time heals all wounds. I¡¯d gone from mutely staring at the ground to cooking dinners and building houses. I played card games now! Things had changed. With two extra levels at once, maybe I was practically better, in fact! Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Holding on to that sense of optimism with all my might, I decided to take the plunge. All at once, the cave disappeared, replaced by the pervasive darkness of my mental space. A single look around told me all that I needed to know. ¡°Oh.¡± To say that my mental space was completely unchanged would have been a lie. There was a difference. The last time I¡¯d been here, the floor had been a mess. The unblemished ground of the original skill had been transformed into a wobbly latticework of black plates, tied together with thick purple lines. Each of them used to tremble with my every footstep, making it feel as though I was about to fall into oblivion. That¡­ hadn¡¯t fully changed. But it was starting to, I thought. A few of those plates had fused together. Others had pulled one another closer, leaving fewer large gaps to fall into. Sturdier, the ground didn¡¯t wobble as much with my passing. It was¡­ progress. Slow progress, but there was no doubt about it. My skill clearly showed that I was getting better. At the same time, sometimes progress only served to highlight how impossibly far off a goal was. I picked up one of the many jagged rocks that filled the space, turning it over in my hands. It was not lost on me that nothing had happened to the rubble in my absence. Whether by instinct or from some feedback of the Stygian Citadel skill, I knew without a doubt that no amount of resistances would touch them. The floors -- the broken foundation of my mind -- might continue to heal, but the rest of it needed something more. The walls and the palace weren¡¯t coming back. The very best I could hope for was a barren, empty void where my mind had once been. I could hope for a little more improvement, but my emotions would be forever muted. My energy levels weren¡¯t going to fully return. My sense of self was permanently shattered. I¡¯d known that the first time I¡¯d seen the damage, but naively, I¡¯d hoped to be proven wrong. True healing would take more powerful magic than I had access to. Even as I had that thought, I found myself coming to a stop. Why does that sound so strange, though? A powerful sense of wrongness started to nag me. Was I missing something? I wasn¡¯t sure just how long I stood there before it finally hit me. Since when did I believe mental problems could only be solved with magic? In another life, the realization would have forced a laugh out of me. Just how off the rails had everything gotten that magic was my first thought? Many, many moons ago, in what felt like several lifetimes ago, I¡¯d been a therapist. Now, there were a lot of misconceptions about what that meant. Friends and family often joked that I could use what I¡¯d learned to magically make myself happy all the time. Others seemed to think that my master¡¯s degree had turned me into some social Sherlock Holmes, capable of psychoanalyzing everyone I met, reading their minds and triumphing in every social setting. The truth, in some weird way, was closer to the opposite. It had long been a running joke in my program that half the people who got a Psychology degree were there to figure out what was wrong with them. The other half were people who¡¯d had awful experiences with therapists in the past, vowing that they could do the job far better. The program hadn¡¯t been some shining utopia filled with only the mentally healthiest of citizens. Most of the therapists I¡¯d known had therapists of their own, and at various points in my life, I¡¯d been no exception. Not that it always helped. There were dozens of different frameworks for approaching the field, and on top of that, some therapists truly just sucked. I liked to believe I hadn¡¯t been that bad, but there was no denying that it hadn¡¯t been my calling. Plus, even if I had been god¡¯s gift to mental health, I¡¯d been much more focused on clinical depression and anxiety than I had been on PTSD and complex trauma. This was not my ballpark to begin with. All that to say, there was no paragraph I could read out of a textbook that would suddenly cure me, nor was there some perfect, set, step-by-step solution. What it did mean, though, was something much simpler. I¡¯d been a therapist. Fundamentally, I believed that talk therapy was good. Trauma Suppression had kept me from seeking it out, the skill fighting against the very idea of examining my trauma more closely. After it broke, it had taken me months before I could even think about my mental state. Now, though? I¡¯d have been lying if I said the idea thrilled me, but maybe it had some merit. Even if there wasn¡¯t a convenient licensed therapist I could call up, maybe just the act of talking about some of my problems might bring me a measure of comfort. The real question is who to talk to, though? Not Cal. Or Verin. In their own ways, I was sure that both would try to help. Both would listen. A large portion of my actions since arriving here had been aimed at not letting them know just how messed up I still was. They needed ¡°Tess, incredible fighter and dependable party member,¡± not ¡°Tess, one bad moment away from breaking down at any opportunity.¡± With that in mind, the answer was somewhat obvious. Within moments, I left my quiet cave and started the long journey back to the prairie. When I returned, rather than alerting the others, I located the hole in the ground that I¡¯d descended only once before. After one trip down the long spiraling hallway, I made my way deep into the massive chamber and its unbelievably complex spell diagrams. At last, I came to a stop before the room¡¯s chained occupant, taking a comfortable seat before him. ¡°Hi Sett. Verin said we¡¯re not supposed to bug you. I think you¡¯re sleeping though. Are you going to wake up if I talk?¡± When the grand magus did not immediately open his eyes and start peppering me with battle magic, I took that as a sign to continue. ¡°Nice. Anyway. I decided I need therapy. I¡¯m going to start by talking to you.¡± Admittedly, a big part of therapy was talking to someone and having them respond, but there was a lot of good that could come from getting things off your chest. Unmoving, unable to judge me, and without much better to do, Sett would be the perfect sounding board for now. ¡°Where do I even start?¡± Already, this was the most I¡¯d talked in ages. Though I knew it wasn¡¯t possible with my Constitution, it felt like my throat was hoarse from surpassing its atrophied limits. ¡°Actually, I think I have a pretty good spot.¡± Maybe later, I¡¯d dig deeper and talk about my family. Friends I was missing and would never see again. Comfort foods I had no hope of ever tasting. For now, though, there was something simpler. ¡°In a weird way,¡± I began, ¡°it all sort of starts with this elderly dog named Duke¡­¡±
From there on out, Cal, Verin, and I settled into our new normal. Cal would continue to roam about, rarely at the cabin. Verin would train her ice magic all day long. I would stick to my schedule, occasionally making time to sneak off and babble to Sett. If not deeply transformative, it was helping, I thought. Outside of that, the three of us would schedule occasional celebratory nights where we let loose, drank some moonshine, and played some cards. With our collective reluctance to challenge the rest of the dungeon again, I could see us falling into this routine for months if not years at this point. After all, what else was there to do? It came as something of a shock then, when Cal decided to drop a bombshell on us one day. In fairness, if anyone had something of interest to report, I¡¯d have expected it to be her. Especially with the recent revelation that the dungeon was host to countless secrets, I wouldn¡¯t have put it past her to scrounge up something interesting. It was, then, even more surprising when, instead of telling us something she¡¯d found, she came up with a strange proposal. At the end of dinner and after sneakily getting us to agree to a few moonshine shots, she struck. ¡°So, I know this is going to be an unpopular position, but just hear me out. I¡¯ve been doing some thinking, and¡­¡± Uncharacteristically for the usually bold and unflappable rogue, she fidgeted around with each word. ¡°I think I should sunder my class.¡± Before we could even react, she one-upped herself, turning her attention to Verin. ¡°And along with me, I really think Verin should too.¡± B4 C21: To Sunder or Not to Sunder ¡°Absolutely not.¡± Verin was fast to nip the idea in the bud. ¡°Normally I would begin by saying ¡®explain yourself,¡¯ but the notion is so far-fetched, I do not believe there is any need. We have devoted almost our entire time here to getting stronger. You would ask us to take what is likely the very singular course of action that would decrease our levels?¡± I had to agree with Verin here, but at the same time, I doubted Cal would have brought it up without a good reason. Plus, she hadn¡¯t told me to sunder my class, which meant I was essentially free to sit this conversation out. I doubted that was her intention, of course, but still. Good job, Cal! ¡°Okay, hey, I did say it would be unpopular, but think about it. What¡¯s your highest class-aligned skill right now? Be honest.¡± Seeming to already know the answer, Cal fixed Verin with an expectant stare, not letting her worm her way out of the question. In return, Verin mumbled the answer so softly, I wondered if Cal would even be able to hear her: ¡°... Etiquette.¡± My fears proved unfounded as Cal launched her hands into the air. ¡°Etiquette! Exactly. Now tell it to me straight. Do you think Etiquette is going to help us get out of here? Or outside of that, let¡¯s say you want to level it up to fulfill some of your class quests. Are you seeing any good balls or dinner parties around for you to train the skill?¡± Verin bristled at the attack, her already straight back only seeming to straighten further, putting the full extent of her etiquette on display. ¡°Naturally, I did not take a class that was solely dedicated to fighting. Given my future, it can only be expected that my class encompasses a number of rulership skills. It was chosen -- with the aid of a class token -- exactly for that reason. It is likely one of the finest classes in the entirety of Sylum for someone of my age and level.¡± Cal kneaded at her temples as her point landed entirely off the mark. ¡°I¡¯m not saying it¡¯s not a good class for Sylum or that it¡¯s not a good class overall. I¡¯m saying it¡¯s not a good class for here. You said it yourself! Half your class is dedicated to rulership. Tell me how that¡¯s helpful here or how that¡¯s going to get us out.¡± Idly, I tried to think of possible ways nobility skills could help us. If we built out enough of our home, could we turn it into a settlement? Maybe Verin would get some sort of bonuses if we did, or failing that, rulership skills probably empowered the subjects of a ruler, right? Maybe if I swore allegiance to Verin in some way, I could activate some of her skills. Admittedly, all of that felt like a bit of a stretch, but¡­ ¡°I will admit that many of my skills may not be useful during our stay here, but afterwards-¡± In a move that was sure to upset the noble¡¯s sense of etiquette, Cal shouted over her. ¡°Exactly! That¡¯s exactly your problem. That¡¯s all you do, think about what comes after we get out of here. After, after, after. Every time Tess starts building something permanent here or comes back with cards or beds or anything else, you look at her like she¡¯s grown a second head, because you can¡¯t imagine this place as being anything but temporary. It¡¯s just something you have to politely endure for a few months before it¡¯s all just an unpleasant memory. Well guess what! It won¡¯t be! ¡°What is it going to take for you to understand that we¡¯re not going to escape next month, or the month after that, or the month after that. If -- and really, with our performance in the desert, it¡¯s a big if -- we ever escape this place, it¡¯s going to be years from now at this rate. Actual years. Stop thinking so much about your city in a literal different dimension and start thinking more about here!¡± Even with all the time I¡¯d spent with Cal, the outburst was unexpected. Was that what she really thought, though? That we were going to be here for years if we ever escaped? As bleak as it was, I had to admit my own thoughts mostly mirrored hers. Surely Verin had to know that too, didn¡¯t she? As the high noble sat there, mute, however, it dawned on me that perhaps Cal had actually hit the mark, several things finally falling into place. When was Verin ever the type to train all day? Sure, it wasn¡¯t like she had all of her equipment, but I probably could have made her some wooden canvases. I doubted anything she made here would be half as good as what she normally did, but for her to forgo her drawing for months? It wasn¡¯t like the Verin I¡¯d come to know. If she was viewing this as just one, abnormally long dungeon run before she got to go home, though, I could start to understand the changes I was seeing. Either keen to strike while the iron was hot or maybe even offering an olive branch, Cal continued as Verin sat silently. ¡°And look, I get it. I¡¯m probably the closest of us to reaching level 25 after all the experience I gained with Hexaura. Do you think I want to throw that all away? But it just doesn¡¯t make sense. A third of my class is about being a fake priestess, which I only ever needed to fool my dad. Another third is about finding secrets, but specifically geared towards infiltrating buildings and organizations to figure out where they¡¯ve hidden things. The last third is basic rogue skills, but pretty much no real combat skills. Does any of that sound like it''s built for a dungeon like this?¡± Admittedly, it did feel like Cal¡¯s contribution to fights was pretty lackluster. Finding the hidden rooms in the desert palace had been impressive, but it hadn¡¯t done much for us, either. ¡°Honestly, even my Legendary skill isn¡¯t coming in that much handy considering that it''s fueled by stamina and mana. My class mainly gives me Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma, with some rotating points to Wisdom and Perception. It is an awful set of stats for almost anything useful. When I upgraded my invisibility skill with Hex, it separated from my class, so there¡¯s no reason not to switch to something with more Endurance and Wisdom to power it. I¡¯m betting your stat spread is pretty useless too, right?¡± I expected Verin to remain silent, but almost mechanically, she grumbled out a response. ¡°Intelligence, Wisdom, Perception, Charisma.¡± As she said the final two, she lowered her voice, as if the stats would signal her defeat. ¡°Right! Right. You know that¡¯s not useful here. And there¡¯s that shiny class-sundering gem down with Sett. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m forcing you to do anything, but it just makes sense. So be honest. Why wouldn¡¯t you?¡± Idly, I wondered if Cal had some sort of public speaking or persuasion skill. She had to, right? Given her Charisma and her status as a princess, it was probably a must-have. Even outside that, I wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if it was a class skill with how much an Infiltrator must have needed to persuade people. Although maybe that fell more under Deception? When Verin finally did reply, she whispered so softly that not even I could hear it. When prompted to repeat herself, she averted her eyes, only barely raising her volume. ¡°... I wouldn¡¯t get a good class.¡± While I could parse the words themselves, I couldn¡¯t understand the sentiment behind them, a problem it seemed that Cal shared as well. ¡°Not really following. You want to speak up?¡± At last, Verin could handle no more, the casual needling finding its way under her skin. As her whispers transformed all at once into shouts, it was all Cal and I could do to sit there with our eyes wide. ¡°I would not get a good class! There. I have said it. If I were once again to visit the class spiral, I would not be surprised if all of my options were Rare at best. Perhaps this is not something you have to worry about being the direct disciple of a god with a Legendary skill and the Prestige to match, but I am not so lucky, Lady Calilah. My family, at great cost, acquired a minor class token that allowed me to select the Epic class that I have. I am unlikely to receive a truly helpful class without one, so I will not be sundering my class. Unless, of course, you believe a class token will simply appear out of thin air?¡± Was that¡­ was that true? With how she tended to conduct herself, I had this idea of Verin as more advanced than the two of us. She could pull entire vacation homes out of her spatial equipment and hook me up with a high-leveled chamberlain with the snap of her fingers. Then again, that was her family¡¯s wealth, wasn¡¯t it? Just going off of what she¡¯d accomplished and what Prestige she¡¯d earned for herself, I supposed she hadn¡¯t done nearly as much as me or Cal. In fact, save for visiting Emer¡¯Thalis, had she ever spent time traveling out of Sylum? If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Distantly, I followed along as the two of them continued to verbally spar until something Verin had said finally caught up to me. While having little desire to butt in, I realized I probably had to. ¡°Um. Sorry. Would this help?¡± The other two paused as I brought my arm forward, summoning up my latest mark. A small black coin formed on my wrist, momentarily stunning my companions. Minor Class Token (Peace Restrictive) ¡°Lady Tess, where did you¡­ No, never mind. You would be willing to give me this?¡± Far from continuing her earlier arguments, Verin stared transfixed at the mark. ¡°Sure.¡± It wasn¡¯t as if I was using it. ¡°It says it¡¯s ¡®peace restrictive¡¯, though, if that matters.¡± Between the two of them, I was guessing at least one of them would know what that meant, especially given that both their families had been rich enough to purchase them a token in the first place. ¡°Ew,¡± Cal helpfully offered. ¡°Probably not worth it then. If she uses that, the class options she gets won¡¯t focus on offense at all. Most of them will probably even have penalties against direct damage. Worth it in some situations, but not in a dungeon.¡± Oh. That was a shame. I started to dismiss the mark before Verin lunged out to grab my arm. ¡°Wait. I will use it. A lack of direct damage does not entail being useless in combat. A peace class may focus on defense, healing, or applying status effects, for example. If both of you are dealing large amounts of damage, this may be a better choice to round out our party in any case.¡± I expected Cal to contest the point, but she simply shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m a little skeptical, but it¡¯s not my mark, and it¡¯s not my class. This mean you¡¯re on board with my plan, then?¡± If a touch hesitantly, Verin eventually nodded. ¡°I cannot say the thought particularly thrills me, but your point has been made. Very well, then. Let us try it.¡± Glad to have reached a conclusion, I willed my mark to Verin. You are attempting to transfer your Minor Class Token (Peace Restrictive) to Verin¡¯Sylus. Would you like to proceed? One confirmation later, and it was done, the black ink of the mark traveling down my arm until it met Verin¡¯s skin. Seamlessly, it passed from me to her, depositing itself on her own wrist before sinking into her skin. The transferred mark seemed to make the entire prospect of sundering her class more real for Verin, and her expression hardened. ¡°I suppose we have some preparations to make, then, don¡¯t we?¡±
Verin¡¯s words proved to be truer than I¡¯d realized. At first, I expected the two of them to sunder their classes immediately, but as I was quickly informed, that would be a drastically foolish decision. Sundering a class would instantly strip someone of all the experience they¡¯d earned from their class quests. On the flip side, it would not take away any experience earned from fighting monsters or leveling skills. Unfortunately, the bulk of the experience both of them had earned had come from class quests, which meant there was a chance that switching classes could reset them to a significantly lower level. In the worst-case scenario, even with better classes, they would grow so weak that we wouldn¡¯t be able to go out hunting together anymore. If that happened, it would take them ages to reach the necessary levels to be safe and useful in any fights. The solution, thankfully, was very simple: fighting more monsters before they sundered their classes. With the extra fighting experience, they¡¯d be guaranteed to lose fewer levels, regardless of what classes they chose. The delay wasn¡¯t entirely ideal, but it did have one unintended bonus. With a clear goal before her, Verin finally seemed to regain some of her drive. Our trips to the desert immediately resumed, Verin having either completely gotten over her experience in the crypt, or else putting on a convincing enough face to fool me. Truthfully, I wasn¡¯t sure which was more likely. Rather than continuing with our brief trips close to the desert border, however, we took longer forays. The sandstorm and the proceeding palace were fresh on our mind, but we were fairly certain the desert had no more surprises for us, and even if we did get sent back underground, I was confident we could escape less scathed than we had the first time. We needn¡¯t have worried though -- the sandstorm never repeated itself, leaving us to carve through as many scorpions as we could find. Over and over, we spent three days fighting before retreating to the camp for two. While the main benefit of our schedule was raw experience, that wasn¡¯t to say my skills sat stagnant.
Serenely, I sat with my back against a thick tree trunk, letting the fresh forest air fill my head with thoughts of Emer¡¯Thalis. With both my armor and my weapon dismissed, each thought took great effort to form. Even so, one sentiment pushed itself to the surface. Taking a while. Maybe I needed to move somewhere else? I briefly considered it before deciding it would be too much effort. Sinking into sedentariness, I closed my eyes, deciding to take a brief nature nap. My vulnerability, however, did not go unnoticed. With a growl, one of the forest¡¯s many stealthy stalkers pounced at me, too fast for me to react. Or, at least too fast for me to manually react. My skills had no such issue. Reactive Armor activated! Damage blocked! My full set of plate armor appeared around me right as the Vitality Panther crashed into my chest, both its weight and its paws doing no damage. Rather than use the opportunity to hold the stunned feline down, I pushed it off of me, moving from my tree to a clearer space. I had long since discovered that the panthers were more likely to attack me if I was unarmed, a fact which I often used to keep the beasts at bay. Today, however, I had a different goal, flooding my armor with spatial mana as the predator flew at me for another strike. As it approached, I leaned slightly out of the way. Under normal circumstances, the motion wouldn¡¯t have done much. Combined with the strange spatial expansion effect of my armor, though, it was enough to send the panther flying past me as it missed its attack. Dodge has reached level 8! Nice. Been a while since I leveled that. Though it was one of my earlier skills, my armor skills had increasingly led me to take hits rather than avoid them, keeping it firmly in the Novice levels. Dodge, however, was not what I¡¯d come here to work on. Time after time, the panther lunged for me, rapidly repositioning by diving through the nearby trees. To say that I always succeeded at dodging it would be a gross exaggeration, but even when it struck, it wasn¡¯t able to do much. Between its attacks, I sent out a number of spatial arrows. With the beast¡¯s agility, the majority of them failed to land, but on occasion, the spatial enhancement worked its magic. With each arrow needing to travel less distance than normal to reach its target, a few of them managed to pierce the creature¡¯s bark-like pelt before it could react. Unfortunately for my training, the fight couldn¡¯t last forever. Continued use of the advanced mana type left me drained far faster than normal, and when I reached about half my mana pool, I decided to call it quits. Swapping out my bow for a spatial spear, I carefully tracked the panther. When at last I struck, one step was all it took. Teleporting directly in front of my enemy with Spatial Step, I braced my spear against the ground, and it sank into the beast¡¯s flesh with ease. In short order, the fight was over. And as it so happened, so was my training. You have defeated a Vitality Panther! Spatial Magic has reached level 10! Congratulations! You have reached the Initiate rank in Spatial Magic! Having used my spatial mana in just about every way that I could, I¡¯d finally earned the level I¡¯d been after. Though the Initiate rank wasn¡¯t anything too wild in the grand scheme of things, I was still rewarded accordingly. For reaching a new milestone, you have been granted a skill augment. Spatial Elasticity All spatial expansion and compression effects are slightly magnified. Spells and skills which expand or compress space cost 5% less mana. Class Quest Completed: Raise an advanced magic school to level 10 (Repeatable) +2 Class Points +5000xp Ten levels down, probably forty more to go? The thought was an unfortunate reminder of just how far I had to go, but I didn¡¯t let it get me down. After all, I¡¯d been speeding up my training lately for a reason: I was hoping to wake up the grand magus whenever Cal and Verin went down to sunder their classes. Admittedly, my therapy sessions had never woken him, so perhaps I¡¯d need to be more forceful, but I was confident he would wake up somehow. Hopefully, he¡¯d be amenable to giving me a new Initiate-rank spatial spell to practice now that I could learn one. For now, the continuous dodging had left me longing for a real nap. Especially without having used my hammer, all the effort had mentally drained me more than my usual fights. I resolved to go home and call it a day, only opting to handle one final chore before I left. Already, I¡¯d had two class points from reaching the Initiate rank in Heavy Armor and Hammers. I was leaning towards saving them up until we had a better idea of what threats awaited us in other regions. That was only doubly true now that Cal and Verin would have new classes -- there was no saying how my role in the group might change depending on what sorts of skills they would have. Still, it couldn¡¯t hurt to do some window shopping and plan out my next steps. With a full four class points burning a hole in my pocket, I let the gray fog consume me, depositing me in my class space. As I always did, I ran a quick circuit through the three rooms just to make sure nothing had changed since my last visit. Even so, it came as quite the shock when there actually was a new option waiting for me, all the more so given my lack of any flashy new skills to warrant it. While I knew the new skill should have been exciting, as I noted exactly what form it took, I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. With equal parts anticipation and exasperation, I walked up to the fifth offering of the Arcane Augmenter path. B4 C22: Trials and Chokers Like the other two rooms in my class space, the Arcane Augmenter path consisted of a series of steps leading upwards. Unlike the others, each step in the room was home to only a single class skill, taking the form of a wearable item sitting on a pedestal. Even before I reached my new option, something strange happened. As I stepped from the fourth tier -- home to my Arcane Storage bag -- onto the fifth, I felt an odd lurching sensation. It felt ever so vaguely familiar, and I spent a moment trying to place the feeling, likely only succeeding because I¡¯d experienced it only a minute prior. ¡°Was that some sort of spatial effect? Compression, maybe? Or teleportation?¡± If so, it was far, far stronger than anything my skills produced on their own. Despite the room looking fairly normal to me, to my budding spatial senses, it felt as though I¡¯d just traveled a great distance in a single step. I tried to figure out why that might be before ultimately giving up. Class spaces were weird, and for now, I¡¯d leave it at that. Besides, I had something far more pressing to consider. Sitting there on the fifth pedestal was an item that felt decidedly out of place. It was a circle of what appeared to be lace, though it was a bit hard to tell given that it was the basic bright blue I¡¯d come to associate with neutral mana. The material had been worked into a fairly basic scoremark pattern, forming repeating sideways x¡¯s all the way around. Given its exact size and the fact that it was presumably meant to be worn, there was only one thing it could be, the window that popped up dispelling any last lingering doubts. Arcane Choker I groaned as I read the words. Were the people in my life rubbing off on my class? Between Suds¡¯ penchant for making me wear ridiculous armor and Hexaura¡¯s oddly goth fashion sense, I legitimately wondered if my class was taking cues from my experiences. After all, if I really needed a wearable item for my neck, what was so wrong with a basic necklace? Deciding to withhold any final judgments for now, I read what the skill offered me. Enhances the wearer¡¯s breath control, increasing stamina regeneration. While this skill is active, the user is immune to choking effects. Additionally, cures all coughs and sore throats while also preventing food from going down the wrong pipe or sharp foods from scraping the wearer¡¯s throat. I almost stopped reading there, about to dismiss the entire skill as some sort of prank. I still didn¡¯t know exactly who created each class, but if it was the gods, I could easily imagine someone like Dex throwing this in there. I pictured the boyish deity grinning at me as he explained his creation: ¡°Get it? It¡¯s a gag skill!¡± Luckily, I just barely managed to keep myself reading until the end. Activating this skill with different mana types will produce different breathing and throat-based effects. The hallmark variants of this skill include effects to keep the wearer nourished and supplied with breathable air for as long as the skill is active. Immediately, the skill went from an unpleasant joke to the very top of my shopping list. It wasn¡¯t that long ago that I¡¯d reflected on my weaknesses, realizing that my only two huge vulnerabilities were surprise attacks and slow deaths. Having already grabbed Reactive Armor, I just needed to shore up my weakness to slow deaths -- things like starving, drowning, or suffocation. Incredibly, this skill seemed to handle most of those scenarios at once. Never again would I have to worry about journeys through quicksand. In fact, if it gives me some sort of water-breathing, I might even be able to check out the water biome. Checking the price of the skill, I attempted to buy it, only to sag in defeat a moment later. Would you like to purchase this skill for 10 class points? It was an astronomical sum to me, by far the most expensive skill I¡¯d seen so far. More than that, it was a giant leap from the fourth step to the fifth. Although, is this really the fifth Arcane Augmenter skill my class offers me? It felt¡­ odd. Given its focus on breathing, I could only assume that I¡¯d gained access to the choker for leveling my Breath Control to the Initiate tier. Though I rarely thought about it, I also had a very low-leveled Digestion skill I¡¯d picked up in Sylum, and I could imagine the choker requiring that too, given its focus on nourishment. The real question, though, was how many people with the Arcane Armory class would know to level their Breath Control to get the next option on the path? Looking back on it, the storage skill was kind of suspect, too. If someone never ended up grabbing spatial magic, would they be stuck with only the first three skills forever? I thought back to the strange spatial lurching I¡¯d experienced walking up the stairs, and all at once, everything clicked. There¡¯s no set progression for this room, is there? In the other two rooms, it felt like there was a defined structure, with each new skill unlocking related skills that built upon them. Here, though, every new skill seemed entirely divorced from the last. Rather than offering me new options sequentially, it felt like I was getting offered whatever I qualified for. Presumably, the average Arcane Armory would get the storage bag and the choker later down the line, but with the strange skills I tended to pick up, coupled with my occasional gap in basic skills, I was likely grabbing things in a nontraditional order. Had I been more normal, the choker probably would have been offered to me at a time when ten points wasn¡¯t as big of a deal to me. Do I even bother saving up for it, though? As much as I wanted it, the price tag was pretty painful. Then again, it might not take as long as I¡¯m imagining. I¡¯d yet to level either of my advanced magics to the Apprentice ranks, but I was assuming I¡¯d get four class points for each of them. Coupled with the four points I already had, that alone would net me more than the ten I needed. Considering it was high on my to-do list to train up Mental Magic and Spatial Magic already, that wasn¡¯t too far-fetched a goal either. That settled it, I decided. Barring some situation where I needed to spend my points immediately, I¡¯d be banking them for now. Having made my choice, I prepared to exit my class space. Right before I did so, however, I paused. Had I bought a shiny new skill, I likely would have returned to test it out. Considering I was going to leave empty-handed, though, it felt like I should at least do something to make my trip into my class space worthwhile. Not that I really wanted to, truth be told, but I was already in the Arcane Augmenter room, wasn¡¯t I? Guess it can¡¯t hurt to try my class trial again. And who knew? I¡¯d just grabbed levels in my soul and mental resistances, and I was keeping up my chats with the grand magus. Maybe the trial wouldn¡¯t be so mentally taxing this time around. The pair of monocles beckoned me from their pedestal, and I answered their call. Pressing the lenses up against my eyes, I returned to the main chamber and descended the stairs that had appeared there. Shortly thereafter, I winced as most of my stats were reduced back to ten. As a small mercy, my Wisdom and Endurance were set to 25, but that was it. As soon as I felt my stats decrease, I began to run, rapidly shifting through all of my Arcane Vision variants. The first time I¡¯d attempted the trial, I¡¯d died within seconds with a spear through my guts, and I had little desire to repeat my performance. Speaking of which- There. Uneven air. A gentle breeze caressed my cheek, and I threw myself to the side. A deep furrow formed in the ground right where I¡¯d been standing. Especially with my lowered Constitution, I¡¯d have been bisected had I failed to move. With my successful dodge, the air currents returned to normal. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. As I¡¯d learned well by now, the first attack of the trial was more of a warm greeting. The real test began afterwards as the initial hallway widened out into open space, the ceiling disappearing to reveal a sky filled with gray fog. Having partially explored the area in previous runs, I was fairly certain the trial took place in one giant circle, although my lowered Perception made it impossible to see far enough to know for sure. The region the trial began in was a geometric nightmare, the wet dream of a colorblind parkour junkie. Universally gray, all manner of shapes shot up from the ground in a way that muddied my vision and made each centimeter forward a fight. While hardly my least favorite region, I had no desire to linger here. It was too dangerous. I started a wild dash to the center of the room. Shit. As I vaulted over a waist-height barrier, I caught a glimpse of a grasping hand from my side. Unfortunately, I¡¯d been moving through my vision variants so quickly that I¡¯d already moved on, the figure disappearing a moment later. Death. That was death mana. I hastily switched back to Ghost Eye, and a wispy revenant came back into view, now only a second away from latching onto me. At the last moment, it accelerated, and I was forced to lunge forward, throwing myself against a jutting cylinder and bruising a rib in the process. The incorporeal undead shot by, vanishing the moment it was clear its attack had missed. Not once stopping, I was forced to dodge three more attacks before reaching the room¡¯s center. The gray landscape abruptly ended, giving way to too many options for me to visually process. While there hadn¡¯t been any helpful guide, by now I¡¯d largely figured out how this trial was supposed to work. All in all, I was not a fan. Mostly, that was for two reasons. First, much like the Mana Feet trial, the test for Arcane Vision was massive, with a sector dedicated to each of the nine basic mana types as well as neutral mana. Unlike the trials I¡¯d undergone for my armor and weapons, I had no hope of breezing through the trial quickly. Secondly, and more annoyingly, those ten sections weren¡¯t sequential like they had been for Mana Feet. Instead, the room was divided up like a pie, with ten slices that all met in the middle. In fact, the entire setup sort of reminded me of the dungeon I was in, with entirely different terrains abutting one another at perfectly straight lines. That in and of itself wouldn¡¯t have been too bad, but the open design meant there were no save points like there had been previously. If I finished one section of the trial, I would still have to complete it on my next run. I¡¯d only clear the room if I managed to finish everything in one go. Air. Now at the center of the room, all ten regions wreaked havoc on my senses. Hoping to escape the chaos, I bolted into the section I¡¯d taken to completing first. Wind whipped at me as I took my first steps into the air region, my Gust Sight barely able to make sense of all the input it was receiving. For all its wind, the air sector was one of the simpler of the ten. Devoid of any physical barriers, the slice was a perfectly flat expanse of rock, not impeding my vision in the least bit. The only downside was that the wind was often so powerful, it formed impassable walls, turning the entire area into an invisible maze of sorts. I ran as fast as I dared, weaving between the fiercest gales even as the others threatened to blow me off my feet. Gah. Heat. Thermal vision picked up the sight of a vague humanoid form headed my way, completely invisible save for the heat it gave off. Searing its position into my head, I switched back to Gust Sight so that I could find a good spot to evade the incoming attack. One wrong dodge could send me barreling into a wind that would cut me into ribbons, and I had no desire to trade one death for another. Good enough. I managed to find a reasonably open area without any wind walls close by, shifting back to Heat Sight as my would-be assassin drew near. Its red form clawed at me as I ducked under it, even its passing enough to leave me sweating. Much like all the others, it vanished once its attack was complete. From what I¡¯d gathered, the ten assassins were the main threat in this trial. Each of the ten were visible only to a single variant of Arcane Vision, and to different degrees, each was a death sentence under the right circumstances. Lest I find myself burnt to a crisp or chopped into pieces without even seeing my attacker, I was forced to constantly cycle through the different mana variants to spot them coming. Only two facts made this remotely possible for me. The first, as demonstrated, was that each foe would vanish after missing their attack, returning only after some time had passed. The second was that some terrains weren¡¯t hospitable to some of the assassins. The air region, for example: The fierce winds seemed to deter the water assassin, whose body was made of mist. Likewise, the stone floor kept the earth assassin at bay, a burrowing elemental who only moved through dirt. As it was, I currently only had to keep an eye out for the air, fire, frost, and death assassins, another reason why I favored the region over the others. A frost attack and another grasping revenant were easily avoided before the air elemental made its second appearance. On the bright side, the region forced me to have Gust Sight activated 90% of the time, making it easier to spot any inconsistencies as soon as they arose. Despite that, already-chaotic feedback from the skill made noticing the windy assassin far more difficult, and I narrowly avoided getting my ankles cut off. As I continued to run, I finally spotted what I was looking for. While not all of them, most of the winds seemed to be curving in one direction. I made a harsh turn, moving perpendicular to the curve, quickly noting the effect becoming more pronounced. Bit by bit, the winds grew more intense even as they began to unmistakably travel in a circle, forming one giant cyclone. The force made my eyes sting, and it was an effort just to keep them open, let alone scan the area. Nonetheless, I was close. I pushed through, running with the wind whenever a barrier barred me from moving in my desired direction. My hair was a jumbled mess, constantly getting in my eyes, and I wondered if I would have to cut it to properly clear the trial. Thrice more, I narrowly evaded my attackers, until- Stillness. I took a step forward, and all the wind fell away. At last, I¡¯d reached the eye of the storm. For the first time since arriving, I allowed myself a moment¡¯s respite, basking in the few seconds of tranquility before I¡¯d have to brave the wind once more. A break, however, was not what I¡¯d come here for. Unseen save for the gentle breeze it gave off, a slender object sat in the middle of the peaceful clearing. I quickly snatched it up, a description greeting me even though I couldn¡¯t fully see what I was holding it. Air-Sealing Spear Rather than setting off immediately, I simply stood there, awaiting my would-be killers. I was forced to dodge two more attacks of frost and fire before the proper target finally showed itself. The air assassin, nothing more than a mass of twisting wind, flew through the clearing, intent on slicing into me. For once, I didn¡¯t bother to dodge. With a well-practiced thrust, I slammed my newly acquired weapon into the elemental. Like a vacuum, the spear went to work, greedily sucking up the body of my attacker. Within moments, the air grew still once more. Having fulfilled its purpose, the spear dissipated, dissolving into motes of air. This was the true form of the trial. Ten regions. Ten assassins. Ten hidden weapons. On my best runs, I¡¯d managed to seal four out of the ten. Originally, I¡¯d figured that would be enough to tilt things in my favor. After all, each sealed assassin was one more vision variant I didn¡¯t need to check anymore. Unfortunately, as if to leave me with one last ¡°fuck you,¡± the trial was not so kind. Each remaining elemental grew in strength for every new weapon I used. They grew harder to spot. Their attacks were faster. They appeared closer, giving me less warning. It was a nightmare that only grew worse, and only the thought of how often I used Arcane Vision was enough to keep me from abandoning the trial altogether. While I¡¯d had high hopes for today¡¯s run, ultimately, it wasn¡¯t meant to be. As I worked my way out of the air sector, I moved too fast, making a hasty pivot around a wall of wind. Unused to my Dexterity being so diminished, I botched the motion, clipping the nearly solid wind with my hip. Down I went, crashing to the stone floor. I tried to scramble to my feet as fast as I could, but it was pointless. Halfway up, my neck prickled as a freezing breeze licked at it. I barely had time to register the sensation before an entire third of my body was ravaged by frost, my very blood freezing solid near instantly. The ice traveled up and down my body, spreading before I could even think to exit the trial. At once, it reached my head, and it was over. You have failed a class trial! Class space locked for 12 hours. I heaved a weary sigh as the forest came back into view, saddened by my pitiful performance. Not even two out of ten this time. Still, I had to admit one new plus: I wasn¡¯t feeling even half as drained as I used to. Perhaps I wasn¡¯t ready to challenge the trial twice a day yet, but I¡¯d at least make it a point to work on it once in a while. For now, though, I wouldn¡¯t mind a nap. Chaining together Spatial Steps, I made quick work of the trip back to the prairie, retreating to my room to do just that. And though I did eventually drift off to sleep, I was startled to eventually wake to the sound of someone knocking on my door. Blearily, I called out from my bed. Cal¡¯s energetic voice shouted back. ¡°Hey! Come on! We¡¯re ready!¡± Seeming to realize I would have no idea what she was talking about, Cal amended herself. ¡°Verin and I have fought enough. It¡¯s time to go sunder our classes.¡± With a groan, I pulled myself out of bed.
Once more, the three of us descended into the earth, repeating the long, winding walk to the grand magus¡¯ glorified prison cell. Much like on our first visit, we spotted the demon chained in the center of the colossal spell circle, eyes firmly shut. Given that he¡¯d apparently told us not to return, Verin had voiced some fears that the other portions of our first visit would repeat themselves, especially as I hadn¡¯t told her about my therapeutic trips down here. Thankfully, as we passed the grand arch that separated the hallway from the room, Sett didn¡¯t stir. Even so, as we slowly neared the sundering gem, it was by unspoken agreement that we stayed entirely silen- ¡°Dibs on first!¡± Cal shouted. B4 C23: A Class for Cal Cal, not taking any chances, shot off from the others, making a beeline for the sundering gem. After all, who knew? For all that Verin talked about ¡°etiquette this¡± and ¡°etiquette that,¡± Cal wouldn¡¯t put it past the noble not to honor the sacred right of ¡°dibs.¡± Then again, she probably didn¡¯t need to worry. With how big the room was, the frail woman would probably be huffing and puffing by the time she got to the center, even if she had some way to match Cal¡¯s Dexterity. Still, there was no point in giving her the chance. In a flash, Cal honed in on the smoky gray jewel that was the cornerstone of this entire mad plan, paying the sleeping demon no mind as she placed a hand atop it. You have made contact with a sundering gem. Would you like to sunder your Infiltrator class? One confirmation later, and Cal was hit with a wave of less-than-stellar notifications. Your Infiltrator class has been sundered! Removing all class-quest experience. You have lost sufficient experience to move you down one or more levels. Your level has been reduced to 14. Not great, but not awful, either. Despite having access to her city¡¯s Scepter of Assignation, Cal had gained her class the standard way, by reaching level ten. As such, it was guaranteed that she would be at least that high without her class quest experience. The other four levels were likely half from the ridiculous amounts of fighting she¡¯d done in the past few months and half from all the skills she¡¯d learned and leveled with Hexauara. Her Stealth skill alone was probably worth a large portion of that experience given that she¡¯d leveled it all the way to 60. All stat points gained from your class have been removed. All stat points gained from levels above 14 have been removed. Reduced stats will take effect in one minute. Warning! You have fallen beneath the first threshold in one or more stats. If you do not rectify this before your reduced stats take effect, you may lose certain threshold bonuses. A quick check revealed that she¡¯d be losing the bonuses for all four of the stats she¡¯d managed to get over the first threshold: Constitution, Dexterity, Charisma, and Intelligence. Note: You have a number of skills past the Novice tier which were once class-aligned, but are no longer class-aligned. The leveling speeds of these skills will be massively reduced, and the effects of these skills may be artificially lowered as a penalty. These effects will be removed if the affected skills become class-aligned once more. A list of said skills followed, the chief offender being Stealth. Hopefully, most of those issues would fix themselves after she chose her class. You have reached level ten and do not yet have a class. Select a class now? Eager to grab something new before her stats left her, Cal readily accepted the prompt. Just like she recalled from several years prior, a thick gray fog encompassed her. When it departed, she found herself at the bottom of the class spiral. ¡°Long time no see. Honestly forgot how spooky this place looks. Not that I have anything against the color gray, but it¡¯s a little much, don¡¯t you think?¡± Her question remained unanswered as she took in the space. The class spiral, as per its name, was a spiral which began at the bottom of a massive, inverted cone, the walls of which were a monochrome gray slate. A pathway wound its way up and around the walls, growing progressively wider as it climbed upwards. Exactly how high it went, it was impossible to say -- the same thick fog that had taken her here hung heavy in the sky, obscuring the top of the spiral from view. Periodically along the path were alcoves in the stone walls, all of which she knew contained a potential version of herself. The only other feature of note were the guardians, each successive level of the class spiral blocked off by a golem of white metal and fog. They stood at great intervals, spanning the entire width of the path forward. ¡°Let¡¯s see what I¡¯m working with¡­¡± Cal started up the spiraling pathway, only sparing cursory glances at the figures coalescing out of fog in each of the alcoves. The first level of the class spiral was incredibly basic, and something told her that neither Tess nor Verin would be thrilled with her if she returned a common Warrior. ¡°Hi pal. Mind if I slip past you?¡± Reaching the first of the guardians, Cal politely asked for it to move aside. The towering golem complied as a notification welcomed her in. Congratulations! You have unlocked one or more second level classes! Unlike the basic classes below, second level classes are only offered to those who have met the requirements to unlock them. If slightly more interesting, the second level didn¡¯t hold much to catch her eye. As the level was mostly about unlocking new classes through various skill and achievement requirements, the bulk of her choices were geared towards empowering her existing skills. Most were Rare rogue variants, though they focused more on stealth than any form of combat. She moved on. Congratulations! You have unlocked one or more third level classes! Third level classes are more advanced variants of the classes on lower levels, reserved for those who have gained sufficient Prestige. Here, the real options began. Cal moved to the next alcove, caught off guard when the fog thinned out to reveal¡­ nothing? When a window finally popped up to explain the class, she couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. The Unseen Undetectable. Untargetable. Unseen. At the heights of this class, no one will ever see you if you don¡¯t want them to. Traipse through dragons¡¯ dens with impunity. Slip under the noses of the most vigilant guards. Gain free admission to the theater for life. Do whatever you wish, and none will be the wiser. Amusing if somewhat superfluous at this point. Cal could already do all of that as long as she had enough stamina and mana. Devoting her entire class to something that a single skill could do felt like a waste. The third level kept going on and on for what seemed like forever, Cal¡¯s Prestige much higher than the first time she¡¯d been here. In fact, it was probably higher than Tess¡¯s had been when she¡¯d first chosen her class. Much as before, she passed a fair number of rogue classes, though her offerings were more varied this time around: Opportunistic Ambusher, Templar of the Shadows, Demonic Striker, Argent Hoard Queen. The last in particular brought a smirk to her face -- would her father think she was planning a coup if she came back with a class name like that? All things, however, must end, and at last, Cal reached the guardian for the fourth level. ¡°No chance you want to let me through even without a class token, do you? I am sort of friends with a god, you know.¡± The golem remained unmoving, the only sign that it had heard her being a notification. Levels past the third are reserved for those who have been granted access by the gods or are upgrading an existing class. ¡°Figures.¡± Right as she was planning to turn back, however, Cal had a particularly foolish thought. ¡°You don¡¯t suppose¡­¡± Briefly, she attempted to activate a few active skills and cast some light magic. To say that they fizzled out would have been an overstatement -- it was as if none of her skills even existed here. Still, she had to be here in some sense, right? Cal wasn¡¯t actually sure how class selection worked, but maybe her soul or mind had been projected here? ¡°Not like my skill description had any caveats like ¡®Note: This super incredible Legendary skill doesn¡¯t work in mental spaces or soul projections,¡¯ right? I mean, that would be kind of lame for an actual Legendary skill.¡± Thus said, Cal reached within for what was likely her most-used skill over the past few months. With little fanfare, she vanished. Man, I¡¯m really awesome sometimes, aren¡¯t I? Still, that was the easy part, in a way. For the true test, Cal cautiously slipped beneath the foggy guardian, slowly inching forward until it was well and truly behind her. When no accusatory notification or raging golem followed, she sighed in relief. ¡°Do I even have stamina or mana here? No, right? Can¡¯t I just keep doing this? Or is this draining my actual body?¡± Cal could feel as the excitement bubbled up within her, and instead of looking at her new options, she sprinted for the end of the fourth level. Almost unconsciously, she slowed as she reached the next guardian, and when she finally began to move beneath it, a weight started to push down on her. Even under her Legendary invisibility, she suddenly had the eerie and intense feeling of being watched, and she froze in place. Before Cal could decide whether or not to move forward, a new notification greeted her, entirely different from the others. ONE LEVEL CAN BE OVERLOOKED, CHILD. YOU WILL, HOWEVER, FIND MOVING FORWARD TO BE¡­ UNWISE. ¡°Nope. Not fucking with that.¡± Without a second thought, Cal backpedaled to the fourth level. ¡°Fourth level! I love the fourth level. Great options here. Definitely satisfied with these ones.¡± Doing her best to put the entire encounter from her mind, Cal got to work examining her new choices. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Whereas the previous level mostly held Rare classes with a smattering of Epics, the fourth level was an Epic buffet. The variety was far greater here as well: The third level mainly held classes directly related to her skills, but with the bonus of ascending a level, she qualified for a fair number of classes she wouldn¡¯t have seen otherwise. Almost a fourth of the classes didn¡¯t even mention stealth or thievery in any way. It was about halfway through her new options when Cal finally saw it. A new form pulled itself together before her, and immediately, Cal was enrapt. Shrouded Sovereign She¡¯d done it. A Legendary class. All her time with Hexaura, and she¡¯d actually managed to pull it off. Naturally, the figure was herself, but the differences were so stark that Cal could hardly believe it. To start, the sovereign¡¯s entire being was translucent, whispy, and incorporeal. More than the physical effect, Cal could also feel her mind rebelling against her, pushing her to avert her eyes even as it commanded her to select the class. Eschewing her preferred roguish garb, the sovereign was bedecked in all manner of billowy, black garments with gem-encrusted silver jewelry everywhere the eye could see. It was equally regal as it was tasteful, but Cal could tell it was more than that. It was flashy. A statement. Every bit of it was horribly ill-suited for stealth, bracelets and rings doubtlessly clanging against each other with each movement as clothing would brush against everything in a wide radius. With a collected an imperious smirk far past her years, the sovereign seemed to revel in the contradiction. Such things were beneath her. If she didn¡¯t wish to be seen, she would not be. It was as simple as that. After spending some time gleaning what she could from the class¡¯s description and letting her instincts guide her for the rest, Cal could confidently say that the class was incredible, revolving around and empowering her Legendary skill while also incorporating the rest of her higher skills. At higher levels, she could expect her Apex Shroud to cost essentially no resources at all. Much more importantly, she¡¯d be able to extend the skill to more than herself, rendering her allies and her other skills fully undetectable. With the sense that darkness, light, shadow, and mental magic would all be class-aligned until ridiculously high levels, Cal was certain she could become a force to reckon with in her own right, but that wasn¡¯t the selling point of the class. She would be a sovereign. A ruler from the shadows. Unseen and spoken of in only whispers, but deftly puppeting the world about her to reach whatever outcome she desired. The class was perfect. Powerful. Even elegant, in a way. It was a cruel trick of fate, then, that it was everything she didn¡¯t need right now. Barring the grand magus teaching her dozens of spells, she wasn¡¯t in a position to learn any strong offensive magic right now, and the class didn¡¯t come with physical fighting options. Especially with Verin soon to grab a class without direct damage, she would be leaving Tess as the only real fighter. Sure, there were some cool tricks they¡¯d be able to pull off if Cal could lend her Apex Shroud to Tess, but that was it. One cool trick. There would be no intelligence agency at her beck and call. No king to whisper into the ear of. No secrets to pilfer and expose or throne to sit on. The bulk of its advantages would become moot, and there was absolutely no way she¡¯d be able to complete any class quests to level it up. And so it was, that with great effort and much cursing, that Cal pulled herself away from the class. When she completed her first circuit of the fourth level and discovered it had been her only Legendary offering, her cursing returned in full force. ¡°Well, fine. Not like I wanted all of that responsibility anyway.¡± Maybe a decade from now, she could sunder her class and think about it again, but once she got out of here, all she wanted was class that leveled from harmless pranks and going on vacation. For now, though, she would focus on the classes that were immediately helpful. Her first big choice had to do with Stealth. If she chose a class where Stealth was class-aligned, she would almost be guaranteed several levels the moment she chose it from fulfilling a number of its class quests. On the flip side, with Apex Shroud and and a Master tier Stealth, she was already far stealthier than she needed to be for this dungeon, and any class where Stealth was class-aligned would inevitably offer her a fair share of pointless class skills that didn¡¯t help her in combat. In many ways, it was a question between immediate power and longer-term growth. The second factor was the tradeoff between power and sustainability. On the one hand, Cal wanted to focus on Strength or Intelligence so she could cut through any armor and deal massive damage once she snuck up on something. On the other, putting all her points into Endurance and Wisdom would allow her to use her Legendary skill for much longer periods, and she wouldn¡¯t need to quickly tap out of longer fights like she had in the desert crypt. With all of this in mind, Cal ruthlessly culled the many choices down until, several eternities later, she was left with three: Reaper¡¯s Singularity, Obvious Assassin, and Indefatigable Onslaught. All were Epic, and none were as multifaceted as Shrouded Sovereign, but each of them would be helpful in different ways. Reaper¡¯s Singularity was a version of her with a scythe and cold eyes that promised death. While it was stealth-based, it could deal ridiculous amounts of damage courtesy of a very harsh penalty placed upon it: For any target she hit, she needed to kill it with a single strike. Failing to do so would almost entirely negate any further damage she tried to deal to the target, even years down the line. That penalty was offset by a host of class skills that would make her very good at killing things in one strike. In a similar vein, Obvious Assassin was another stealth-based penalty class. The figure for it was magnetic, idly flipping a dagger with a playful grin. The class awarded great bonuses to any sneak attacks at the cost of making them far harder to pull off. On taking the class, she would become far more noticeable, every eye subconsciously pulled to her, be they humans¡¯ or monsters¡¯. Her Stealth would be less effective, and her enemies¡¯ danger senses would receive bonuses. Given her ability to ignore most of the downsides with Apex Shroud, the class suited her well. Indefatigable Onslaught was the odd man out. No stealth. No daggers. No assassination. It was an honest-to-gods fighting class, and it looked the part, too. Rugged and scarred with a banged-up longsword, the fighter version of herself had a defiant spark within her eyes. With the bulk of its stats going into Endurance and Wisdom, and the rest of them split between Strength and Intelligence, the class would make sure she could hit hard and keep doing it. The vast majority of its skills would either increase her regeneration and longevity, or allow her to dump great amounts of stamina and mana into her attacks to strengthen them. She was fairly certain that if she took it, she¡¯d quickly gain a skill much like Tess¡¯s Overload Weapon, which she could charge up under Apex Shroud before slamming into her target. While it had a fair number of selling points, Cal also knew she wouldn¡¯t have fulfilled any of its class quests yet, keeping her at level 14 for the time being. She¡¯d also have to train up all sorts of skills she¡¯d never touched before. With the real world frozen in time as she made her decision, Cal had no qualms about making her choice slowly. She laid down on the cold stone pathway, her face twisting in all sorts of pensive, conflicted, and frustrated manners. Largely ignoring how good the classes were in general, she tried to imagine what sorts of situations she might find herself in over the next however-many months or years. Probably a lot more situations where I¡¯ll need to scout ahead for the others. Lots of fights with ridiculously strong enemies, either with a lot of health, or a lot of armor. And then probably the opposite -- swarm fights against tons and tons of weaker enemies, like the crypt, but worse. There would also undoubtedly be biomes that forced her to heavily rely on her Apex Shroud, too. While meant to make her invisible, it was ¡°broken¡± in many ways. For instance, if she was stuck in a blizzard, some predators would notice if the air around her was growing hotter from escaping body heat. Her shroud fixed that by both masking and maintaining her body temperature. Without any solid resistances, she would be forced to keep the skill up 100% of the time if they found a frost or fire biome. To be honest, it wasn¡¯t her first choice. Frankly, it wasn¡¯t her second, either. But as Cal reviewed what she needed from her class, she recognized that there was only one real option that could handle all of that. Pulling herself from the ground, the no-longer rogue moved to the class that would be hers for the foreseeable future, meeting its defiant eyes with a roguish grin. ¡°All right, pal. Looks like it¡¯s you and me. Can¡¯t say I ever pictured myself with a class like this, but let¡¯s get along until I can get out of this place.¡± And sunder you for something better, she left unsaid. Confirming her choice, Cal was once more encompassed in a wave of fog. Moments later, she found herself standing over the sundering gem by the grand magus, a deluge of new notifications assaulting her. Congratulations! You have selected a class: Indefatigable Onslaught. +20 Endurance +19 Wisdom +7 Strength +6 Intelligence +13 Class Points Achievement Unlocked: Legendary Offerings. Unlock at least one Legendary class. +50 Prestige Future Legendary classes are now slightly easier to qualify for. Achievement Unlocked: Class Thief Steal a class from a level of the class spiral you weren¡¯t granted access to. +100 Prestige Permanent access to the fourth level of the class spiral. A stern reminder not to try leveling up this achievement. Before Cal could even process the last line of her achievement, her body was wracked with pain as a more drastic set of notification hit her. Stats finalized. Note: You have one or more skills which you no longer meet the minimum stat requirements for. These skills will have greatly reduced effects and may not level until you meet the requirements for them again. You have passed the first threshold in multiple stats. You have fallen below the first threshold in multiple stats. Note: Some physical effects from threshold bonuses are irreversible. All other bonuses will be removed. Adjusting¡­ Even as Cal¡¯s muscles were injected with a massive dose of strength and stability, she could feel as they grew rigid, pain assaulting her as her speed was sapped from her. Her skin felt as though it was wilting, disconcerting and painful sensations erupting from every nerve on her body. She cried out, the loud noise having a fully unintended consequence. Right beside her, a demon opened his eyes. Taking in the scene before him at a glance, the grand magus yelled out at a volume to match Cal¡¯s cries. ¡°No! Foolish girl. What are you doing?¡± B4 C24: A Class for Verin Frozen time was, in Verin¡¯s opinion, always a strange experience. On numerous occasions, she had witnessed those around her entering their class spaces, or in rarer cases, choosing their class. While those experiences tended to last a while for them, to any observers present, they were instantaneous. In practice, this usually meant watching someone¡¯s entire demeanor shift in the span of an instant. In rarer cases, more drastic changes would occur. Case in point, it had only been a brief second ago that the Lady Calilah had impatiently and immaturely shot off to grab the sundering gem. Somehow, though, the royal princess was now screaming bloody murder while the previously slumbering grand magus loudly berated her. ¡°Do you have any idea what you¡¯ve done?¡± The demon attempted to pull at his hair, only for his hands to come up short from the chains which bound him. With everything he was shouting, Verin had a brief concern that they¡¯d done something truly horrible without knowing it. Had they alerted the emperor somehow? Was the sundering gem trapped in some way? Thankfully, such fears were allayed as soon as the mage opened his mouth once more. ¡°That sundering gem is hooked up to the spell circle! If you had at least warned me, I could have siphoned off the energy you released to make up for my laughably low mana regeneration rates right now. As it stands, I barely got a third of what I could!¡± Even imprisoned and restrained, the grand magus addressed Calilah as if she was the one who¡¯d wronged him more than anyone else. By now, the princess¡¯s cries had fallen off, but she gave no indication of having the energy to respond. Hoping to diffuse the situation, Verin did so for her. ¡°We apologize for taking such an action without consulting you. Am I to understand that you will regain some mana if I sunder my class as well?¡± Verin made slow but steady strides towards the gem that would instantly negate years¡¯ of her leveling. If perhaps she was not entirely thrilled with today¡¯s events, on hearing that there was a second sundering to come, Sett¡¯s entire demeanor flipped in an instant. ¡°Ah! Wonderful, wonderful. Well then, no sense in tarrying. Now that I¡¯m awake, I¡¯m all ready. Off you go to the class spiral. Good luck, and all of that!¡± Had he not been chained, Verin had the distinct sense the man would have come up behind her to shove her towards the gem. He was notably disappointed when Calilah finally came to her senses, then, as the princess quickly pulled Verin aside to lay out the details of the class she¡¯d chosen. It was a responsible thing to do so that Verin could choose something to complement the rest of her companions, but she doubted it would have much of an effect on her choice in the end. She didn¡¯t expect to have too many viable options. Knowing all that she needed to, there were no remaining excuses to put it off. And so, at last, Verin gently brushed the gem, immediately and irrevocably sundering her class. Your Rime¡¯s Ruler class has been sundered! Removing all class-quest experience. You have lost sufficient experience to move you down one or more levels. Your level has been reduced to 11. It was a dramatic downward shift and a painful notification to read. With every intent to choose a class that focused on frost magic, though, she was certain to regain some of those levels once she picked her class. A host of other unpleasant notifications followed, but Verin paid them little heed, confirming the final prompt to choose a new class. Whisked away by gray fog, she soon found herself at the base of the class spiral once more. While Verin made sure to do her due diligence, as she ascended the spiral, she discovered she¡¯d largely been correct. Her offerings, even on the third level, were uninspired and uniformly Rare or worse. It wasn¡¯t as if Rare classes were bad per se; they were just good for¡­ other people. For all that she was willing to make some sacrifices to help out, the idea of sinking to a Rare class frightened her. It was fortuitous, then, that she still had higher to climb. Reaching the guardian to the fourth level and confirming the proceeding prompt, a black coin formed on her wrist and lifted itself into the center of the fog golem. Congratulations! You have been granted access to the fourth level of the class spiral. Note, due to the token you have presented, your available classes have been modified and filtered. Verin would have liked to say that she went forth and spent days debating between all of the incredibly powerful options that were presented to her, but nothing would be farther from the truth. A majority of the classes were completely worthless in combat. Frigid Fortifier, for example, was an ice-based construction class, while Groomed for Greatness strictly revolved around nobility and leadership skills. Plenty of artistic classes dotted the fourth level as well. Mixed amongst the useless options were a few hybrid classes like Arctic Aristocrat, but all of them were peace-restricted and largely inferior to her previous Rime¡¯s Ruler. To add insult to injury, looking at all the various versions of her wasn¡¯t even that interesting. From her readings, she¡¯d learned that it was common to see yourself changed in all manner of wild ways when perusing the spiral. For Verin, however, nearly every version of herself looked the same, not altogether much different from how she looked already. When it came to actually viable combat classes, she still ended up ignoring the bulk of them. Ice Armorer created and empowered weapons and armor which she could give to others, completely rendered useless by Tess¡¯s existing skill set. Rime¡¯s Blessing was almost exclusively a buffing class, adding various forms of defense, regeneration, and extra frost damage for her allies while leaving her entirely useless and defenseless on her own. No, there was no tough call to make. After examining each option a singular time, Verin backtracked to the only sensible choice, gazing upon an almost perfect reflection of herself. Quickly double checking that she hadn¡¯t missed anything, Verin pulled up the class¡¯s description. Glacier¡¯s Advance Slowly but surely, your frost magic expands out from you, bringing with it the dawn of a new ice age. While lacking in any true forms of offensive magic, the Glacier¡¯s Advance class excels at all manner of wide-range frost debuffs, slowing, and in many cases, outright freezing any enemies. Coupled with enhanced abilities to create ice-based obstacles and barriers, these debuffs make the Glacier¡¯s Advance a master of controlling the battlefield. Protected within the center of the class¡¯s cornerstone defensive skill, Advancing Glacier, the Glacier¡¯s Advance is able to act with impunity as they transform the battlefield into a quiet, frigid wasteland. If not the sort of class she¡¯d ever envisioned herself with, Verin could admit it would work well given her current circumstances. The class¡¯s strong self-defense would ensure that the others wouldn¡¯t need to spend too much energy protecting her, and the debuffs she applied would make her enemies child¡¯s play to strike down. More than that, she would be able to assist with swarms of enemies which neither of her two companions were overly well-geared to handle with their current skill sets. There was every chance she would sunder the class once they escaped, provided she could obtain another class token, but for now, it was serviceable. With little fanfare, Verin confirmed her selection and departed from the class spiral. Congratulations! You have selected a class: Glacier¡¯s Advance. You have preemptively completed three class quests! With Frost Magic at level ten apparently being a prerequisite for the class, there was no class quest for raising it that far. For bringing the skill up to the Apprentice, Journeyman, and Adept tiers, however, she was rewarded accordingly. It was unpleasant to discover she hadn¡¯t finished any other quests, but she supposed most of the others would be counter-based -- things like ¡°freeze an enemy 100 times¡± -- which did not include anything done previously to gaining the class. Still, with the Glacier¡¯s Advance having next to no class-aligned skills besides Frost Magic, it assigned a massive weight to each new tier she pushed the skill, rewarding experience accordingly. Congratulations! You have reached level 12! Congratulations! You have reached level 13! With a flick of her will, Verin forced her notifications to consolidate her stat changes into a single section. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. +24 Wisdom +18 Intelligence +6 Perception +12 Class Points (leveling) +18 Class Points (quest completion) Though she¡¯d had and continued to have her misgivings about the class change, Verin couldn¡¯t help but admit to some level of anticipation at the influx of class points. Never before had she been given so many at once, and she was interested to see what sort of skills she could gain with such an influx. Such optimistic thoughts were quickly tempered by a stream of notifications that Cal must have received shortly prior. You have passed the first threshold in multiple stats. You have fallen below the first threshold in multiple stats. Note: Some physical effects from threshold bonuses are irreversible. All other bonuses will be removed. Adjusting¡­ Verin reeled as the world about her grew dimmer, blurrier, and altogether less crisp, even as her skin lost much of its luster. The entire experience was massively disorienting, and Verin could feel the start of a bitter migraine coming on. If there was any silver lining, however, she didn¡¯t seem to go through the same pain that Calilah had undergone. Verin would like to say that she was simply more composed than the princess, but she imagined it was mostly due to neither gaining nor losing any physical stats. While her mind would be paying the price for the rapid changes, her body was safe. Not in the mood for idle chatter, Verin said something passably polite to the grand magus as he rattled on about the mana he¡¯d managed to gather. Hoping to make it to her bed before the worst of her headache came on, she disengaged, trying to usher the others out. Calilah had little issue in following along, although Tess seemed intent to stay for some reason, evidently having more to talk to the magus about. So be it. If she trusted Tess to go out to the mountains for days at a time, Verin had no reason to hover over her here. Verin hastened her pace as she reached the winding hallway, scowling as a particularly sharp spike of pain assaulted her. Abruptly, Verin froze. Unused to her new motor control, Calilah crashed into her back, voicing an annoyed challenge that Verin barely heard. Slowly, Verin schooled her expression back to its default state. That was¡­ strange. Did I just casually scowl? In front of company no less? She struggled to make sense of her odd reaction until she recalled a notification she hadn¡¯t given much thought. Scrolling up, she found it once more. Note: You have a number of skills past the Novice tier which were once class-aligned, but are no longer class-aligned. The leveling speeds of these skills will be massively reduced, and the effects of these skills may be artificially lowered as a penalty. These effects will be removed if the affected skills become class-aligned once more. That was it, wasn¡¯t it? My Etiquette skill. I can still feel it, but it¡¯s¡­ distant? Or perhaps subdued would be more apt. ¡°How peculiar¡­¡± The feedback from the skill had been a constant and instantaneous companion to her for years now. Another stab of pain cut any reflection off before it could begin, and Verin vowed not to stop until she was comfortably in bed. It was a vow that lasted all of a few minutes until she at last escaped the subterranean tunnels. The very moment Verin stepped outside, she was once again locked into place. ¡°Hey! Lady V! Are you good, or what¡¯s up?¡± Calilah barely managed to keep herself from stumbling this time, whacking Verin on the shoulder harder than she meant to. Verin hardly noticed, not even the horrid nickname getting through to her. But of course, Verin was not particularly good at the moment. Throughout this entire horrid affair, there had been only a single feature that had bolstered her spirits. Through the gryphon attacks and raw rabbit, the scorpions and the suffocating sand, whenever Verin was at her lowest, she took great comfort in the simple act of looking up. The sky. That beautiful tapestry of endless mana, swirling about and intermixing, a continuous reminder that for all she needed to escape this place, it wasn¡¯t all bad. Though she hadn¡¯t had the time or the equipment, Verin had oft remarked to herself that she would paint that patchwork sky before she left, if only to share the view that had left her so awestruck the first time she¡¯d seen it. For the first time since she¡¯d arrived, Verin looked up and saw nothing but endless black. An empty void, lacking in clouds, sunlight, or the barest hint of redeeming features. Stripped of the benefits of her first Perception threshold, Verin had been stricken blind to the mana around her. ¡°Of course. I am fine,¡± she forced out. Having just come from sacrificing the class she¡¯d been painstakingly cultivating for all of her adult life, the shock of it was too great. All at once, Verin felt a heavy exhaustion, suddenly needing her bed for an entirely different reason than she had only moments before. In a daze, she found her way indoors, happy to be under a roof that could block that oppressive emptiness. Shutting the door to her room and slipping into bed, all manner of bleak thoughts assailed her. Even as her headache worsened, she tried to unravel the negative, jumbled mess in her mind. Before she could make any real headway, however, Verin drifted off, stuck in a cabin under the dark and empty sky.
While Verin and Cal made their way back to the cabin, I stayed firmly put. Having passed out right after the grand magus had healed me, I¡¯d never gotten a chance to talk to him. Now that he was awake and in front of me, I wasn¡¯t going to miss my chance. ¡°Ah, my comatose grand-disciple! What a good job I did -- already walking around. Tell me, are you here to sunder your class as well?¡± I had the distinct sense his question was less out of idle curiosity and more out of hope and greed. Unfortunately, I would have to disappoint him. ¡°No. Thank you for healing me.¡± That was what a polite person would say, right? ¡°You recovered your mana?¡± The demon responded even as his eyes dimmed, half dismissing me now that he knew I had nothing to give him. ¡°Yes, yes. When the mana-draining circle grabs the energy released from the sundering gem, I have a brief window where it¡¯s not draining me, you see. I am happy to say I have even more mana saved up than when I met you three. An unexpected bonus.¡± I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s good. So you can teach me more spells now.¡± My words were met with a stunned silence, I was worried that I¡¯d said something wrong. But why? It wasn¡¯t as if he could actually do anything important with the mana he¡¯d saved up, and we were working to free him. More than that, he kept calling me his grand-disciple. Didn¡¯t that mean he should teach me things? ¡°I¡­ suppose. You have to understand, it is rather unpleasant for a mage of my caliber to be perpetually stuck with such low mana reserves. Considering you three haven¡¯t died yet, though, perhaps your chances of freeing me are higher than I initially imagined. Come then. What were you trying to learn?¡± Truthfully, I wanted dozens of spells. Archmage Callis had been strict about what he¡¯d given me, looking down upon battlemages who never took the time to get a solid magical foundation. Right now, though, it was more important to hit things hard. Even so, I had something more important to ask for. ¡°I hit level ten in Spatial Magic. I need a new spell to practice.¡± He winced. ¡°Directly imparting spells for advanced magic classes gets increasingly difficult with each new tier, both for me and for you. Not only will such a request take a sizable chunk of my recovered mana, but you also wouldn¡¯t be able to learn any other spells for quite some time.¡± That was fine. I was pretty sure Sett would go back to sleep after we spoke, and no one else was going to teach me spells. Why would I care if I couldn¡¯t learn new ones for a while? ¡°That works.¡± The demon sighed, seeming to think twice about his offer but ultimately caving. ¡°Very well. Come.¡± He stuck a hand out, and as I neared, he placed it on my head. Mana flooded through him, leaving me slightly dizzy when at last he was done. You have learned a new spell: Mold Space Mold Space Slightly solidifies or loosens a target stretch of space, effects scaling with mana expanded. Loosened space is more conducive to other spatial effects, lowering the mana costs of spatial spells and increasing the maximum distance of teleportation spells. Solidified space does the opposite, increasing spatial mana costs and decreasing teleportation distances. Nice. If not anything earth-shattering, it looked like I could use it in conjunction with my other spatial effects to train even longer. I thanked the archmage, but he waved the thanks away, looking a touch worse for wear. ¡°Yes, yes. That took more out of me than I anticipated. I trust there¡¯s not anything else you need help with?¡± Huh. He really was a generous guy, wasn¡¯t he? I hadn¡¯t given it much thought, but what else could I want besides learning new spells? Thinking back to what Sett had given us last time around, one answer did come to mind. ¡°Enchanting?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± The demon¡¯s face immediately fell. Maybe enchanting wasn¡¯t fun to teach? ¡°You made that compass,¡± I replied. ¡°I want to make stuff like that too.¡± Mostly, I figured it would be good if I had another compass that could track Cal and Verin. It was easy enough to imagine us getting separated in something like the sandstorm, and with how often Cal ventured out on her own, I could picture her getting lost or stuck at some point. On a more basic level, though, I was hoping for more things to add to our home. Our own spells and skills made a lot of modern conveniences moot, but without electricity, we were still living a pretty bare bones life. ¡°Bah, fine. Xan sure chose a greedy one, didn¡¯t he? Here, figure it out on your own.¡± Despite being empty-handed only moments before, Sett threw out a sphere and a collection of small metallic disks at me which I plucked from the air. ¡°High-level enchanting is hard. Low-level enchanting is laughably easy. Study these. Try to recreate it. Should last you until level 20 if you¡¯re smart.¡± I held the objects in front of my face, hoping to study them then and there, but the grand magus was quick to stop me. ¡°Now shoo! If you want some motivation, I should recover some more mana if you take down one of the storage sites. Until then, don¡¯t bother me. I¡¯m returning to my meditative state.¡± His tone brooked no room for argument, and I got the distinct sense that he would force me out of the room if I didn¡¯t leave of my own accord. Guess he doesn¡¯t like falling asleep with other people around. That¡¯s okay. I get a bit grumpy when I¡¯m tired too. I¡¯ll come back for more of our chats when he¡¯s gotten back to bed. I left the grand magus behind, mind whirling with all sorts of enchanting ideas. And if that wasn¡¯t enough to keep me busy for a while, there was Cal and Verin, too. Just how strong were they now? I had a sneaking suspicion they¡¯d be eager to show me exactly that. B4 C25: Class Test Run Like most princesses, Cal had never had a particularly strong opinion on scorpion meat. Not until recently, at least. While the first few times she¡¯d tried it had been enjoyable sheerly from novelty¡¯s sake, it had quickly grown bland and boring after so much repetition. In a strange way, she felt very similar about the creatures themselves. Horrifying and exhilarating the first few times, and certainly not an enemy she could afford to get sloppy around, but nonetheless blandly routine. Even fighting giant magical scorpions lost its appeal after the fiftieth time. For a while now, she¡¯d been itching to clear one of the four starter biomes, if just to experience something brand new. Today, though, all of those thoughts had disappeared. Once again, there was a massive scorpion barreling towards her. For the first time in a long time, Cal could barely contain her excitement. While the scorpion wasn¡¯t any different, Cal certainly was. She felt alive. Strong. It would be the very first monster she faced with her new class. As per usual, the ground was frosted over, and walls of ice sprung from the sand to funnel the giant arachnid towards Tess and restrict its movements. The very moment its charge was brought to a halt, Cal was off. ¡°All right, Tess! Not really great at dodging things anymore, so please keep it busy!¡± Under the strongest Apex Shroud she could apply, the rogue-turned-warrior sprinted over to the scorpion¡¯s side, lamenting the loss of her Dexterity as each step felt painfully slow. It was a trade-off, she knew. Even as she ran while hefting an actual sword, courtesy of all their crypt looting, her stamina barely budged. Which is nice, but not really the point. Was the class change even worth it? She thought so. She hoped so. It had been three days since Cal and Verin had sundered their classes, and by now, they¡¯d long since spent a good chunk of their class points and familiarized themselves with their skills. For Cal, that hadn¡¯t entailed much. With only 13 points to spend, she hadn¡¯t exactly gone on a shopping spree. With Indefatigable Onslaught¡¯s class space split into two directions -- one for recovery and one for power -- seven of those points had gone into recovery skills. Inexhaustible Wellspring made each point of Wisdom give more maximum mana and mana regeneration, while Unending Tenacity did the same for her Endurance. Five of those points, however, had gone into one final skill. As Cal got into position, she readied her blade accordingly. Empowered Strike A close cousin of Tess¡¯s Overload Weapon, the skill greedily sucked up whatever mana Cal offered to it, going one step further in draining her stamina as well. Wanting to see just how far the skill could take her, Cal made no effort to rein the skill in, feeding it as much as it asked for. Even with her Perception so heavily dulled now, she could feel as her sword pulsed with barely restrained energy. At least enough to crack the armor, she prayed. Even her armor-piercing daggers had done little against the creature¡¯s thick carapace. At such a low level and with so few class points, Cal knew not to ask the impossible from her class, but it could at least manage that much, right? With an awkward swing as if holding a bat, Cal unleashed all the stored up energy, slashing her blade into the scorpion¡¯s leg.
One moment, Verin was simply standing there, calmly watching the fight unfold; the next, she was flinching backwards as an abrupt (and unpleasantly loud) series of cracks and crunches filled the desert air. While her view of the scorpion was partially obscured courtesy of the ice walls she¡¯d surrounded it with, that did nothing to block the sight of one oversized scorpion leg launching itself over the barrier. The leg sailed straight over Tess, a sprinkler of scorpion blood coating her head with blue speckles before it smashed into the sand with a dull thud. Before even the scorpion could process what had just happened, one voice offered a deep and insightful commentary. ¡°Did I just¡­¡± it whispered out. In short order, that whisper transformed into a blaring shout: ¡°Wait, fuck yeah!¡± Even as the scorpion began to thrash about, hissing for all it was worth, Calilah vanished, reappearing just ahead of Verin. Dropping her bloody sword, she used both hands to energetically gesture at the scorpion as it swiped at Tess. ¡°Did you see that? Holy hells! That was just one swing! I got, like, three entire levels in Swords from that! Is this what it¡¯s like to have a combat class? I mean, I did dump almost a third of my entire mana and stamina into that attack, but I figured I¡¯d need at least a few more hits. You saw that, right? Tell me one of you saw-¡± So fast did Cal stop that Verin was almost worried she was suffering some sort of backlash from her attack. But no. Just as soon as she stopped, she was back at it again. ¡°Wait, if I¡¯m packing that kind of a punch, why am I even bothering with the legs? I could just-¡± Whatever she¡¯d been about to say was lost as Cal grabbed her sword and vanished. Before Verin could make a shred of sense out of the princess¡¯s antics, it was over. Another sickening crunch heralded the end of the fight, the scorpion crashing to the ground. Lodged horizontally into its head, Cal¡¯s blade had cut nearly halfway through the creature, pulping its brains in an executioner¡¯s strike. Right behind the blade stood its wielder, wildly grinning atop the back of the beast. ¡°Tremble! Quake! Fear my mighty power!¡± The princess cackled with glee. Despite herself, Verin did have to admit she looked quite impressive perched above the felled scorpion. That was, until she slipped on some blood and tumbled headfirst into the sand. ¡°Ach! Damn. I miss my Dexterity. But still! Fear me!¡± Shaking her head, Verin went to help the newly-clumsy warrior up. Even as she did so, she couldn¡¯t help but feel a little jealous. Happy too, of course. It was undeniably a great boon that Cal¡¯s class had ended up being so strong. But after that, how would Verin possibly compare? She was all too well aware that she was about to find out.
Just as the trio had set things up to let Calilah test her skills, so too did they set up for Verin. This time, however, things were a bit different. Whereas Verin usually only summoned a handful of ice walls, for the upcoming fight, she created as many as she could, layering them behind one another. Rather than forcing the scorpion towards Tess, Verin hoped to cage it entirely. She¡¯d positioned the walls in a wide U-shape, leaving a small opening in the front for her to see through. Once Tess led the beast in, Verin would add more walls to the back, locking it in entirely. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Not permanently, of course. No matter how many layers of ice she conjured, the sheer bulk and strength of the scorpion would undo them in time. Time, however, was the key word. More than she had realized when she¡¯d chosen it, much of Verin¡¯s new class revolved around time. ¡°I believe my preparations are complete. I will be activating my defensive skill, after which point, I will be unable to communicate. I will be relying on you to keep me safe, but as a reminder, please do not intervene until I appear to be in danger. I am hoping to see just how thoroughly I can slow it down before it reaches me. With that being said, please bring it over after a minute or so.¡± Thus said, Verin activated two of her new skills in tandem, pulling up their descriptions as she did so. Advancing Glacier Entomb yourself in a clear glacier of protective ice. Within the glacier, you can turn about, breathe, and cast spells as you would normally, but are otherwise immobilized. While this skill is active, the advancing glacier will gradually siphon off your mana regeneration to grow in size, quickly at first, and then more slowly as it expands. This expansion can be toggled off at any time. This skill may be canceled at any time, at which point the glacier will crack open to release you. As advertised, ice began to sprout from her skin, growing as if alive until she was held firmly in the center of a small pyramid-shaped glacier. It was a bizarre experience being able to freely breathe in such an environment, but not at all uncomfortable. Not until Verin had first entered her new class space had she realized just how important Advancing Glacier was. As best she could tell, somewhere between a third and a half of her class skills interfaced with it in some way. Many of those skills were defensive in nature, increasing the ice¡¯s durability or repair rate. Some, however, were passably offensive -- or at least as offensive as her skills could be. The second skill she activated was in this category, with a neat circle of frost coating the ground in a wide radius around her glacier. Glacial Zone Create a ring of frost around your Advancing Glacier. As your glacier grows, the glacial zone does as well. Any enemies within the glacial zone have their frost resistance reduced and receive a minor, stacking slow for each second spent within. While within your Advancing Glacier, increases the range of your class skills and non-damaging frost spells, allowing you to target enemies anywhere within the Glacial Zone. On reading the description, Verin had briefly entertained the notion of spreading the skill over the entire desert at once, hailing down debuffs on her enemies while safely nestled within her glacier. And perhaps she would be able to do such a thing -- in twenty levels or so. Ignoring the fact that her mana regeneration was nowhere near high enough to grow the skill that large, it didn¡¯t actually grant her any perceptive powers. Even if an enemy was within her Glacial Zone, Verin still had to be able to see it to target the foe with any spells, which she wouldn¡¯t be able to do after a certain point. For now, it had a much more modest radius, about five meters out from her glacier. Verin watched as the zone slowly crept into the cage of ice walls she¡¯d built. When at last the skill covered the bulk of her cage, she toggled off her glacier¡¯s expansion. At the same time, Tess shot off, returning soon thereafter with a scorpion in tow. With her Dexterity now uncontestedly the highest out of all of them, Tess had no trouble leading the creature by the nose, depositing it perfectly into her makeshift cage. The very moment the scorpion stepped into her Glacial Zone, Verin got to work. Admittedly, that work wasn¡¯t anything too complicated: So far, Verin had only grabbed two targeted class skills. In quick succession, she activated them both. Glaciate was a fairly standard slow debuff, stiffening a target with frost on top of applying a small Dexterity penalty. As Verin fired the skill off, a few thin patches of ice sprouted on the scorpion¡¯s carapace, not doing much more than changing its appearance. Even without looking at her notifications, she could tell the creature had partially resisted the skill, its level dwarfing her own. Clinging Permafrost was technically an immobilization skill, but a fairly weak one, creating a thin shell of ice connecting the target¡¯s feet to the ground. Against something as massive as the scorpion, Verin had low hopes for the skill, using it more as a trial run than anything else. She activated it with the expectation that the beast would barely notice it. On one count, she¡¯d been correct. Faced with the weight and momentum of the charging arachnid, the skill stood no chance, the ice shattering the very second it formed. What she had greatly underappreciated, however, was how much stronger the skill would be on something with more than two feet. Facing even the small amount of resistance on eight limbs at once, the scorpion¡¯s coordination gave out. Even as Tess cleared the cage and escaped through the small opening, the scorpion sprawled out on the icy sand, bleeding a great deal of momentum. That didn¡¯t mean it had stopped, however, as multiple layers of her ice cage gave out from the resulting collision. Already fast at work, Verin summoned more of them, a few to reinforce her side of the cage, but most to fence off the other side, locking the beast within. Success. Now to see how long I am able to hold it. Just as Verin was able to see the scorpion, so too was it able to see her, a fact it made clear as it moved straight for her, hissing and screeching all the while. So single-minded was its fury that Verin wondered if the back of the cage had even been necessary. Glaciate. Clinging Permafrost. Glaciate. Over and over, Verin applied each debuff the very moment she was able to, watching with grim fascination as the repeated applications broke through the level barrier. What had begun as tiny circles of frost were now well on their way to covering the creature. Better yet, Clinging Permafrost actually started to work now that it didn¡¯t have the scorpion¡¯s momentum to deal with. Naturally, the desert arachnid still managed to pull itself free, but each second it wasted was another chance for Glacial Zone to slow it further. I will confess, this is going more smoothly than I would have imagined. Truthfully, she¡¯d been half sure that the scorpion would barrel through all of her ice in a few seconds without Tess to hold it back. Instead, she still had half her initial ice walls between her and the beast, and she watched in real time as its movements gradually slowed. Bit by bit, however, its giant pincers cleared a path forward. When at last the final ice wall fell, Verin decided she¡¯d tested her skills enough. As good a time as any for one of the others to step in, yes? Slow as the enemy was, Verin had no doubt that either of them could finish it off in this state. It was somewhat curious, then, that the scorpion continued to amble closer, and closer, and closer, slowly covering the short distance between its cage and Verin¡¯s Advancing Glacier. They do¡­ They do not perceive me to be in danger. In fairness, the glacier had advanced a solid two meters out from her, a great deal of ice still between her and her target. On the flip side, Verin was traditionally a backline fighter, which meant she¡¯d yet to get so close to one of the creatures while it was still alive. As the scorpion raised its pincer to crack open her glacier, she decided she vastly preferred it that way. Down came the beast¡¯s wrath, judgment descending with a slow surety, until- Plink. A few small chips of ice came off of her glacier. Momentarily stunned, Verin even stopped applying her skills before hastily remembering herself. Glaciate. Glaciate. Glaciate. At some point, the permafrost had fully taken hold, rooting the scorpion in place and allowing her to forgo the skill. Instead, she sank more and more of her mana into her slow, at times having to pause for it to recharge. Even then, Glacial Zone went to work, bit by bit slowing the creature over the course of minutes. Until, eventually, Verin stopped. After all, there wasn¡¯t any reason to keep going any longer. Now covered in a complete coating of ice, the scorpion lay curled up before her. At any moment, she half-expected it to break free and continue its assault, but it seemed her continuous barrage of slows had finally done the job. The once mighty creature no longer could move a muscle. I¡­ did that. By myself. It was a heady experience, tempered only by the fact that she would need one of the others to actually kill the thing. Right as she thought that, however, an unexpected notification rolled in. You have killed a Sand-encrusted Scorpion! You have earned 308xp. Wide-eyed, Verin took in the frozen corpse, only belatedly realizing something important about her class. Just because my skills do not deal any direct damage does not mean my enemies will be immune to low temperatures. This was no Law¡¯s Embrace -- even with a peace-aligned class, her skills did not magically protect their targets from the environment. With the realization, not even the endless black sky was enough to keep her down. For the first time since sundering her class, Verin smiled bright and wide. B4 C26: Budding Enchantress Despite Verin and Cal¡¯s resounding combat successes, none of us thought that rushing into a new biome was a good idea yet. With low levels and an almost completely blank slate for their class quests, both of the two could easily level a few more times without needing to take that risk. Practically, that meant two things for me. Firstly, I was forced to go hunting much more frequently. Rather than continue with our old schedule of traveling into the desert once every five days, Cal and Verin realized they could split up and level much faster. While Verin took the desert, her ice skills perfectly suited for the warm-blooded scorpions, Cal ventured into the mountains. Very quickly, she proved that her Empowered Strike was just as capable of handling the gryphons as it was the scorpions, and if a touch slower than I tended to, she swept through the area with ease. Neither, however, were confident enough in their skills to travel alone yet. Logically, I had to agree. They were new to their classes, and even if they could win 99 fights out of 100 without me, the penalty for losing that singular fight was possibly death. From an energy perspective, I hated it. What had once been a single day a week of intense fighting had transformed into two days a week of playing guard duty, mostly sitting idle as I watched my friends win their fights without me. As a second consequence of our decision to stay put, I was forced to find something new to do with my downtime. By now, our cabin was fairly well-furnished. As a centerpiece, the main room held a table with three chairs, and for other seating options, I¡¯d made a few benches and lumpy, feather-filled cushions. Some hanging shelves housed a few figurines I¡¯d created, some from wood and some from stone, and a simple cabinet held our box of cards and our container of moonshine. Undoubtedly, there was more I could do, and if I was here for long enough, I would. A few weeks of foraging and alchemy would hopefully yield some dyes I could use for an interesting rug or tapestry. Enough trial and error, and I was confident I could eventually learn how to turn the panthers or gryphons into some workable leather. There were more games I could create other than simple cards, too. The same repetitive monotony that I¡¯d at first found soothing, however, was finally starting to get to me. No longer was crafting another chair enough to keep me focused and awake, and I feared if I didn¡¯t find something new to occupy me, I was due for another big crash soon. It was rather fortunate, then, that I had just what I needed. Nestled in the confines of the tiny cave in the mountains I¡¯d commandeered, I removed the various enchanting references Sett had graciously made for me. By now, my cave had undergone much the same transformation as the cabin, and as I hunched forward on a cushioned rocking chair, I examined what I had to work with. Three spheres, two disks, all of which were made from polished steel, and all of which fit comfortably in my hand. Each one had a line of text etched onto them. The spheres seemed to be more basic, with the first¡¯s text reading ¡°for levels 1-5¡± while the others were marked with ¡°5-8¡± and ¡°8-10¡± on them. In a similar fashion, the first disk read ¡°10-20.¡± The second was the odd man out, the only text on it being the word ¡°bonus.¡± Not seeing any reason to distrust Sett¡¯s instructions, I moved everything but the starter sphere back into my storage. Unfortunately, simply knowing to start with the sphere didn¡¯t tell me what to actually do with it. Even God¡¯s Eye didn¡¯t have much to say on the matter, returning Enchantment Matrix whenever I identified it. Having used a fair number of enchanted items by now, I tried to mentally activate it, but the matrix steadfastly rebuffed my attempts. Maybe he¡¯s pranking me. It felt unlikely, but I was still having trouble reading people. When ten minutes of fiddling with the ball yielded no results, I was tempted to call it a day and take a nap. For all that I felt leagues better than I had right after being healed, focusing for extended periods without any progress was nearly impossible for me. It was rather lucky, then, that I finally felt it. While idly turning the sphere about in my hands, one of my fingers brushed up against an area that felt slightly different. Pulling my finger away revealed nothing out of the ordinary, and it ultimately wasn¡¯t until I used Arcane Vision that I managed to find what I was looking for. So small, I could scarcely believe it was there at all, was an itty bitty little hole in the metal. My mind immediately jumped to the small SIM-card ejection holes in phones, making me wonder if the sphere would open up if I poked something inside. Without anything that would fit, though, I was out of luck if that was the answer. Or perhaps I did have one thing that might be thin enough. It was supposed to be some sort of enchantment tool, right? That meant mana had to be involved. Right now, I wasn¡¯t sensing even the smallest hint of mana from the ball, so maybe this was how I supplied my own? I grabbed a thread of mana from my core, pulling it through my body until it reached my hand and then pushing it through. The very instant the thread broke free of my body, it dissolved. What just happened? Thinking it over, I was shocked to realize I¡¯d never tried to play with my mana outside of my body before. That struck me as strange, given how basic such a thing sounded. I¡¯d even seen other mages do it on multiple occasions, with the archmage in particular often using external mana as a teaching aid. In fairness, though, it was only after I met the archmage that I had started to play with my mana at all, never having previously used it for anything but system-assisted spell casting. It wasn¡¯t until my first lesson with him that I¡¯d actually gained the Mana Manipulation skill. Or no, actually. It wasn¡¯t called Mana Manipulation, was it? It was specifically called Internal Mana Manipulation. The skill had immediately upgraded into Advanced Internal Mana Manipulation, but the ¡°internal¡± part hadn¡¯t gone away. I had no skill to handle my mana once it left my body. Was the process truly so different that it warranted the separate skills? If my recent failure was any indication, the answer was a resounding yes. At this point, I was getting the sense that enchanting normally required some skills and background knowledge that I didn¡¯t possess, but I wasn¡¯t going to give up. I felt like I was on the right track, and if nothing else, I didn¡¯t want to figure out something else to do if I gave up on enchanting already. Moving the enchanting matrix back into storage, I started pushing more mana out from my hand. For a while, I tried to be clever. Maybe the tip of the thread needed to stay within me? I moved one of my threads into a U-shape, pushing the curved section out. It dissipated just as fast as the first had, leaving a disconnected piece of mana floating within my hand. Said piece slowly dissolved inside of me, though not without leaving me with a tingling feeling. A knot of mana came next, though with my limited knowledge of proper knots, it came out looking more like a tangled headphone cord. With higher hopes, I shoved the entire knot out from my hand, momentarily happy to see it hold until it started to deteriorate, ultimately succumbing to the same fate as the others. I groaned. If different shapes wouldn¡¯t work, I had a pretty good guess of what I¡¯d need to use, and the answer was a single word. Effort. The archmage had left me with a set of exercises to work on my internal mana manipulation, most of which focused on making my mana more pliable. I would poke and prod at my core, grabbing pieces and stretching them out, pinching off as many different threads as I could and pulling them as far as I could. For all that I spoke in mechanical terms, though, my mana was not a physical object, and I was not literally poking it. Every conscious change from its resting state required an act of willpower, the amount of effort required seemingly tempered by my control and my raw Wisdom. With my willpower in low supply these days, I was passably peeved to be forced to use it, but I wasn¡¯t about to turn back now. Before I pushed the next thread from my hand, I turned my entire attention to its tip, letting everything else fade away. Harden. Compress. Stabilize. Solidify. I mentally assaulted the thread, pushing at it from every angle while imbuing it with as much tenacity as I could muster. This time when I shoved it out of my hand, I was surprised to feel some resistance, as if I was physically pushing a piece of hair through my palm. Despite the unpleasant visual, the sensation was only mildly disconcerting, and with a strange piercing feeling, the thread escaped my body. Instantly, I could feel my control wavering. It was as though I¡¯d dipped the thread into a turbulent vat of acid, the air seeming to eat away at my mana even as it tugged on it, first this way, then that. For all the interference, however, I managed to hold on. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. One second. Two. Thre- All at once, my will shattered, and I swore I could audibly hear a snap as it failed. I slumped into my chair as the mana thread vanished, leaving me right back where I started. Or at least it would have, had I not received a brand new notification. You have learned a new skill: Intrinsic External Mana Manipulation. Unsatisfied with constraining your mana to your physical shell, you have begun to push your mana outside of yourself. Decreases casting time and slightly decreases mana costs of all spells which require external mana weaving. Prerequisites: 35 Wisdom Level 10 in Internal Mana Manipulation Evidently, even at my best, gaining the skill would have been a challenge, my Wisdom only having recently passed the minimum requirement. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t look like the skill would upgrade to an advanced variant like my internal manipulation had, but I was almost glad for that. The skill already had an unexpected extra word tacked onto the front of it, and even the thought of having an Advanced Intrinsic External Mana Manipulation skill was giving me a headache. Emboldened by my rousing success, I managed to push on after only a brief thirty minutes of lazing about. With a means to extend my mana out into the world now, I repeated my earlier attempt of inserting mana into the spherical enchanting matrix. Even a singular level of the skill made a world¡¯s difference in how difficult using my mana was. Better yet, once I actually managed to slip a thread into the matrix, the bulk of the interference disappeared, letting me create longer and longer strings of mana outside myself. Even so, it wasn¡¯t immediately enough. Quickly, I discovered that the interior of the sphere was more convoluted than I¡¯d imagined, with the hole serving as the entrance point to a winding and circuitous pathway. No matter how far I pushed my mana, there always seemed to be more space to fill. Intrinsic External Mana Manipulation has reached level 2! Still, each time, I got a bit farther, the constant, steady progress proving to be exactly what I needed to keep myself on track. It took almost a full day and the second manipulation level to succeed, but eventually, my mana filled the entire sphere. Feeling endlessly triumphant, I let my mana dissolve within the matrix, eager to see just what would happen. An air of tense anticipation filled the homey cave, and I felt more awake than I had in weeks as I scanned the entire area for any visible signs of change. That same eager expectation gradually withered away as nothing happened. The same energy that had allowed for my excitement was quickly repurposed, breaking through my usual muted emotions to flood me with disappointment. Was that really not it? Sure I must have missed something, I repeated the exercise, this time much more slowly. I probed the matrix for any branches or crevices I might have missed. There weren¡¯t any. At the same time, though, I could feel a mental itch start to form as I navigated more and more of the bends and convolutions of the enchantment matrix. There was something there. I could feel it. Again, my mana reached the end of the pathway and fizzled out, and again I plunged a new strand in. I took this iteration painfully, ploddingly, slow. Rather than focusing on getting to the end, I used my mana as a makeshift sensory appendage, straining my heightened Intelligence to build a three-dimensional mental model of the sphere¡¯s interior. A third of the way through, my mana turned one more corner, and it all suddenly clicked. Hastily, I loosened my grip on the mana thread, letting it die off before sending another in its place. This time, however, I didn¡¯t use plain mana. Instead, a radiant, yellow beam of solid light took its place, bending and refracting under the pressure of my will. The very moment the light mana filled the matrix, the effect was obvious. You have cast Illumination! Hanging directly above the sphere, a tiny mote of light brightened the cave. In hindsight, everything felt obvious now. The pattern inside of the sphere was a near-exact copy of how I wove my mana to cast the Illumination spell. A few small discrepancies existed, seeming to alter the spell¡¯s origin point and brightness, but the basic components were all there. That realization alone was enough to net me another skill level. Spell Insight has reached level 13! That answered one question: If the enchantment matrix could actually be considered a true ¡°enchantment,¡± then it seemed that the simplest enchanted items just forced mana into the shape of a spell. It was an unwieldy solution, and not one that anyone without external mana manipulation could use, but if you hung the sphere from a large enough string, you could generously call it an Illumination Pendant. Clearly, this was how the grand magus expected me to create my first enchantments. On the flip side, that raised an even tougher question. How the hell am I supposed to make something like that?
I would have liked to say that, in a spark of inspiration, I figured the trick out later that day. In truth, the answer didn¡¯t come to me for another two weeks. In fact, I¡¯d nearly given up entirely, deciding that creating the internal matrix was impossible without some sort of precision-disintegration skill I just didn¡¯t have. That, or a 3D printer, which I was even less likely to come by. From time to time, it struck me that all of this was needlessly complicated, and I wondered why Sett hadn¡¯t just explained it to me. He could have waited a few more minutes before going to sleep, couldn¡¯t he? Failing that, the fact that he¡¯d engraved text onto his training aids meant that he was capable of conjuring the written word. Did he just not feel like leaving me a manual? I could have sworn he was so happy to help me learn enchanting when I talked to him about it! I hadn¡¯t¡­ misjudged that conversation, had I? No, ultimately, I decided he was just one of those teachers who believed I would learn more if I figured it out on my own. I could respect that. That actually worked well to keep myself busy, too. I¡¯d have to ask him to help me learn even more skills next time around. The grand magus¡¯s teaching methods aside, my epiphany came as I was once again pushing my mana through the enchantment matrix, hoping to eke out a few more levels of external mana manipulation. Each time, my mana was forced into the proper shape, the metal interior of the sphere preventing me from misshaping it. Which was kind of strange, if I thought about it. Mana was mana. I had no trouble moving it around my own body, even though I was filled with blood and organs and whatever other bodily gunk I had going on in there. I¡¯d also come across all sorts of solid materials that held mana, with Emer¡¯Thalis¡¯s darkwood being the first thing that came to mind. Why wouldn¡¯t my mana just sink right through the metal? I wasn¡¯t sure about the theory of it, but I didn¡¯t need to be. That fact alone was all I needed. Because if my mana couldn¡¯t occupy the same space as the metal, that meant that the metal also couldn¡¯t occupy the same space as my mana. If that was true, all that was left to do was to test my theory out.
For all my enthusiasm, I wasn¡¯t able to try my hand at making enchantments for another few hours. The biggest roadblock was in determining what to make said enchantments out of. Metal obviously worked, and I even had some from raiding the desert crypt. Unfortunately, my current plan would require me to melt the metal, and something told me Flameploof wouldn¡¯t be up to the task. Ice actually had felt like a solid option, but I¡¯d want the ice to form as I was using my external mana manipulation, which meant I wouldn¡¯t be able to cast Chill Liquid or the more broad Chill. Of course, I could solve that problem by sitting in the freezer for a few hours to let the water freeze naturally, or I could recruit Verin to help me. The prior option sounded like a pain, and I wasn¡¯t sure if the outside help of the latter would prevent me from getting the credit for the enchantment. In the end, I decided on a slightly messier solution. First, I carved out a small, cube-shaped stone pot. Then, I filled it up with mud. Finally, I lit a gentle fire under the pot. The hard part came next, and as quickly as I could, I began to cast Illumination. Instead of completing the spell, however, the very moment the spellform was finished, I imposed the entirety of my will upon it, forcing it to harden -- to crystalize. Advanced Internal Mana Manipulation has reached level 12! Applying my will to all that mana at once was far more exhausting than I¡¯d imagined, but given that it still fell under my internal manipulation skill, I was just barely able to manage it. It helped that the spell seemed to act as a cohesive whole, allowing me to target the entire thing rather than mentally grapple with each small length of the thread. Emptying my mind of anything but the solid spellform, I painstakingly maneuvered it outside of my body, the spell practically begging me to release it as it touched the air outside. My only saving grace was I didn¡¯t need to bend or thread my mana in any complicated ways. I kept the spell in one piece, and bit by bit, I dunked it into the mud-filled pot. Both the mud and the mana resisted me, but not enough to stop me entirely. Eventually, the entire spellform sank into the mud at which point the strain of holding the spellform blissfully lessened. After that, the only thing left was to wait. In a matter of minutes, the mud hardened, and the moment of truth was upon me. Not daring to yank the mud out of the pot, I instead used an overloaded fire dagger to surgically slice through the stone. When at last I was done, I was left with a perfect cube of mud. And amidst its cracked surface, if one had particularly amazing vision, they could spot a very, super tiny hole. Just as hoped, the mud had been forced to part by the threads of solid mana. Not wasting another second, I shoved a thread of light mana into the cube. Instantly, I could feel faint imperfections, some from my mana control, others from the improper material. It didn¡¯t matter. At last, the light mana reached the end and dissolved. Heralding the end of its journey, a pitiful, flickering light formed above the cube, winking out almost as fast as it formed. Even so, it was enough. You have constructed an enchanting matrix! Rarity: Common Quality: Trash For constructing a trash quality matrix, no experience is awarded. It wasn¡¯t anything fancy, but judging from my final notification, even trash had its purposes. You have learned a new skill: Enchanting B4 C27: Enchanting Roadblocks For a time, enchanting was a godsend when it came to keeping me busy. The bulk of the time I wasn¡¯t hunting with Cal or Verin, I was busy making new enchantment matrices, giving every spellform I knew a mud bath. On one occasion, I even recruited Verin to help place a matrix in ice. She was suitably impressed even if the lackluster Illumination spell wasn¡¯t much to look at. As a bonus, the ice had even resulted in a Poor quality item instead of Trash. Truly, I was moving up in the world. Through trial and error, I discovered the limitations of my new skill as well. While enchanting was hardly constrained to only Illumination, a lot of the spells I tried to use outright failed. Some of the failures were easy to understand. Any targeted spell -- Minor Healing -- for example, fizzled out, the matrix unable to choose a target on its own. To my great dismay, while I eventually got Conjure Water working, I was also unable to get the moonshine variant to work either. On top of that, anything with advanced mana resisted my control, and I was unable to solidify their spellforms enough to work with. With my single-minded focus, I sped through the first five levels of the skill with ease. As was true for all skills, however, the rapid leveling couldn¡¯t continue forever. At level five, I hit my first roadblock. The first enchantment matrix I¡¯d worked with had been labeled ¡°for levels 1-5,¡± and having reached the end of the suggested levels, I tried to move onto the next training aid. Much like the last, it was a metal sphere, and as I soon discovered, this one was also for the Illumination spell. The major difference was a small bump on its surface, right where the hole to insert my mana was. Some part of me expected to have to skillfully dissect the exact purpose of additional metal, but the very moment I tried to use the matrix, it became abundantly clear. I inserted a thread of mana, gently pushed it forward, and then snap. All at once, the thread shot forward, pushing itself through the matrix without any input from me. The first time this happened, the sheer surprise broke my concentration, and the thread dissolved midway through. More prepared the second time around, my mana filled the matrix in record time and with only a fraction of the control I usually had to exert. Is this how regular enchantments are usable for people without mana manipulation skills? Except, that couldn¡¯t be right. I had still needed to solidify my mana. Curious, I decided to skip ahead, pulling out the final of the three spheres I¡¯d been given. I located the insertion point with my thumb, the bump even larger than it had been before. That wasn¡¯t the real surprise, though: As soon as I touched the raised section, I felt the familiar sensation of an item I could push mana into. With barely a thought, I activated the matrix, feeling a few points of mana leave me. Otherwise, though, nothing of note happened, the usual light failing to form. Hoping to figure out what had gone wrong, I repeated the process while paying special attention to my own mana. The problem was immediately clear, my core feeding the enchantment neutral mana when it needed light. This time, I shifted my core to use light mana, and the spell succeeded without a hitch. Not that it was entirely smooth -- Using the sphere was far more jerky and unpleasant than I was accustomed to with other enchanted items, likely courtesy of how it took my mana. Rather than pulling off a fine thread, the enchantment yanked off a rough blob from my core, dragging it to the activation point. I could only assume that the grand magus had dumbed down the standard enchantment for me, making it easier for me to learn at the cost of comfort. All of that was well and good. Clearly, the new sections were for taking a user¡¯s mana and feeding it through the matrix without requiring any explicit mana manipulation from them, which I could understand the need for. The issue, however, was that I had no good way of recreating the new additions. I tried, of course. Careful mana manipulation let me map out the ¡°push¡± addon, but it was one thing to explore it and another to form it myself. The only reason I¡¯d succeeded with recreating the Illumination spell was that I¡¯d already known how to cast it. Worse yet, a few woefully failed attempts made it clear that mud would no longer cut it. The first addon had a complex shape, with a series of coiling funnel-like cones weaving around one another. Even small defects seemed to ruin the end effect, forcing me to accept that I¡¯d need higher mana manipulation levels and a better substrate to use. Which, to be honest, kind of sucked. While my new skill had been a great diversion, I was no closer to making the sort of items I¡¯d wanted to in the first place, and now I was back where I¡¯d started in terms of keeping myself occupied. Admittedly, I did add in more mana manipulation training to my schedule, but that was the only real change. The day I finally accepted my defeat, I couldn¡¯t help but heave a great sigh. In some bizarre way, my problems didn¡¯t feel all that dissimilar than they had on Earth. True, my mind had been shattered and I was practicing magical skills in a pocket dimension now, but that was neither here nor there. The struggle to find meaningful hobbies to fill my free time was a constant across universes.
Without a particular passion project to throw myself into, I ended up spending more time training. Even a month ago, that wouldn¡¯t have been feasible, but with my heightened level and resistances, I¡¯d hit a strange sweet spot, in a way. I had just enough willpower to devote myself to my training regimens, and my mind was just broken enough that I could overlook how mundane most of them were. I still struggled if I tried to do something too monotonous, and I needed to see results fairly quickly or I¡¯d crash. As long as I turned my skill leveling into anything broadly resembling a game, though, I could often tolerate my training for even longer periods than I had back in Sylum. Occasionally, I wondered if the new version of me would even be an improvement to the old once I leveled up my resistances more, at least for some definition of ¡°improvement.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Speaking of resistances, it was one of them that ended up being my next skill to hit a new rank. Without having to lift a finger, I woke up one morning to the notification. Soul Resistance has reached level 10! The skill had been stuck at nine for well over a month by now, and I liked to believe that was because I was finally healing enough that it didn¡¯t need to put in as much work. Congratulations! You have reached the Initiate rank in Soul Resistance! Based on your skill usage, you have been granted a skill augment for achieving a new skill rank. Augment of Soul Recovery Increases the natural healing speed of the soul, allowing it to bounce back faster from soul damage. The augment was a definite plus, but I was fairly sure whatever had happened to me was still well beyond the realm of natural healing. On a positive note, my Soul Resistance wasn¡¯t the only helpful skill to hit the next rank. Knowing that we were headed to the darkness biome next, I¡¯d spent some time working on my Light Magic. I hadn¡¯t arrived here wearing any of the training aids the archmage had given me, so it was far slower going than it would have been otherwise. Back when I¡¯d had his cursed contacts, though, I¡¯d relied on the Tint spell more than almost any of the others, with Light Magic only a hair behind fire and frost. Coupled with the countless times I¡¯d worked with the Illumination spell recently, I eventually managed to break through. Congratulations! You have reached the Apprentice rank in Light Magic! Based on your skill usage, you have been granted a skill augment for achieving a new skill rank. Augment of Equipment Enhancement Slightly amplifies the effects of light magic and light-mana based skills when applied to objects worn by the caster. Class Quest Completed: Raise a basic magic class to level 20 (Repeatable) +2 Class Points +5000xp I got the sense I¡¯d mostly received the augment for casting Tint so many times, but it sounded like it would apply to Arcane Armory as well. On a less cheery note, it would be some time before I completed that particular class quest again. My water, earth, and life magics were still at level 17, while death and air lagged behind at 16. Hardly insurmountable distances, but without the benefits of my old training aids, it would be a slog to get them higher. Plus, if I was going to sit there casting spells over and over again, I was more inclined to train space or mental magic. Having gotten in the habit of traveling via Spatial Step, I¡¯d started to cast Mold Space to make each spatial jump go further. Having incorporated the magic into my day-to-day life, I continued to level the skill without even trying to. Mental Magic was a harder ask, especially without an Initiate tier spell to practice it with. I knew it was important for my mind, though, and so I¡¯d managed to raise it from level 14 to 17 since arriving. To various degrees, a number of my less frequently used skills leveled as well, with periodic increases to Cooking, Herbalism, Woodworking, Stonemasonry, and Clothworking as well. At the same time, most of my combat skills were languishing. As much as I wanted to ensure their safety, I found my hunts with Cal and Verin growing increasingly soporific. Over a long-term perspective, they were interesting: I found it fascinating to watch how their fighting styles changed as they spent their class points. Both were still in the stage of consolidating their power and enhancing their main skills rather than shoring up their weaknesses, though each of them manifested that in different ways. For Verin, defense was the name of the game. She seemed to have no trouble completing a slew of starter class quests, and almost all her points went into enhancing the strength of her Advancing Glacier. It felt like an odd choice at first, but she¡¯d been fast to explain: Short-term, if her glacier was strong enough to stop an unfrozen scorpion, she¡¯d be able to kill as many as she wanted, even if multiple of them attacked her at once. Long-term, she was the easiest of us to hit, and she expected to need the extra defense during harder fights. Cal, on the other hand, leaned almost entirely into her recovery. One or two points went into increasing her magic damage, but that was it. By her estimation, she was already hitting hard enough for now, and the bigger priority was her Apex Shroud. While the skill was completely outrageous in some ways, it was an incredible resource hog, and it drained those resources even faster whenever it had ¡°extra¡± work to do. Any time she actually interacted with the world while invisible, the usage skyrocketed. That was true for unconventional skill uses too, like keeping herself warm in a blizzard through thermal invisibility. Her first goal was to be able to use the skill indefinitely at rest, and then work her way up to using it as much as she wanted in combat. As interesting as all that was, it did nothing to make the actual hunting more fun for me. Well aware that Cal and Verin needed the experience more than I did for now, I left almost all the fighting to them. On occasion, I would step in to help when something looked dicey, but with each new week, that happened less and less, turning me into a silent observer. With my favorite prey already spoken for and me already stuck with two days a week of hunting, I didn¡¯t have the heart to delve into the forest much either. Given that I still needed a regular day of rest to keep myself from crashing, I¡¯d already had one day out of five wasted. With the new hunting schedule, I suddenly found myself with three. Perhaps it was selfish of me to say, then, that when Cal and Verin finally came to me with an announcement, all I could feel was my own relief. It was a day like any other, but right before I was about to head to bed, the two cornered me in the common room, Verin acting as the duo¡¯s spokesman. ¡°Lady Tess. We are aware this may seem somewhat rash from your perspective, but we have both come to a similar conclusion. As it stands, our skills align well to take on our respective biomes, and it has been some time since either of us has felt any sense of danger from our training. With that in mind, how would you feel were we to start hunting without you?¡± From that day forth, the three of us spent far more time on our own. B4 C28: Solo Routines Even with a blank set of class quests and a daily buffet of powerful enemies, leveling was not a fast affair. Our next era lasted longer than all the time in the dungeon before it, as each of us settled into tried and true routines. While it wasn¡¯t as if I never saw the others, we spent less and less time together, Cal and Verin throwing themselves against as many monsters as they could while I spent more time in my cave. Naturally, I left them plenty of pre-cooked meals whenever I wouldn¡¯t be around, though we still tried to eat together most of the time. And though it felt like some deeply forbidden, taboo thing to say aloud, I had to admit that the following months were¡­ nice. If not happy or fulfilled or entirely healthy, I was content, in a way. As the days dragged on, I started to feel less of a rush. This place was time dilated in any case. What was the real harm in wasting a month or two? With Cal and (to an extent) Verin having accepted a similar notion, I let go of any pressure I felt, trying my best to turn my time here into a strange sort of vacation.
With slow and measured movements, I drove another wooden plank into the ground. Already, I¡¯d placed dozens beside it, all of them prim and proper in a clean line. In time, I placed the next plank at a right angle to the prior, until, after many hours of logging and cutting and manual labor, I had a wide rectangular patch of the prairie fenced off from the rest of the world. Though I¡¯d chosen an area a decent walk away from our cabin, the noise must have carried, as I found a pensive Verin analyzing me by the time I was done. I hadn¡¯t even realized she was back. ¡°Lady Tess. I will confess some level of curiosity as to what you are doing here. Though I cannot say I am the largest fan of all the walking I do these days, hopefully this is not some attempt at a monster pen¡­¡± The thought hadn¡¯t even crossed my mind, but now that it did, I seriously considered it. Probably not with wood, but if I used stone, could I make a scorpion cage? I doubted it would be worth it even if I could. And besides, what was the point? Did they even breed like real animals? It wasn¡¯t as if we could raise them like livestock. No, my goal today was much less lofty. ¡°It¡¯s a garden,¡± I answered. A few blinks were all the insight I got into Verin¡¯s thought process. ¡°But¡­ Lady Tess. Why the fence? Have you encountered any pests or weeds you are attempting to keep out of your garden?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Even after all these months, there wasn¡¯t a sign that anything lived here save for the grass. Not even bugs. ¡°But it¡¯s a garden. A garden should have a fence.¡± I watched as Verin took in what was left of the many logs I¡¯d used for my project, all of them having warranted numerous trips to the forest even with my much-expanded storage space. I half-expected her to further question my use of time, but perhaps the care for the garden¡¯s appearance resonated with her and her Etiquette. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡± Gazing down at her meticulously cleaned, white pants ¡ª one of my more recent bandage-made outfits ¡ª the high noble seemed to come to some sort of decision. ¡°Would you perhaps care for some help?¡± I summoned a pair of mana daggers, shaping them as much like trowels as my class skill would allow. Wordlessly, I held one out to her. For hours, we kneeled in the garden, riddling our clothes with dirt stains as we filled the garden with its new residents. Half of the space was dedicated to living plants that I was attempting to transplant from the forest, while the other half were for seeds I¡¯d collected. For each new plant I removed from my storage, I chatted with Verin about its uses, its flavor, and how to harvest it. Even so, it came as a shock to both of us when she announced she¡¯d picked up the Herbalism skill. And, in fact, that wasn¡¯t the only skill she was fated to earn that day. When at last the many herbs and vegetables and seeds filled the garden in neat and orderly lines, the two of us smiled as we received a notification at the same time. You have learned a new skill: Gardening.
¡°Gah! Tess! I need another!¡± Having tracked me down, Cal parted the tall grass of the prairie to find me crouched down on the ground. Blood watered the earth and soaked into my clothes as I dragged a knife through the corpse of a gryphon I¡¯d been preserving in my storage. Various cuts of meat sat off to the side on a bed of leaves, while all manner of less appetizing bits littered the space around me. ¡°Oh, neat! Wondered what you were doing out here. Is this how you always do it? Looks messy.¡± In a strange turn of events, Cal was in a very similar state, blood covering almost every inch of her. The mangled and bent sword in her hands, however, made it clear that she¡¯d earned her bloody paint job in a very different manner from me. Knowing what she¡¯d come for, I activated Bind Weapon, her blade disappearing only to reappear in my hand in perfect condition. If it could be believed, apparently blades did not like it when you smashed them into stone-like hides for hours at a time. With only so many weapons at our disposal, we¡¯d long since arrived at our current solution, which involved me binding to her sword and loaning it out to her. With the post-class-trial Arcane Arsenal allowing me to summon as many weapons as I wanted, the act cost me nothing. ¡°I¡¯m trying something new,¡± I admitted, returning the blade to her. ¡°I¡¯ve been lazy with what we¡¯ve eaten. Haven¡¯t experimented at all. Keep taking meat from the same few locations.¡± And why not? It wasn¡¯t like we were at any risk of running out. There wasn¡¯t a need to use every part of the animal when they just respawned a few days later. ¡°So what, you¡¯re trying all of it now?¡± Cal leaned over the surgically opened monster, not a hint of squeamishness as she poked its insides with the tip of her blade. I nodded. ¡°Taking cuts from everywhere that I can.¡± I¡¯d even grabbed a few organs. People ate liver, right? I was pretty sure pig¡¯s brain was a popular dish in some countries too. Not that I knew how to prepare them, but even the more ¡°out-there¡± parts had to be better than eating the same thing, day after day. Cal¡¯s eyes immediately lit up at the explanation, sparse though it was. ¡°Wait, so when you¡¯re done, you¡¯re going to have tons of meat that we technically haven¡¯t tried yet?¡± Just so. I nodded while tilting my chin towards the many different cuts I¡¯d already collected, which Cal seemed to notice for the first time. ¡°Tess! Do you know what that means?¡± Her energy was palpable, but try as I might, I couldn¡¯t figure out what she was getting at. Somehow ¡°we¡¯ll have new meals¡± didn¡¯t seem like the right answer. ¡°It means we need to do a big taste test! This is important!¡± Not even waiting to finish her thoughts, Cal called out to me as she started running off. ¡°You keep going; I¡¯ll tell Verin!¡± Not having moved too far away from the cabin, it was under a minute later when I heard a loud shriek. ¡°Lady Calilah, would you please not come rushing in here in that state? You¡¯re tracking blood onto the floor!¡± Despite not being there, I could clearly picture the exact sheepish grin Cal wore as she trudged off to the baths I¡¯d built. As she cleaned up, I continued much as I¡¯d been before her appearance, the methodical work finally earning me what months of hack jobs had failed to. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. You have earned a new skill: Butchering After an eternity of hacking and slashing and frying and stewing, all three of us sat outside. Even with our best efforts, there was still a mountain of meat before us. Somehow, Cal seemed entirely fine, but Verin had battled through her Etiquette skill to eat far more than proper, and I could almost feel myself slipping back into another coma. A healthy supply of moonshine had been used as a digestif, with all three of us feeling properly toasty. I stashed the rest of the food into my storage as we each contemplated the most important question of the night. ¡°... Leg,¡± I was the first to offer. ¡°Thigh area.¡± The other two nodded sagely at my proclamation. ¡°Wings for me. Think we need some salt and oil, but the crunch and the skin-to-meat ratio was the best,¡± Cal opined. Once again, we nodded in enlightened understanding. At last, Verin spoke, finishing us off. ¡°I was quite partial to the liver, in truth. There was a certain rich flavor there that I did not find present in any-¡± The high noble cut herself off abruptly, sensing the stares she was receiving. ¡°What? It is a perfectly valid-¡± Cal shook her head. ¡°Ew. Easily the worst part. Like, wasn¡¯t even a close call.¡± Incredulous, Verin turned to me as if to ask for back up. As kindly as I could, I turned my head the other way. Butchering has reached level 2! Cooking has reached level 14!
Deep in the forest, I aimlessly wandered. While it would be a bonus to find any new plants for my garden, today, that wasn¡¯t my goal. It was rare that I came here with the express purpose of fighting, generally finding the panthers not to be worth the hassle. Arguably, I still wasn¡¯t here to fight, although panthers and hassle were still on the menu. And there¡¯s the first one. With my senses dialed up and my danger sense in full swing, it was a simple matter to detect the oversized cat flying towards my back. I spun about, leaning out of the way as I took a single step back. Unable to course correct, the panther flew by, a rare look of feline indignation gracing its furry face. Before it was completely out of range, I swung my arm down, aiming for its midsection. Unarmed, my hand gently slapped its bark-like back. ¡°Tag. You¡¯re it.¡± I took another step back, letting the panther land with impunity. With a yowl, it dove into the nearest tree, reappearing almost directly behind me. This time, however, I, too, disappeared, teleporting only a few centimeters to the side. Claws narrowly missed my face as the panther completed its next pass, and with that, the game was on. Over and over again, the infuriated predator pounced for my throat. With careful applications of Mold Space and Spatial Step, over and over again, I dodged. With the beast¡¯s high Dexterity, the entire dance was a blur, and I wondered if I¡¯d have been able to even follow our movements at level one. A few months back, this would have been my idea of hell. Every second, I was forced to push my senses to the max, and not a second went by where I wasn¡¯t moving, casting, jumping around. And to be honest¡­ it still wasn¡¯t my favorite activity. With how little I¡¯d been fighting lately, though, I¡¯d started to feel a tad sluggish. More than that, I could tell I wasn¡¯t using my spatial mana as well as I could. By now, I was well-practiced in using Mold Space at max strength, casting it multiple times a minute whenever I wanted to move about. What felt like a lifetime ago, however, the archmage had explained his philosophy behind the different ranks of magic. The novice tier was for mindlessly casting spells until your core got comfortable with the new mana type. The initiate tier was for making your mana usage feel like second nature. It commonly featured spells where you could vary the amount of mana you used to strengthen or weaken the effect. In this regard, I was failing, which was extra disappointing considering that my spatial mana was one of the few types where that level of control was great for combat. Cue my current training. Each time I cast Mold Space, I varied the strength, hoping to get an instinctual feel for how much it would alter my Spatial Step. In fact, sometimes I used it to expand space rather than compress it, making my own movements more difficult. While the main goal was mastering spatial magic, ever since I¡¯d started this strange form of training, I¡¯d seen an unintended bonus as well. The next time I blipped out of existence, I was greeted with a notification that was a very long time in the making. Dodge has reached level 10! Congratulations! You have reached the Initiate rank in Dodge! You have been granted the standard augment for your skill. Augment of the Dexterous Dodger While actively dodging an incoming attack, object, or projectile, increases your Dexterity by 10%, up to a maximum of 5 points. It was one of the earliest skills I¡¯d gained, having received it all the way back in Ftheran. Despite the early acquisition, leveling it had been a struggle. Back in Drawgin, my only purpose in dungeons was to leverage my Perception, and the little fighting I¡¯d done had almost always been with my bow. In Sylum, Alara had always taken the frontline role. On the (less and less) rare occasions where I did have an attack coming my way, my armor skills often made it much more appealing to meet strikes head-on. Which was, in fairness, kind of dumb. Especially now that movement skills were class-aligned for me after I¡¯d completed the Mana Feet trial, it didn¡¯t make sense to ignore them so much. Spatial Magic has reached level 16! Along with my existing musings, the second leveling notification broke my concentration just enough. Teleporting just a centimeter out of place, a claw came flying straight at my neck and- Reactive Armor activated! Damage blocked. Unharmed, I disengaged with a sigh. ¡°Okay. I¡¯m it¡­¡±
As the days rolled by, a small handful of things changed while everything else stayed exactly the same. New knick-knacks lining the cabin shelves. An extra garden patch ¡ª well-removed from the first ¡ª for the more interesting poisonous plants I¡¯d found. The debut of the latest fashion line from one overly mummy-inspired designer. The addition of mandated bi-weekly card game nights to blow off some steam. The bigger changes, though, were to Cal and Verin. While both had already been self-assured in their own ways, there was an air of confidence about them that hadn¡¯t been there before. A way they held themselves. Regardless of their previous skills or their lineage, there was a certain weight that came with defeating so many monsters by yourself, day after day. If still little fishes compared to someone like Sett, the two had grown powerful, and they knew it. Rather than calming Cal down, it seemed to do the opposite. Much to Verin¡¯s dismay, the roguish warrior¡¯s antics only intensified, and at times, I wondered if she was trying to earn whatever the opposite of an Etiquette skill would be, just to mess with Verin. For Verin¡¯s part, she only grew ever-the-more noble, her aura feeling more and more like her grandmother¡¯s on the single occasion I¡¯d had cause to meet the nobles¡¯ chamber head. That effect was slightly diminished whenever I would catch her mumbling under her breath while staring up at the sky, but we all handled being indefinitely trapped in a dungeon in our own ways. Along with the more qualitative changes came the quantitative, too. The months had been well to the two of them, their leveling speeds putting me to shame as both managed to grab a full two levels. Most of that difference had to do with the numerous starter class quests they had available, but the difference in how much they were fighting didn¡¯t help me either. I wondered how high they could go if we just stayed here for another few years. Level 20? Or was that too high? With such thoughts bouncing around in my head, I was caught off guard when the two of them came to me with another announcement, much like they had months ago. Like before, it would signal a great shift for us. ¡°Lady Tess. We are much stronger than we were the last we attempted it. Moreover, it has been some time since our respective monsters have proved any challenge for us. We believe it may be time. What would your stance be on pushing past the desert?¡± With the two of them acting as a unified front, the answer was never in question. And, in fact, even I was starting to grow curious just what awaited us outside our comfortable corner of the dungeon. Two weeks later, it was done. Behind us, the endless expanse of sand stretched on as far as the eye could see. In front of us, darkness blotted out the landscape. Finally ready to tackle something new, as one, we advanced. B4 C29: Sit it Out After getting caught in a sandstorm the first time we¡¯d tried to clear the desert, it would have been nice to say that I was prepared for anything now. Naturally, though, this was a lie. I knew that the dungeon could throw any manner of strangeness our way, but in the end, there was no real way to mentally prepare myself for anything. As the three of us at last crossed the line that separated the desert from the darkness and began to cautiously move forward, I could thus hopefully be forgiven for being caught off guard. Not at first ¡ª for a good five minutes, we saw absolutely nothing. That was doubly true for Cal and Verin who lacked the same degree of darkvision that I had, literally seeing nothing but empty black all around. Admittedly, I wasn¡¯t much better, seeing nothing but empty gray, but at least I knew that meant there was nothing ahead rather than there being something lurking right next to us in the darkness. When at last, something did change, it was subtle. To our sides and directly above us, the darkness seemed to become a bit more¡­ solid. As if stuck in a state of partial rendering, flecks of opaque darkness hung in the air, only to grow as we continued on. Curiously, that darkness seemed to be attached to us, too. Turning us slightly to the side, it turned with us, always keeping us snugly within its confines. Naturally, I relayed this information to the others which sparked a round of poking and prodding, with all three of us attempting to pierce the speckled darkness with our magic. When it didn¡¯t react in any way, our choices seemed to be ¡°run back home¡± or ¡°get over it,¡± and with a collective shrug, we settled on the latter. As if spurred on by our choice, the darkness solidified faster and faster until it fully materialized, an archway of pure darkness beckoning us through. Having already made peace with our choices, we prepared ourselves as best we could and stepped through. Immediately, our surroundings changed. Whereas before, I could see far in all directions, now, two black walls penned me in on either side. Lacking any ceiling, the new environment still allowed me to see the chaotic mana-sky above, but only a thin strip of it, the high walls blocking all else. Before us, a narrow pathway stretched on, and in the distance, I could see two more paths split off from it at an intersection. Very quickly understanding what I was up against, I grabbed the others and yanked them back, worried it was already too late. To my great relief, the arch had not disappeared, nor was our trip one way. The moment we stepped back through, the walls vanished, and I could see the dessert way back behind us. ¡°Tess? You all good?¡± Cal placed a hand on mine, which had yet to release her arm. ¡°Labyrinth,¡± was all I said in return. Bless my companions, for they understood what I meant with a single word. ¡°Am I to understand that the archway deposited us into a maze of sorts? How peculiar. Is there any way to traverse this region while avoiding having to navigate a labyrinth?¡± Unfazed, Verin nudged the archway with her foot, missing it the first few times until she found it in the darkness. Before we started seriously prepping, we tried just that. We switched directions. We tried outrunning the archway. Flying over it. Everything failed. Admittedly, it was possible that one of us could get around it if the other two stayed put, but for obvious reasons, we were reluctant to split up, which was also why I didn¡¯t try Spatial Stepping past it. The only thing that seemed to work was walking back towards the desert, at which point the archway underwent its gradual solidification routine in reverse. ¡°Very well. So we seem to be faced with a maze if we wish to advance past this section. What does this change for us?¡± In some ways, everything. If there was no steady source of food inside, then getting lost could actually be a death sentence for us. Or at least for me and Verin who actually needed food to survive. We¡¯d been under the impression that no matter what we found here, we¡¯d always be able to run back to the cabin if things dragged on for too long. Now, though, the stakes were higher. At the same time¡­ ¡°Nothing! Come on, we prepped for a long journey. Tess, you¡¯re carrying months¡¯ worth of food in there. Worst comes to worst, I¡¯m pretty sure you could switch that moonshine spell of yours to conjure soup if you really needed to. We waited, like, half a year for this ¡ª stop being babies.¡± Faced with such a comforting pep talk, we had little choice in the matter. All three of us ducked through the archway once more, ready to take on a labyrinth.
Complete darkness was inherently claustrophobic, in a way. No matter how much room there was around you, it pressed inwards, shrinking the world down to almost nothing. Given that I could see in the dark now, it was a sensation I hadn¡¯t felt in a long time. As the perfectly dark walls of the maze fenced me in, however, I found myself recalling that feeling all at once. Illumination. Despite being able to see the path forward just fine, the very first thing I did once inside was cast the familiar light cantrip. A small ball of radiance lit up above my head, lighting the way for the others. Or, that was the plan, at least. Without a single sound, a taffy-like tendril of darkness rocketed out from the labyrinth wall. Like a frog catching a fly, it latched on to the light source and pulled it in. Instantly submerged within the wall, our sole light source winked out. In the wake of the act, the three of us were momentarily stunned into silence. Perhaps more used to such events from her time in Hexaura¡¯s realm, Cal was the first to find her voice again. ¡°Not going to lie, that was a little creepy even for me. Really glad I did not cast a self-radiance spell. I¡¯d rather not find out if the wall is strong enough to pull me in.¡± Though half said in jest, Cal¡¯s words brought an uncomfortable realization on. Would I be able to use any light magic here? I envisioned myself reflexively summoning my light armor to protect from a dark attack only to get swallowed. Not feeling any rush to tackle the maze, I figured some testing wouldn¡¯t hurt. ¡°I would like to make a spear out of light,¡± I relayed. ¡°But I also don¡¯t want to die.¡± If I made a weapon from the light, I assumed the tendrils would grab it instead of my hands, which would let me test just how strong they were. At the same time, it wasn¡¯t something I wanted to gamble on. ¡°I believe that is a reasonable risk given the circumstances. One moment.¡± Understanding my intent, Verin applied one of her new class skills to me. Clinging Permafrost formed a thin layer of frost over my feet, rooting me in place. As the skill came off cooldown, she continued to apply it, thick ice locking me in place even as I activated Heavy Step and Friction Feet. Hopefully immovable, I conjured a spear of light. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. THWAP. An inky appendage slammed into the tip of the spear, and I braced myself, ready to pit my Strength against the wall¡¯s. The expected pull, however, never came. ¡°Neat. Gross,¡± Cal offered. On both counts, I had to agree. Where the darkness met solid light, it began to bubble like hot tar, starting to drip down as it lost some of its cohesion. Experimentally, I added some extra mana with Overload Weapon, and the tendril recoiled. Overcome by its antithesis, the darkness began to dissolve, with the tendril quickly retreating into the wall as if to protect itself. With proof of concept, I dismissed the spear and summoned a single gauntlet from my plate armor, flooding it with light mana. This time, the darkness wasn¡¯t even able to make contact, coming to an abrupt stop a few centimeters away as if it had hit a wall. Emboldened, I summoned my full set of armor, activating it with both light mana and, for good measure, fire mana as well. A few questing probes of darkness attempted to latch on to me, only to fail like their predecessors. ¡°Well, that¡¯s reassuring, at least. You¡¯ll forgive me if I don¡¯t use any light magic while we¡¯re here, though. Going to leave the role of ¡®human lantern¡¯ to you.¡± A role I had no trouble taking on. Enhancing my armor with both light and fire mana at once was more costly, but still under what my Wisdom could handle, as long as I didn¡¯t overload it. With my very presence dispelling the darkness about us, the three of us advanced.
¡°Left,¡± Verin intoned, holding our compass in one hand and a slab of wood in the other. Returning the compass to a pocket, she exchanged it for one of my battle kitchen knives I¡¯d loaned her. With practiced precision, she carved into the wood, creating the start of a makeshift map. I was vaguely aware there was a more methodical way to explore a maze, but for now, we were taking a simpler approach: As much as we could, we would keep going in our planned direction, backtracking only whenever we ran into a dead end. Already, we¡¯d made three turns, with Verin marking the intersections and their possible directions on the wooden map. If somewhat uneventful, the journey wasn¡¯t entirely safe. ¡°Trip wire.¡± Activating Light Sight, I supplied it with some extra mana to turn on one of my lesser-used abilities. If not quite as exciting as laser eyes, light shot out from my head, a flashlight clearly illuminating the wire in question. Thankfully, it seemed the walls had given up on eating me, as the prospect of receiving one of those tendrils to the face was unappealing, to put it lightly. For the first time in the dungeon, we were up against traps. Trip wires seemed to be particularly common, though we¡¯d also passed a pit fall and pressure plate. In a sort of backwards way, they were actually easier for me to spot than usual, as the traps seemed to rely solely on the dark environment to hide themselves. With darkvision stripping that protection away, everything I¡¯d found so far had been glaringly obvious. Rather than comfort me, this only served to make me more nervous. Certainly this couldn¡¯t be the only danger in this region, right? Were there even any monsters here? Were it not for my Mental Resistance, I would have wondered if the dungeon had read my thoughts. Right as Verin was gingerly tiptoeing over the tripwire, they struck. Two dozen tiny blurs shot out from the base of the walls, scurrying directly for our legs. Some sort of collective skill shrouded the area between them in darkness, and while I had no trouble picking out their furry forms, the others wouldn¡¯t be as lucky. I dashed forward, stabbing one with a spear even as I identified it. Shrouded Packrat: Level 15, 0/50hp With their incredibly low Constitutions, the rats were perfect targets for area attacks. Flooding my armor with as much fire mana as Overload Armor would allow, I shoved death mana into my feet. I watched as the closest rats dropped dead almost instantly, the acrid scent of burning, necrotizing flesh filling the narrow confines. As fast as I¡¯d been, however, it wasn¡¯t enough. A few of the rats, either more savvy than their siblings or otherwise just luckier, skirted around my area of effect. With neither Cal nor Verin having Dexterity classes, they only had time to let out startled cries before black teeth bit into their ankles. From there, everything went to shit. Advancing Glacier. Even as she stumbled, Verin wasted no time activating her defensive skill. Her body froze into a statue as ice sprouted out from her, and with the awkward positioning, she startled to topple over. The maze, eerily silent for so long, erupted into noise. Verin hit the ground hard with a crash and a thud, shards of ice chipping off of her. More concerning, however, was the loud SNAP as she pulled and then broke the tripwire below her. As if eager to show off their traps to us, the walls changed shape, countless spikes of darkness pinching themselves off from the surface before hurtling through the air. THUNK, THUNK, THUNK. Over and over, they hit their marks, turning Verin¡¯s glacier into a pincushion. Caught on the outskirts of the effect, I was forced to weather a few of them as well. The spikes slammed into my fire armor, jarring me even if they failed to do much more than a smattering of magic damage. The two of us were at least protected, though. While she was the furthest from the tripwire, Cal wasn¡¯t entirely spared from the trap. With mounting horror, I spotted a single spike fly directly for her head. Necrotic Step was quickly replaced by Light Step as I put every point of my Dexterity to work. Even then, I could tell it wouldn¡¯t be enough. With my heightened thought speed, I was forced to watch as the spike came closer and closer to Cal¡¯s temple. In the end, it was a simple reflex that saved her. Registering my blazing form rushing to tackle her out of the way, Cal involuntarily leaned back. What would have previously been a direct hit turned into a grazing blow, the spike slicing a shallow furrow into her cheek and nose. Even as she slashed down at the rat clinging to her leg, Cal brought a hand up to her face, wide eyes openly shocked as her fingers came away bloody. With Cal no longer immediately in danger, I shoved all the panic I¡¯d felt into my muscles, letting it fuel me as I cut a swath through the remaining rats. With the bulk of them already burnt, frozen, or necrotized, it barely took an instant to clean the rest of them up. In the end, less than five seconds had passed since the first of the rats arrived. I surveyed the dozens of corpses at our feet, the spike-embedded ice sculpture on the ground, and the blood flowing from ankle and cheek alike. One thought won out over all the others. That went¡­ poorly.
In the wake of our first battle ¡ª and after waiting out a particularly nasty blinding debuff from the rat bites ¡ª the three of us opted to take a break from our excursion. Retracting our steps, we escaped the labyrinth in short order. I¡¯d half expected for the exit to be missing when we got there, but blissfully, that didn¡¯t seem to be a trick the region would play on us. On the entire trip back, all sorts of muttering filled the air. Cal, in particular, seemed to be miffed, bemoaning the loss of her Dexterity and Perception. For all that she¡¯d gained with her new class, it was doubtful that she¡¯d have been hurt with the reaction speed and danger sense from the old, and though we¡¯d immediately healed her face, the psychological wound was still fresh. Verin just had some choice words about the dungeon itself. Understandable, although I doubted the dungeon would care all that much. Throughout it all, I remained silent, a nagging thought voicing itself over and over again in my head. As the two began earnestly discussing the fight and how to do better next time, I struggled to think of a way to bring my question up. Deciding to rip the bandaid off all at once, I butted in before they could get too far on their strategizing session. ¡°This might sound rude,¡± I began. ¡°But you two should sit this region out.¡± B4 C30: Rats As I stood alone at the entrance to the labyrinth, I turned back, spotting Verin and Cal in the distance. While the prior stood still and resolute, the latter cheerfully waved me off. The argument to let me explore alone ¡ª if it could even be called that ¡ª had been far less fierce than I¡¯d expected. Whether that was due to the others¡¯ near-brush with death, their sheer faith in me, or something in between, I wasn¡¯t sure. Regardless, the hardest part of convincing them had been the amount of talking involved as I was forced to enumerate all the ways in which I was well-suited to this biome. Darkvision. Light armor. High Perception and a Trap Detection skill. Head-to-toe protection from rats and spikes alike. Barring the maze holding anything substantially different from what we¡¯d seen, it would be a cakewalk for me. On the flip side, it held a large number of the others¡¯ weaknesses. For Verin, her skillset revolved around remaining stationary and being able to see her enemies, ideally before they reached her. She also required a moment to activate her defensive skill, leaving her vulnerable to surprise attacks. A twisting maze with low visibility and abrupt encounters did not play to any of her strengths. Cal, for all that she¡¯d once been great at finding traps, was not much different. Her own Trap Detection skill hadn¡¯t disappeared, but it was greatly weakened without her Perception and in the dark. As for fighting, she could kill just about anything provided she had time to go invisible and sneak up on it. In this, she was just as weak to surprise attacks as Verin was. While her Legendary skill made her nigh invincible while it was turned up fully, she wasn¡¯t yet strong enough to keep it on at all times, which meant that she was also defensively against a fast enough blow. Neither had been too happy to admit all of that, but they had little desire to die for the sake of their egos. Indeed, most of the conversation had revolved around logistics more than it had persuading them. I¡¯d had to take out a large amount of my food, some wood, and two mattresses from my storage, all of which they¡¯d want while I was gone. They would be camping at the largest visible sand dune in my absence. Not that I¡¯d be gone too long. With little desire to sleep in the labyrinth without anyone to watch my back, the plan was for me to map out the maze and disarm any traps I came across, returning to the camp whenever I got too tired to continue. With my Endurance, however, I expected I¡¯d be able to keep going for quite some time. We would have to switch things up once I¡¯d mapped out everything I could in a one wake-cycle radius, but we¡¯d cross that bridge when we came to it. For now, I had a goal, and I was ready to go. Returning Cal¡¯s wave, I set off on my own.
An hour later, and I was beginning to suspect I¡¯d need a lot more wood for my map. I etched a tiny circle into the wood, recording the pitfall I¡¯d just jumped over. While I didn¡¯t expect to suddenly miss it if I needed to head this way again, it wasn¡¯t as if I could disarm a hole in the ground, and I¡¯d rather be safe than sorry. Already, the wood contained a slew of lines and little trap markers. As expected, I hadn¡¯t faced much trouble so far. I¡¯d only spotted one new type of trap ¡ª a patch of a slippery, oil-like substance with rats waiting to swarm you if you fell ¡ª and one new type of enemy, which I¡¯d initially mistaken for a trap. It vaguely resembled a pitcher plant, but anchored to the walls in a way that made it look like a clothesline. Hanging just above head-height, it seemed to rely on the low visibility to make its prey walk directly under its mouth. Having stuck a spear tip into said mouth, I could attest to just how quickly it was able to clamp shut and how hard it was to yank my weapon free. It seemed to have multiple tendrils of darkness for tongues, each of which was quick to loop around my weapon and tug it further inwards. Without the ability to move, however, the monstrous plant was simple to kill with my bow as long as I noticed it. An analysis of the corpse revealed a dark, mana-imbued acid filling the back of its mouth, and I decided to make extra sure that I was paying attention to what was above me from then on. Just as I was beginning to suspect I¡¯d seen it all, however, I spotted something off about the wall up ahead. Whereas the rest of the wall was a pitch, oppressive black, there was a single section that was a more muted gray. Expecting a trap of some sort, I looked around for a trigger mechanism. Was it a motion trigger? Summoning as long a mana spear as Arcane Armory would allow, I waved it in front of the gray section, readying myself for an attack or another spike trap. When nothing happened, I was equal parts relieved and tense. With not many options left to me, I turned the spear to the side and¡­ poked it. Even having thought to do so myself, it was still with some surprise as I felt the spear sink into the wall with no resistance. Not actually a wall? A bit more interesting to me, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that it could be a trap. If there was some hollow recess there, any manner of creature or contraption could be lurking in wait. Hoping to bait any would-be ambusher out, I channeled light mana into the spear, overloading it at the same time. While no enraged shriek followed, that didn¡¯t mean the effort bore no fruits. Like a thick mist burning up in the sun, the gray wall began to evaporate in a wide circle around my spear. Finally getting somewhere, I waved my spear away in a decidedly un-weapon-like way, sweeping the wall away as if with an oversized eraser. When at last the way was clear, I craned my head to take a peek inside. No monsters. No traps. Not even a long corridor. Just a little nook, even smaller than my arcane storage. Unlike the rest of the labyrinth, however, it wasn¡¯t another barren patch of empty black. A few plants ¡ª unsurprisingly, black, although dappled with specks of green ¡ª grew from the floor, and despite the walls not looking rocky in any way, I spotted a vein of gray ore running across one of them. A little cache of resources? Even more than the desert crypt, the entire labyrinth was starting to feel like the most classically ¡°dungeon-like¡± region so far. Though still wary that this was some trick to make me lower my guard, I entered the alcove and bent down, examining one of the plants. Blind Man¡¯s Bracken A bitter fern which only grows in regions thick with dark mana. This plant has many uses depending on its preparation, but most interact with the eyes in some way. Can be used to cause or prevent temporary blindness, as well as grant enhanced darkvision. My eyes lit up as I read the description. Could I use this on Cal and Verin? The darkvision alone would be a godsend, but it sounded like it could also deal with the blind effects from the rats. Of course, the description also said it could cause temporary blindness, but I was sure they wouldn¡¯t mind a few mishaps, right? I eagerly harvested the first of the ferns, taking care not to damage any of the structures that were most likely to be important. While each herb was different in its own ways, there were all sorts of generalities that usually held true between them. It came as something of a shock, then, when the plant wilted in real time, all of its mana fleeing it with my first cut. This herb is above your Herbalism level. Harvesting failed! Raise your level or discover the proper harvesting method to increase your chances of a successful harvest. Not that I¡¯d always succeeded before, but this was the first time I could recall the message popping up. None of the forests I¡¯d been in were known for having high-leveled herbs, save perhaps for the one in this dungeon, and I¡¯d yet to find anything comparable there. Even the dark woods of Emer¡¯Thalis mostly had standard plants that had passively absorbed some dark mana. For the first time, my Herbalism was horribly out of its depth. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I bet Emin would know how to handle this. As fast as the thought arrived, I shoved it to the side, unwilling to open that can of worms in the middle of the labyrinth. Berating myself for not thinking of it sooner, I activated my Gloves of the Arcanist with some life mana, one of the familiar variants popping up. Hands of the Harvester (Life variant) +5 to Herbalism While harvesting any plants, fungi, or other living reagents, increases the quality of all gathered materials and triples the time it would take before they go bad. Any materials harvested in this manner have a small chance to upgrade to a mana-infused variant. Additionally, protects the wearer¡¯s hands from any toxic substances encountered while harvesting. With the bonus to my Herbalism, my movements grew more precise, and the next fern I harvested wilted slightly slower. It was still a complete failure, but after working through half the supply, I got my first middling success. You have harvested a Blind Man¡¯s Bracken! Due to your low level in Herbalism, the quality of the herb has been reduced. There was no question that the plant in my hand was unhealthy, but hopefully it would still suffice. Struck by some minor inspiration, I forewent the traditional harvesting methods for the next plant, instead digging around it in as wide a radius as I could. When at last I¡¯d encompassed an area that hopefully included all of its roots, I tugged the patch of dirt upwards and immediately shoved it all into my storage. Admittedly, my home garden wasn¡¯t rich in dark mana, but hopefully I¡¯d eventually find a way around that problem so that I could grow more. A slow and painful harvest of the rest of the ferns yielded a few more usable, if poor, results. It also resulted in a long-awaited notification. Herbalism has reached level 10! Congratulations! You have reached the Initiate rank in Herbalism Based on your skill usage, you have been granted a skill augment for achieving a new skill rank. Augment of the Alchemist Slightly improves the quality of all your alchemical creations when using herbs you¡¯ve personally gathered. Herbalism is not considered a class-aligned skill for the Arcane Arsenal class. Now that you have reached the Initiate rank, leveling speed for this skill will be reduced. As for the ore, neither God¡¯s Eye nor Mining revealed any of its properties to me, but even if they had, I lacked any way to refine or smith it in the first place. Not wanting the presumably valuable resource to go to waste, I spent some time mining it even so. It turned out the wall truly was not rock, instead taking on a spongy, jello-y texture that made the entire experience bizarre. I left without finishing the job, cognizant of the fact that I was on a time table. It wasn¡¯t until half a day later that I found another resource trove, and after that, another full day. Each contained more of the dark ferns, along with some more mundane plants that I¡¯d hopefully be able to grow back in the garden. The second even had a small pond, complete with a few fish. The water, black like all of those hip ¡°activated charcoal¡± drinks, warranted me grabbing a sample, and I spent far too long catching all of the fish within. By then, however, I could tell that I was starting to flag. I was certain I could push on for another day or two, but it would take me a while to get back to the others, and I wasn¡¯t trying to exhaust myself in a hostile environment. I made good time backtracking through the maze, relieved to see that none of the monsters I¡¯d killed had respawned, nor had any of the traps I¡¯d disarmed fixed themselves. Whether that would hold true indefinitely, I wasn¡¯t sure, but I could hope. When at last I escaped and completed the long journey back to the sand dune marking our camp, I found Cal and Verin just about to start a campfire to heat up some of the food I¡¯d left them. Rapidly, they bombarded me with all sorts of questions about my time in the labyrinth. In way of explanation and also to forestall any further interrogation, I answered as simply as I could. ¡°It was nice. I found some fish.¡± That night, we all slept soundly, stomachs full and mouths sated with the taste of something we hadn¡¯t had in months.
For another week, we continued on in this fashion, with me delving as deep into the labyrinth as I dared, returning whenever I couldn¡¯t stay awake any longer. Expecting a potentially long trip, my storage had been filled to the brim with food, and we weren¡¯t yet close to running out. Even so, I made sure to grab anything edible I found within the dungeon caches, and we took down and butchered a few scorpions just to be safe. Despite our food security, our situation was looking more and more untenable. My map had been steadily expanding, and I¡¯d already had to transfer it to a larger plank of wood. The rate I was adding to it, however, was rapidly dwindling as I scratched the bottom of the barrel for places I could explore within a two-days¡¯ walk. By my estimation, tomorrow at the earliest, I would need to either sleep in the labyrinth by myself, or pull in the others to set up a camp where one of us could keep watch. ¡°Although, the labyrinth does feel hospitable sometimes.¡± The water sources. The food. The curative herbs. ¡°Maybe it has some energy drinks lying around?¡± Or more likely, some coffee plants. Wouldn¡¯t that be somewhat thematic? If I brewed them, I could make myself a nice pot of dark roast. Mental Resistance has reached level 18! A coincidence? Or was my mind happy that I was finally well enough to make a pun? Alternatively, perhaps the system deemed bad puns to be a form of self-inflicted mental attack? Somehow, that felt more correct, but I¡¯d take it either way. Eager to find the hypothetical coffee plants, I gave extra attention to the walls ahead, willing one of them to display the tell-tale signs of a labyrinth cache. While none of them complied with my request, the path turned up ahead, and I crossed my fingers the new walls would be more accommodating. No such luck. In fact, worse than normal luck. I turned the corner only to be presented with a dead end a few meters away. As if to mock me even further, the only feature of note was a pressure plate directly in front of me. I almost turned back right then and there. And, in fact, I probably would have had I not been looking so intently for any signs of a hidden alcove. Right as I was about to dismiss the path entirely, though, I spotted it. To the side, halfway down the path, there was a gray patch on the wall. Only, the size was wrong. Whereas all the others had been large rectangles, easily big enough to walk through, this one was a tiny dot, just around the size of my finger. The unexplained change left me nervous, but the hidden walls had yet to steer me wrong yet. I ever-so-carefully bypassed the pressure plate and moved up to the hidden circle. Summoning a long needle of light, I pushed it in. CLICK. The change was instantaneous: Where once there had been an opaque, dead end blocking my way, there was now the familiar gray of a removable wall. It¡¯s double hidden? What could even warrant all the effort if not for some magical coffee? Ultimately, I wasn¡¯t even sure if I was joking. There had to be something good behind that wall if past trends held, and I couldn¡¯t figure out why the dungeon would have switched things up on me now. Only one way to find out. Bit by bit, I¡¯d grown less wary of the secret walls as each new one turned out to be harmless. With the strange turn from normalcy, though, I made sure to approach with caution, overloading both my weapon and armor alike with light mana. Fully outfitted and with my senses dialed up to the max, then, I was hardly caught off guard when a horde of rats came swarming out from the walls, all of them rushing towards me. A cheap trick, but not one I was worried about. The pests had never posed much danger to me, and I¡¯d only grown more and more accustomed to mopping them up. I swapped my light armor over to fire, channeled death mana into my feet, and summoned a spear. One after another, the rats fell, my eagerness to move forward fueling me to crush them even faster than normal. I didn¡¯t even mind the horrid stench when the last one fell. Or, I¡¯d thought it was the last one, at least. CLICK. I spun about, confused where the strangely mechanical noise could have come from. Was it the button in the wall again? But no. Standing there, regarding me from afar, was a single rat. A rat which, quite noticeably, happened to be standing directly atop the pressure plate I¡¯d bypassed. Before I could even think to move, solid darkness shot out from the walls. Instead of the expected spikes, however, it formed barriers. In a single instant, the way ahead of me, behind me, and even above me had been closed off, enclosing me in a perfect cage of black. For a brief moment, I wondered if I was trapped here. As if to reassure me, the floor chose that moment to give out. As I began to plummet downwards into the unknown depths of the labyrinth, one image burned itself into my brain. It must have been my mind playing tricks on me. After all, how could a rat manage to look so smug? B4 C31: The Forsaken Seer Falling to my death had long stopped being a concern for me, and the very first thing I did when the ground disappeared was activate Feather Foot. Instantly, my fast descent became slow and gentle. Which, of course, didn¡¯t really solve anything. A few Jet Steps brought me right up against the black walls fencing me in, and with an overloaded blade of light, I attempted to slice my way back to freedom to little avail. The blade successfully cut through the darkness, but when I pulled it back, the wall reformed instantly. I tried a few more tricks, flying into the wall with my light armor fully overloaded and trying to use Spatial Step in mid air to bypass the wall entirely. After two failures, I was out of ideas, and my mana had taken a small but noticeable dip from my attempts. Feel like this would have ended the same way if they gave me a set of stairs instead of just dropping me. With no real choice but to resign myself to whatever the dungeon had in store for me, I descended into the depths of the labyrinth. Initially, the pit I¡¯d been dropped into felt no different from the rest of the maze. Straight, flat, black walls everywhere the eye could see. Bit by bit, however, those straight edges morphed into a rough circle, and everything started to get¡­ creepier. Considering that I¡¯d just come from an endless dark labyrinth filled with rats and demonic pitcher plants, that was saying something, too. The pit walls began to grow sticky-looking, though in all sorts of different ways, as if unable to decide exactly what horrific aesthetic to take on. One patch was covered in a creeping, black mold, while another oozed with a swampy sludge. In fact, those were some of the tamer sights I was forced to endure. After spotting a bulbous lump of partially hardened tar which pulsed with each passing second, I decided I¡¯d seen enough and tried my best to tune out my new surroundings. Thankfully, I didn¡¯t have too long to wait, with the ground coming into view below. Even more thankfully, it looked to be far more tolerable than the walls, only sporting an unpleasant oily sheen. As I touched down, I immediately cast Friction Feet, not giving the dungeon a chance to mess with my footing. A single corridor lay up ahead, its walls covered much like the pit¡¯s. Thankfully, it was wide enough that I wouldn¡¯t be right up against the disconcerting decorations, though that didn¡¯t make it the most appealing option. Or, I suppose it did make it the most appealing option given that it was the only option. Having spotted no other ways forward, begrudgingly, I started down the pathway. Only a few paces in, the dungeon struck. In a move almost perfectly reminiscent of my first foray into the labyrinth, a black tendril pinched itself off from the wall and flew towards me. With barely any time to move, I overloaded my armor with light mana to ward off the gunk. SPLAT. Unlike its counterpart up above, the subterranean variant pushed through the radiance surrounding me, a heavy, viscous substance swallowing my armored hand. Understandably, this did not thrill me. ¡°Fuck! Fuck. Off. Get off!¡± I pulled my arm back with all my might, but the tendril had a shockingly tight grip on me. Only belatedly did I realize the tarry material was bubbling and slowly thinning where it made contact with my gauntlet. Perhaps the light mana was working, just not enough. With more points invested into Overload Weapon than its armor counterpart, I rapidly summoned a blade and flooded it with as much mana as I could without waiting too long. A quick slice severed the tendril which recoiled in shock, and I used the blade to scrape off and dissolve the bit still on my armor. By the time I was done, I was left with the sight of a faded and battered gauntlet, the metal so thin in some spots that, if I didn¡¯t enhance it, I could punch through it with my thumb. I quickly dismissed and resummoned just my gauntlet, relief flooding me as it returned to its previous unblemished state. I¡¯d found myself to be a lot better about handling pain and trauma since Sett had healed me. Even so, I didn¡¯t want to discover what it would feel like to have that substance directly touch my skin. Still, it was a manageable fight for me, all the more so now that I knew what was coming. I crept forth more slowly now, my blade of light at the ready. When the next tendril burst out from the wall, I moved with it, slicing through the tar before it could reach me. As if incensed that the first attack had failed, two more arms followed in its wake. Unable to intercept them both, I settled for chopping into one and accepting the second, repeating my earlier performance to sever and scrape it off. What followed was, if perhaps a bit sharper, a full-body version of whack-a-mole, as I rushed to cut through each attack as soon as it appeared. Thankfully, I never had to deal with more than three at once, and it seemed that each spot on the wall only had one attack stored. Whenever I needed to catch my breath, I was free to retreat unaccosted. Concerningly, not once did I receive a kill notification. What exactly that implied, I decided not to dwell on. If there was one silver lining, the corridor didn¡¯t stretch on for too long. After dismissing and resummoning my armor a dozen times and burning through an entire quarter of my mana on overcharged light attacks, the narrow passage widened out into a large circular chamber, even bigger than the original pit. If the nature of what I was up against wasn¡¯t clear, the location at least was. Only one thing stood out amidst the nightmare-inducing environment, and it was at the very center of the room. A gently bubbling lake sat there, its foul black liquid more like oil than water. Hoping against hope, I scanned the rest of the room for another exit, knowing even as I began that I wouldn¡¯t find one. ¡°I¡¯m not going into the lake,¡± I stated to no one in particular. ¡°I get that there¡¯s something going on with the lake, but I¡¯m not going anywhere near there.¡± Already, I¡¯d sworn against fighting in water, and that had been the normal, clear variety. Still, I had to do something, didn¡¯t I? ¡°Maybe I can clear it away with magic?¡± If it was actually oil, then fire might work, and if it was anything like the rest of the dungeon, light magic should do something to it as well. I wasn¡¯t thrilled with the idea of slowly draining an entire lake with my magic, but it beat the alternatives by leagues. Before fully committing to my plan, I looped around the room a single time, fighting off more tendrils as I did so. Not finding any secret ¡°press me and escape without doing anything¡± buttons, I returned to where I¡¯d started and steeled myself. Summoning my bow, I began to charge it up, the first time I¡¯d ever fully overloaded one of my attacks with two types of mana at once. Unwilling to be contained, the flames licking at my arrow began to quest out, scorching my fingers even through my armor and Heat Resistance. At the same time, the light coming off of my bow began to fill the entire room, far brighter than anything I¡¯d conjured before. For the briefest instant, I had the unsettling sense that the entire room had taken notice of me, a singular, bitter malice hoping to snuff both me and my light out. Hopefully, nothing would have the chance. Freeing the raging mana within my hands, I fired, unable to even watch the arrow¡¯s flight until I summoned my Light Vision. On it soared, until, with the grace of a perfectly fired shot, it sank directly into the center of the lake. The effects were awe-inspiring, as a massive patch of the lake went up in a blaze. From within that inferno came a flash of light which expanded in a sphere, entirely obliterating the dark liquid it came in contact with. It was a promising start, and, given time to empty and recharge my mana pool as I pleased, I was feeling good about my plan to drain the lake. As it so happened, however, the feeling wasn¡¯t mutual. All at once, a great, scratchy, shrieking hiss resonated through the room, causing the entire world around me to quake and rumble. Rudely shaken, much of the various gunks on the walls and ceiling started to slough off, forming sludgy puddles which dotted the floor. Those were the least of my worries, though, as something began to rise from the depths of the lake. As if fleeing the sheer ire of whatever creature I¡¯d managed to piss off, the flames went out all at once, the room returning to utter darkness. As the thick, mucky lake parted to reveal what I was up against, for once, I wished that I could turn off my darkvision. If life were remotely fair, I would have been prepared for whatever monster emerged from the liquid. It was supposed to be a lake monster, right? That meant I¡¯d be facing some sort of hydra or leviathan or some form of reptile, at least. None of those options would make me happy, per se, but I would have understood them. Instead, what rose was a creature pulled straight from a nightmare. Eschewing any standard form of life, the creature was a singular, round, fleshy mass. If it were a perfect, smooth sphere, that would have been one thing, but each and every inch of it was covered in unsightly, creased lumps. As the lake water streamed down off its body, I couldn¡¯t help but think those bumps looked concerningly like eyelids, but whether I was wrong, or the tar had simply glued them all shut, I was spared from that particular horror. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. When it filled a solid half the lake, still half-submerged with only a fleshy semisphere poking out, it stopped. Despite lacking anything I could call a mouth or even an orifice, its loud cries never stopped. Though not looking forward to what I might find, I hit the beast with God¡¯s Eye. The Forsaken Seer, Level 28, 8110/8300hp A seer of a long forgotten race, twisted beyond recognition by dark arcane rituals. Shunned by the light and having lost all of its once-powerful scrying magics, the forsaken is an enemy of all that enjoy the sight it has since lost. Now fueled by nothing more than base instinct, it lashes out at the smallest mote of light, taking particular offense to any who would dare gaze upon its hideous form. I blanched, more at its level and health than anything else. I still wasn¡¯t sure how much of this dungeon¡¯s backstory was fabricated on the spot, so I tried not to put much stock in the description. Either way, it didn¡¯t paint a pretty picture. I should probably retreat for no- Faster than I would have thought possible, five sludgy limbs shot out from the monster, honing in on me. Only the great distance gave me time to react, but the very moment I started to move, my danger sense flared up from behind. Trusting the instinct, I immediately threw myself to the side, but it wasn¡¯t enough. Something grabbed hold of my ankle, and spinning about, I was horrified to find that a sixth tendril had formed from one of the myriad puddles now covering the room. By now, I was well practiced in dealing with such attacks, trading out my bow for a light sword even as I was halfway through swinging down. In a single second, I was free. It was rather unfortunate, then, that the seer had only needed one second. Right before I could teleport away, all five attacks hit me at once, covering every inch of my armor. With my head largely exposed courtesy of my helm being designed after a hardhat, only the mana defense from Arcane Armory kept the tar from latching onto my face. It did nothing for the smell, however, a dank, moldy smell that I struggled to breathe through. Even before I¡¯d been struck, I was channeling as much light mana into my armor as it could take, but it was like trying to boil an ocean with a pocket lighter. With each passing second, the forsaken funneled more and more of the corrosive tar through its tendrils, threatening to drown me. I frantically tried to cut my way free, but my armor was gunked up, my arm barely budging even as I strained with all my might. Think. Breathe. Wait. Don¡¯t breathe. I had little desire to discover what magically empowered black mold could do to my lungs. No breathing. But think. My sword. I needed to use my sword. If my armor wasn¡¯t enough on its own, I didn¡¯t have any spells or skills that would do real damage besides Overload Weapon. I could stab it. Even without moving, I could summon a long enough spear that I could poke into the sludge by my feet. Somehow, though, I didn¡¯t think that would be enough to free me, regardless of how much mana I used. So I need to move. A rough plan began to form, relying more on wishful thinking than anything else. To start, I began to feed my blade every drop of fire and light mana it would accept, bemoaning the fact that the skill wasn¡¯t instantaneous. It was just as impressive a sight as charging the bow had been, but I had no time to appreciate it. When at last the blade was so overloaded that I struggled to keep it in check, I switched to phase two of my slapdash plan. For a single instant ¡ª no more ¡ª I switched the mana I was supplying to my armor, packing it full of spatial and frost mana. Space expanded, offering me the briefest respite as the darkness was pushed back, the frost slowing its return, if ever so slightly. Advanced Internal Mana Manipulation has reached level 15! My core groaned from the exertion, not used to supplying four different types of mana at once. Thankfully, I didn¡¯t need to abuse it for long. Shoving down the many voices in my head that were strongly advising me against my next action, I dismissed the armor on my arm. With the tiny bit of space I¡¯d managed to empty with the spatial effect and dismissing my armor, I could just barely move my arm. With every ounce of Strength, every point of Dexterity, and no shortage of extra stamina to fuel me, I threw my arm into a wide horizontal chop. Almost instantly, my arm butted into the darkness, but my momentum, coupled with the deluge of mana in my sword, allowed me to slice through, cleaving the tar in two. The entire middle third of the darkness was obliterated, while the top and bottom sections quickly went up in flames. Whether in pain or rage, the creature¡¯s wild shrieking grew all the louder. While exactly what I¡¯d been going for, this was, of course, not entirely ideal. My arm, now covered in sludge, burned as the substance ate into my flesh, and the flames started to cook me alive in my armor. Knowing I wouldn¡¯t get a second chance, I leaned heavily on my Pain Resistance, doing my best to ignore the damage I was taking. While my stunt hadn¡¯t entirely freed me, I once again had full range of motion in my arms. I summoned a second sword in my other hand and began to wildly hack and slash at my feet, even as I resummoned the armor on my arm and flooded it all with light magic. Bit by bit, my skin burned, with flecks of darkness beginning to cut through my armor and mana, biting directly into me. A mindless machine, I cut and I cut and I cut until- A step and a line of sight. That was all I needed. Just barely enough of the tar at my feet had dissipated, and with a great labor and a swipe at my eyes to clear my vision, I channeled spatial mana into my feet and moved. Space warped around me as I appeared back in the corridor leading back to the pit. Not daring to stop, I charged down it until I was all the way back where I¡¯d started, only then dismissing my red-hot armor and scraping off the remainder of the tar that had teleported with me. My body was a mess, and had I the clarity of mind to check, I would have found the status conditions and battle notifications to prove it. When I was certain the seer wasn¡¯t able to follow me ¡ª despite its cries feeling like they should count as a sonic attack ¡ª I collapsed, summoning my armor just to charge it with life mana. Slowly, the worst of my injuries disappeared until I came to my senses enough to engage with what I¡¯d just gone through. Fuck. It had been a while since I¡¯d genuinely fought something that could hurt me like that, and as the pessimistic side of myself was quick to remind me, I would have to do it again if I wanted to get out of here. Is this it? Do I even have anything I can do to something like that? My original arrow seemed to have hurt it, but now that it was aware of me, I didn¡¯t have much hope of repeating that feat enough times to win. After all, if I was close enough to the forsaken to fire at it, I was pretty sure it was close enough to fire at me. The real problem was those tar attacks. Much like the tendrils up top, they were weak to light, but the strength of my armor just wasn¡¯t cutting it anymore. Maybe if my Intelligence were higher, or if I could push more mana into my defenses, then- With a start, I realized that wasn¡¯t remotely as impossible as I was making it out to be. The very second the last of the darkness left my skin, I threw myself into my class space, rushing through the armory until I found the skill I wanted. Overload Armor - 1/5 After all this time, I¡¯d never sunk more than a single point into the skill, my basic armor almost always enough to protect me. In other circumstances, I would have bemoaned my lack of foresight but had nothing to do about it. For once, though, I had a large reserve of class points I hadn¡¯t used. It would hurt to spend them now after I¡¯d saved up for Arcane Choker for so long, but there was no choice. Four points went directly into Overload Armor, negating everything I¡¯d earned from my last Light Magic and Spatial Magic milestones. That left me with the three I¡¯d gained from reaching the Initiate rank in Heavy Armor and Axes along with my most recent level up. Hoping to have a bit more firepower, I decided to max out Overload Weapon as well, sinking two more points into it. Not enough, I realized. Hopefully, my armor would protect me now, but at the cost of a horrendous amount of mana. For the first time that I could recall, I needed more regeneration. With my final point, I went to one of the very first class skills I¡¯d been offered, having turned it down time and time again. This time, I bought it. You have learned a new class skill: Mana Sink - 1/5 Absorb a portion of mana from enemy attacks. Whenever your enhanced armor is struck by a magic attack, convert 1/25th the damage mitigated by Resist Magic into mana. Fully emptied out, I returned to the pit where I still lay on the unpleasantly sticky ground. I would have liked to say that, fully outfitted for war, I charged back into the monster¡¯s lair the moment I was fully healed, eager to show it who was boss. In many ways, though, the opposite was true. Well after the holes in my flesh had knit themselves back together, after the burns had faded away, I lay there, unmoving. Already, I¡¯d exhausted my energy reserves thrice over, and if not for the fear of what would happen to me if I fell asleep here, I would have crashed for a day or two. Unfortunately, there was nothing for it. I dredged up whatever vestiges of willpower I still had, and when that wasn¡¯t enough, I retreated inwards, shutting off my brain until I rose like a machine. Test the armor. Complying, I started pushing light mana into my armor once more, with just enough presence of mind to activate Light Vision in tandem. The area around me brightened. And brightened. And brightened some more. Far past the maximum amount of mana I¡¯d ever been able to feed to armor or weapon alike, it continued to accept the feast I was providing it. In the lightless pit of a darkened labyrinth, it was as if a dawn had risen, a blazing sun banishing every vestige of darkness. A sizzling sound caught my attention, and with whatever dull surprise my body was still capable of, I noted as the muck, the sludge, and the blackened tumors on the walls around me started to burn away. Good. Enough. Afraid of crashing if I allowed myself another break, I moved as soon as my mana was topped off once more, pushing myself back into the monster¡¯s den. Knowing my arrows wouldn¡¯t cut it, I left the relative safety of the corridor, forcing myself towards the last place I wanted to be. As expected, my approach did not go unnoticed. Hoping to conserve mana, I¡¯d yet to activate the full extent of my light armor again, but even so, the forsaken had been waiting for me. Another five attacks came bursting from its bulbous body once more, and I prepared to fend them off. Only, they never arrived. All five tendrils rushed towards the corridor behind me, crashing down and quickly flooding the room¡¯s only exit with darkness. In no time at all, the way behind me was sealed shut. Having let me escape once before, the beast had no desire to repeat its mistake. And perhaps with my new class skills, I could potentially clear away that barrier. Maybe I could escape if I truly needed to. But in truth, its actions suited me just fine. After all, this time, I had no intention of running. B4 C32: Slayer of Darkness Having sealed me in, the seer wasted no more time, its next barrage of attacks heading straight towards me. The very moment the inky arms burst from the monster, I was moving, a Spatial Step carrying me forward. Its aim fouled, the forsaken shrieked as all five arms slammed into the ground. Not deterred in the slightest, it sent out another wave, and another, and another after that. With enough warning, though, I was untouchable. At least for the time being. Spatial Step, if slightly more expensive, was a massive upgrade from Jet Step, and all it took was a single step for me to dodge almost anything. The puddles were still a concern, and every time I reappeared somewhere, a new tendril would reach up from my blind spot to tie me down. Though it had fallen behind a number of my other stats since its glory days, my Perception served me well here, allowing me to react in time now that I knew what to expect. Sadly, it was a state of affairs that couldn¡¯t last forever. As I neared the lake and the monster within, I was left with less and less time to react. Worse, the forsaken seemed to be growing wise to my skills. Right as I was about to teleport forward, one of the dark tendrils broke off from the rest and crashed down exactly where I¡¯d been planning to step to. For the briefest of instants, I froze, picking a new location to teleport to, but even that moment of hesitation was enough. An arm from the nearest puddle lashed out, splashing over my feet, and it was all I could do not to trip and fall. Just as before, the rest of the attacks quickly followed. My body tensed, the pain from the last time I¡¯d been caught already etched into it. This time, however, things would be different. Mana Sink has absorbed mana from a magic-based attack. Dozens of battle notifications rolled in as my newest class skill went to work, siphoning off the mana from the potent attack attempting to consume me. With every inch of me covered, it had plenty of material to work with, and a good chunk of the mana I¡¯d consumed with my wanton Spatial Steps started to return. Which was good. I¡¯d be needing it. Light mana rushed into my armor, almost instantly reaching the max I¡¯d been able to push into it before the upgrade. The liquid darkness bubbled but stayed put, seeming to gloat at my inability to do anything more. As the light in my armor evolved past a gentle radiance, though, the darkness began to take note. Still bubbling, it began to writhe and buck, undulating around me like a swarm of agitated leeches. Sometimes I miss Trauma Suppression, I decided. I could live with shoving this memory down somewhere and not thinking about it ever again. The light intensified once more, until I was outputting enough lumens to rival a stadium floodlight. In response, the sludge began to vibrate, each patch of it seeming to let off its own cry that tried to burrow into my body. In fact, I was convinced this did count as a sonic attack, with only my Force Dispersal saving me from the worst of its effects. Had I been able to move a single step, I would have staggered. It was fast growing clear that the darkness directly under the control of the seer was made of sterner stuff than the variants on the walls, and for a moment, I worried that, even with my armor skill fully upgraded, it wouldn¡¯t be enough. Right before the skill reached its maximum, however, it happened. First my feet, then my hands. My head came last, as all the moldy muck fled my body. Not seeming to be able to settle on a single manner of egress, some of it dramatically boiled off while other sections flaked away or gently dissolved. The end effect was the same. I was bright enough to blind a star, and I was free. Light Vision was the only thing that allowed me to see, and I relied on it to show me the way as I pushed forward. Already bleeding mana at a horrifying rate, I didn¡¯t bother to use any more Spatial Steps, instead just charging forward. The forsaken answered with more of the same, but its attacks could no longer stop me, most of their bulk erased by the time they pushed through the light. Seeming to understand the score, the creature responded with a wider variety of attacks. A dark ring of energy oozed its way out of the monster¡¯s flesh before bursting out in all directions. I tried to teleport through the attack, but when I reappeared, its effects still hit me anyway. You have entered the Unseeing Eye of the Storm! -15 Perception You are blinded! You take 30 dark damage per second. It was a horrifying trio of effects, and I felt the world around me shrink as my Perception sank back to near-standard levels. My vision blacked out for a moment, and I feared for the worst until more notifications assaulted me. Light Vision has negated blind effect. Sight restored. Light Armor and Resist Magic have partially negated damage effect. You are taking 2 damage per second. Despite myself, and with barely the energy required to move, I started to laugh. Was this it? Was this the best the beast could do? I knew the question was tempting fate ¡ª the flat damage reduction on Resist Magic was perfectly suited to handle damage over time effects, and I¡¯d have fared much worse from a single, massive strike ¡ª but I didn¡¯t care. This was what I¡¯d been after for so long. Power. Not to go wage wars or slay gods. Power enough to stop being so afraid all the time. Power enough not to feel like a hunted animal, constantly shoving down my thoughts of Antagonists so I could pretend to live a normal life. Power enough not to fear whatever horrifying monstrosities lurked in the dark. Despite my lowered Perception, I had no difficulty reaching the lake. While I¡¯d expected to need to activate Waterwalking, the liquid darkness reacted to the light streaming off from my armor, dissipating even as it fled me. Parting like the red sea, it cleared a path for me to run forth as the water level began to sink. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Not questioning my luck, I made a beeline for the seer, ignoring as it used our proximity to launch all sorts of new attacks at me. The only ones that seemed to stick were sensory related, and my world shrank down as the corners of my vision blackened. I summoned a long spear and began channeling fire and light mana into it, watching as my mana plummeted past the halfway point. Still enough. When the water before me parted to reveal the bulbous underside of the forsaken, I wasted no time. With all my Strength, I shoved the spear into the surprisingly tender flesh. The physical blow itself did next to nothing, but the firestorm of mana within was explosive. In a wide radius around the spear, the monster¡¯s body crumbled into dust, and at the edges of the gaping wound, flames licked its innards, eager to consume the rest of it. In that moment, I was glad for the water surrounding me and my lowered Perception. They acted as insulators to the horrid, ear-splitting cries that followed. Eager to put the creature out of its misery, I wanted nothing more than to follow up with a second attack, but a look at my mana made me have second thoughts. Mana: 95/500 The goal, I had to remind myself, was not mutual destruction, and I had little desire to run out and have the water rush back in to swallow me. Dismissing my weapon, I ran off, not stopping until I was well clear of the lake. With my Perception so low, it took me a second just to orient myself and bring the seer back into my field of view. When I did, however, I quickly activated God¡¯s Eye to see my progress. The Forsaken Seer: Level 28, 6421/8300hp I cursed. Even as I watched, its health ticked down as it dealt with the fire mana eating away at it, but it was clear it wouldn¡¯t be enough. It was, unfortunately, equally clear that I wouldn¡¯t be able to repeat that strategy again. Or, not immediately. For once, the monster was too preoccupied to pepper me with its usual attacks, and I took my moment of peace to search for the nearest puddle. I began walking towards it, sighing as the tendril within started to stir. Where did my life go wrong that I have to do this? I regretted the thought immediately as twenty thousand answers came to mind, at least half of them preventable. All right. Fair enough. The black tar slammed into me, and rather than try to free myself, I let it go to work. Mana Sink has absorbed mana from a magic-based attack.
Half an hour. Maybe a bit more. Possibly a tad less. Regardless, while it was barely any time under normal circumstances, it was an eternity in battle. Nonetheless, that was how long I¡¯d been forced to keep at my brutal on-and-off-again assault on the seer. Despite all the attacks I¡¯d weathered and all the spears of fiery light I¡¯d conjured, there were only a handful of visible differences from the start of the fight. For one, the puddles littering the room were now half cleared out. Burning them away after using them as mana recharging stations had done a number on their numbers, so to speak. On the one hand, it meant less looking behind my back. On the other, it was getting harder to regain some fast mana. The second was the water level. At first, I¡¯d thought my light magic was draining it at an unbelievable rate. As I watched it sink even from afar, though, I eventually came to the horrifying realization that I wasn¡¯t the only one with a means of healing myself. Apparently swimming in some sort of healing fluid from hell, the forsaken consumed massive quantities of its lake whenever I struck it, drawing out the fight for far longer than I¡¯d anticipated. That, however, was a thing of the past. The lake now completely dried up save for a piddling, pitiful puddle, the monster had nothing else to heal itself with. Its body now fully revealed, I could finally see that it was actually attached to the ground below it, like some sort of deformed skin tag. With eyes that had progressively lost more and more vision, I hit it with God¡¯s Eye for what I hoped would be the last time. The Forsaken Seer: Level 28, 828/8300hp Riddled with gaping wounds, the creature was clearly on its last legs, and even its painful wails had tapered off. With a full pool of mana once more, I began my charge. Making no effort to spare my resources, I flared armor and weapon alike as high as I could. And as I began my descent into the crater that had started as a lake, it was a good thing I did, too. As hurt as it was, the forsaken was hardly out of the fight. As if sensing the score, it used every skill in its arsenal to keep me away. All of them were rebuffed without fail, until I found myself only meters away from the horrid, hateful creature. Right as I geared up to end things for good, though, I was treated to one final skill. Before I¡¯d even touched the beast, a solid fourth of its body exploded into solid darkness, cannibalizing itself to take me out with it. In the end, I never discovered if its last-ditch attempt would have been enough. I¡¯d been trapped in darkness enough for several lifetimes now, and one quick Spatial Step was enough to teleport to the side, away from its suicidal strike. With so much of its body already liquified, I wasn¡¯t even sure if I needed to land the final blow anymore. Naturally, this did not stop me from doing so. In went my long spear as I shoved it into one of the existing holes I¡¯d taken out of the creature. It pierced deep, close to the center of the massive lump. Its entire body lit up with a murky gray light as my mana went to work, with the seer crumbling away from the inside. If that wasn¡¯t enough, the flames followed a moment later, shooting mounds of flesh outwards even as those that remained blackened to a crisp. A piteous final cry sounded from the warped monster before it went silent. Though I prepared myself for some resurrection skill or death curse, I needn¡¯t have worried. You have killed The Forsaken Seer! With all manners of exhaustion setting in, all I wanted to do was collapse in that very spot. If there was one place I didn¡¯t want to fall asleep though, it was in the center of the seer¡¯s decaying corpse. With one last surge of will, I scoured the room for whatever sort of loot I was sure had to exist. While I didn¡¯t find a treasure chest, I eventually stumbled across a large, black gem, shaped into a cube. God¡¯s Eye Lightless Heart The heart of a being warped by powerful darkness magic. When activated, creates a zone of potent darkness mana which weakens light magic and blocks all forms of external perception and scrying. Can possibly be worked into various manners of obfuscation and darkness-enhancing equipment. It went into my storage before I was halfway done reading it, too spent to think about what I might use it for. For good measure, I did one more sweep of the room and grabbed a sample of what little of the dark puddle remained before calling it quits. ¡°Now where¡¯s the damned portal¡­¡± Unlike in the desert crypt, no portal appeared to help me escape. With no small amount of cursing, I backtracked to the pit, relieved to see that it was no longer blocked off on top. A few jet steps later, and I was out. I considered going straight back to Cal and Verin, but as soon as I escaped, I recalled just how this had all begun in the first place. Only a few steps away was a wall of gray, normally signifying a hidden cache. What is it? What could have possibly been worth all that? As my final act of the day, I swiped through the fog to reveal what lay behind it.
Three days later, I left the labyrinth, aiming directly for the tall sand dune that marked our camp. As soon as I came into view, Cal and Verin swarmed me with all manner of questions, demanding to know what had taken me so much longer this time. If perhaps I omitted some large details, I decided to skip ahead to the important part. ¡°Hi guys. Sorry to worry you. But I found us a safe room.¡± B4 C33: Safe Room You have found a safe room! No monsters may enter the safe room, and no traps have been set within it. The safe room may contain beneficial effects to help you recover. This is a permanent safe room. It will not disappear, and there is no time limit for staying within it. While I¡¯d already seen the notification days before, for Cal and Verin, it was a first. Having carefully led them through the paths I¡¯d pre-cleared, the three of us managed to arrive without incident. I¡¯d been half afraid that their presence would trigger some extra fights along the way, but it seemed the labyrinth was not quite so cruel, at least when smug rats and forsaken seers weren¡¯t involved. As we entered the space where I hoped to set up camp for the foreseeable future, I heard both the others react in their own ways, Cal running ahead with a laugh as Verin released a muted gasp. Both were understandable given the view. Large enough to house our prairie cabin thrice over, the safe room was carpeted with soft black grass and sported a singular large tree at its center. With gray bark and blackened leaves, it left me feeling like I¡¯d gone color blind. A few ponds lay off to the side, their dark waters having momentarily sent me into fight or flight after my battle until I¡¯d read the safe room notification. It was undeniably a strange scene, close to what I imagined a dryad¡¯s grove would look like if they had severe clinical depression. Or perhaps that wasn¡¯t entirely fair ¡ª for all the muted grays and blacks, the space did have a certain comforting calm to it. Idly, I wondered if a space like this would help Hartha with any of her Dark Heart of the Forest quests. ¡°I¡¯m tired of being covered in sand,¡± Cal exclaimed. ¡°This pond is going to be the bath pond.¡± Thus said, she jumped directly into the largest of the bodies of water, clothes and all. She dunked her head under, coming back up with a shout. ¡°Guys! It¡¯s magic water! Love this place already.¡± If somewhat less eager to immediately plunge into the unfamiliar waters, Verin approached one of the other ponds, cupping some of the water in her hands and cautiously taking a sip. She seemed pleasantly surprised by the result, though I wasn¡¯t certain if that was from the taste or the effect. Preferring the slightly minerally taste of the water to my standard conjured water, I followed suit, quenching my thirst. You have drank from a soothing darkness pond. Your body feels more relaxed. +5 Wisdom +5 Endurance +5 Constitution Decreases the duration of all Blind and Perception-altering effects. Duration: 10 minutes Especially with all the Perception debuffs I¡¯d been afflicted with, I¡¯d taken a long soak after my fight. It was a lucky break, too, as without having done so, some of the nastier spells the seer had cast on me would still be active. Having dived back into the inky waters, Cal surfaced once more, this time even more excited than before. ¡°Look! A fish!¡± She raised her arms to display her catch, the slippery creature trying in vain to escape her grip. ¡°Is it a holiday or something? This beats the sand dune by a league.¡± Beside me, Verin stiffened. I wondered if she was squeamish at the sight of the live fish, but that didn¡¯t match at all with the image I had of her. She opened her mouth as if to answer my unspoken question, but uncharacteristically indecisive, she froze, leaving her mouth hanging open. It was the clearest example I¡¯d seen of her Etiquette becoming less effective, as she wasn¡¯t looking very noble at all in that moment. Cal didn¡¯t seem to notice her predicament, leaving me to snap Verin out of her strange state. ¡°Verin? Is something wrong?¡± Perfect execution. I was surprised to not receive a level to any of my social skills. Seeming to come to her senses, Verin hastily shut her mouth before coming to some sort of conclusion. With a nod, she straightened herself up. ¡°Apologies. I did not wish to keep anything from either of you, but I had little desire to announce this when there was so little we could do in response. I thought it might be¡­ depressing, so to speak. With the circumstances altered, however, I feel obligated to inform you.¡± Verin gazed about the room, taking in the serene environment with the hint of a smile. ¡°Today appears to be my birthday.¡±
With Verin¡¯s announcement, our day plans shifted dramatically. Gone was any idea of my exploring more today, as we instead did our very best to give her a birthday to remember. Not that we had much, of course. Compared to what the noble must have been used to, there was no denying we would fall short. In fact, even relative to my or Alara¡¯s birthdays, it would necessarily be a simple affair. If this bothered Verin in any way, she made no mention of it. Naturally, the first order of business was the food. I lamented that I hadn¡¯t had more time to prepare or I would have tried to find more varied ingredients. On the flip side, I would remember this next time Verin tried to rib me for the time I¡¯d sprung my birthday on her last minute. In terms of ingredients, though, the room itself was rather helpful. In addition to the aforementioned fish, the water was full of different plants, including some Dark Pondweed. Despite living in freshwater, it was a shockingly good stand-in for seaweed. A few herbs grew around the base of the tree as well, but the real winner was higher up. Blending in with the leaves, a handful of dark fruits hung from the branches. While they looked just like plums, their taste put them much closer to the orange family, if a bit tarter. You have consumed a Soothing Dusk Fruit. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Slightly increases the leveling speed of dark spells. Aids in recovery from mana core injuries. Provides a small boost to mana manipulation skills. Duration: 20 minutes I hoped to never need to recover from a ¡°mana core injury,¡± which was frankly not something I¡¯d known could exist, but the other effects were a pleasant surprise. I wasn¡¯t confident I¡¯d be able to grow an entire tree back in my garden, but I would stash away a few fruits for their seeds in any case. That wasn¡¯t the only thing the tree had to offer us, either. Not wanting to run too low on firewood if I could help it, I supplied today¡¯s kindling from its branches, enough casts of Dry allowing me to use them as proper firewood. When they finally caught fire, they burned with a gray and purple flame and subtle jasmine scent. Fire and ingredients taken care of, I settled on two main dishes. First, a soup. The pondweed opened some interesting options there, and after boiling it with some scorpion carapace, I had a faux crab dashi broth. It actually turned out better than I expected, and I decided to serve it as a side, without adding in anything else that would muddy the flavor profile. I stored it all away, keeping it warm as I worked on the rest of the food. Fish-wise, I decided to do a marinade. While that was normally something I¡¯d have prepared beforehand, fish were easy when it came to marination, only taking half an hour to soak up the flavors properly. I made and chilled another batch of dashi, mixing it with some dusk-fruit juice and a bunch of herbs, tasting the marinate as I went. Though exceptionally rare, I found my mind returning to my childhood, something which felt more possible since Trauma Suppression had failed. There¡¯d been a solid year where my mother had cooked almost nothing but tilapia, marinating it in an orange-soy-garlic mixture. If not quite the same flavors, what I was doing was similar enough to bring me back. With how numb I often felt these days, I was surprised to feel a twinge of pain at the memory. It threatened to bring a host of difficult questions along with it, all of which I¡¯d managed to avoid thinking too hard about for the past year. Decidedly not birthday thoughts. I distracted myself by asking Verin to make me a flat-bottomed ice bowl to keep the fish cold as it marinated. Not trusting myself to pull off an evenly-cooked whole fish, I did my best to scale and filet it. Not a coastal city, Sylum hadn¡¯t been the best for teaching me how to handle seafood, but I¡¯d been getting better after preparing the other fish I¡¯d found in the labyrinth. For some variety, I sliced and roasted some dusk fruit with a bunch of edible plants I¡¯d stumbled upon over the months, resulting in a passable side of wilted greens. There was a lot of thumb twiddling involved as I waited for the fish to marinate, but half an hour later, I had a few decently flaky, pan-fried fish filets. Cooking has reached level 15! As I plated everything, I realized it was possibly the first meal I¡¯d made that I wouldn¡¯t have been embarrassed to serve back home. Sure, the salt and oil problem persisted, but for once, it even looked pretty good, a far cry from the hodgepodge stews and bland skewers I¡¯d been making thus far. The others seem to agree as well. The entire time, Cal had been pestering Verin, getting her to recount past birthdays and trying to figure out if there were any customs we needed to observe to celebrate properly. As the smells of the finished meals began to fill the safe room, though, both of them came over unbidden, making all sorts of appreciative noises. As we all sat to eat, I said the only thing that came to mind: ¡°Happy birthday, Verin.¡± She nodded, examining all the food as she seemed to collect herself. Rather than dig in immediately, she addressed the two of us. ¡°Thank you, Lady Tess. And truly, you have outdone yourself here. I did not expect to be receiving such fare at any point during our stay here, let alone today. Concerning the birthday itself¡­¡± As if her mouth had grown too dry to continue, Verin took a brief sip from her water cup. ¡°In many ways, I find myself in nonideal circumstances this year. However, looking back, I have often found my past birthdays to have been rather stiff affairs. For a multitude of reasons, it has been a¡­ struggle to make genuine connections in Sylum.¡± Averting her eyes from ours, she grew quieter as she continued. ¡°I suspect this birthday will be far more memorable, if only for the good company.¡± With a mischievous glint in her eyes, Verin tilted her chin towards Cal. ¡°And I suppose for the ¡®okay¡¯ company as well.¡± Caught off guard, Cal squawked out a protest, the shock on her face transforming into mirth as all three of us laughed as one. In retaliation, she made a poor attempt to steal some fish from Verin¡¯s plate, but after frost began to creep along her fingers, she quickly relented. We idly chatted for a time, with me doing my best to chime in for Verin¡¯s sake. Once the sober part of the festivities were finished, however, it was naturally time to pull out the moonshine. Feeling that Verin deserved something better than the harsh booze, I tried to make some shooters by mixing it with dusk fruit juice. Unfortunately, it was nasty. We drank it anyway. A few games of cards later, we were toasty enough that Cal even managed to convince us to dance. Verin, as to be expected, was more than a bit skilled here, though her moves were much more suited to Sylum¡¯s ballrooms than they were to its dance halls. Thankfully, I managed to rebuff Cal¡¯s attempts to then switch to karaoke, as my voice would have no doubt ruined whatever good memories Verin would have of the night. With little else to keep us occupied, the festivities soon tapered down. For all that the night hadn¡¯t been bad, I promised myself that when we escaped the dungeon, we would take her out for a redo. Or if we¡¯re still here in a year, I¡¯ll just need to make sure that her next birthday is even better.
In broad strokes, the next weeks continued much as the last few had, save for our new base of operations. Admittedly, there were a few differences. Emboldened by my earlier success while cooking, I decided to spend more time experimenting with the labyrinth¡¯s herbs. A few of my attempts failed completely, and others went in the exact opposite direction I¡¯d been going for, creating blinding potions. By the end of the first week, though, I could reliably brew darkvision tonics and blindness curatives. With the potions to help them along, Cal and Verin spent less time cooped up, too. I made sure to go with them the first few times, and I pushed them to only explore paths I¡¯d had a chance to scout beforehand. Even so, it was probably an unnecessary risk, but it was one they wanted to take. There was no telling what else the dungeon would hold, and if they hid themselves away whenever something didn¡¯t perfectly suit their skillset, they would never get the levels, skills, or experience they needed to survive when push came to shove. I didn¡¯t particularly like it, but I wasn¡¯t their mother, and I knew that the system rewarded those who pushed themselves. Thankfully, they never came back with more than a few bites. If my biggest fear was for their safety, my second biggest fear was that this would go on forever. Would there be another forsaken seer? Another safe room after that? So on and so forth for a year? It was something of a shock, then, when one day I turned a corner, and it happened. Without even thinking to examine any further, I rushed back, finding Cal and Verin sitting by one of the ponds. Sensing my frantic arrival, they turned to me expectantly. ¡°Tess? What¡¯s up?¡± I held the map out from me, etching in a large ¡°X¡± where I¡¯d just been. ¡°I found the exit.¡± B4 C34: Atop the Clouds A day later, after all of us were fully rested, we made our way to the end of the labyrinth. In an unexpected twist that made a lot of sense in hindsight, it turned out that the safe room had been placed in the center of the maze. Our trip out was thus just as long as our trip in, and now that we knew the proper route, the entire region would only take us four days to cut through if we needed to again. That being said, none of us were eager to do so any time soon. When we turned the final corner and saw the light in the distance, I could feel as a wave of relief passed through the others. Not willing to wait, Cal ran ahead, turning invisible after a few steps. While I wasn¡¯t nearly as eager, I was curious to know what lay ahead. With my Perception, I could clearly see far into the distance, but there wasn¡¯t much to see. Where the darkness vanished, there was a thin strip of rocky, brown earth, which then fell away shortly thereafter into a sharp cliff. The only exception was an island, maybe about twice or three times larger than our safe room, which was miraculously floating in the air a good hundred meters out from the cliffside. Dense vegetation covered its surface, while its underside was just one massive clump of bare dirt. One floating island and a cliff. I¡¯d have to see what lay at the base of the cliff to be sure, but I had a strong guess as to what mana type we¡¯d be seeing here. Verin was quick to echo my thoughts. ¡°Some manner of air region, then? Possibly a composite mana type, but I find myself leaning more towards air.¡± Barring there being some sort of anti-gravity mana, I was guessing the same. Those thoughts were only strengthened as we eventually reached the cliffside closest to the island, spotting strange distortions in the air between the two land masses. Before I could think too hard on what they were, Cal reappeared floating in the air a good fifty meters out. ¡°Hey! Guys! It¡¯s a wind bridge. Try the wind bridge!¡± To emphasize her point, the warrior jumped up and down a few times, some invisible barrier arresting her fall each time. Mostly, invisible, at least. In a few spots, the air wavered and roiled as if in a chaotic heat haze. More obviously, however, was the mana. The entire bridge had a faint glow to it, making me far less hesitant to trust in Cal¡¯s words. I stepped off the cliff, feeling firm resistance under me even as I began walking into the air. Verin was¡­ less thrilled with this development. With her mana sight no longer active ¡ª and more so, lacking a skill like my Featherfoot to save her from any falls ¡ª she lingered at the edge before finally steeling herself. Soon, however, all three of us were suspended in the air together. From my new vantage point, I could see what lay below us. Rather than spotting anything useful, however, all I could see was a layer of clouds. They lay far, far below us, suggesting that any falls would be extremely long and equally unpleasant. For obvious reasons, I didn¡¯t plan to let the others out of my sight this time. ¡°Quickly checked out a bit of the island while you two were being slow! No visible enemies, no visible traps. Feels very peaceful, actually. Which, you¡¯d think would be good, but it¡¯s making me a little nervous.¡± A sentiment I shared. Obvious enemies would at least make it clear what we were up against. I strongly doubted we¡¯d get through an entire region with no fighting or dangers, though. When at last we reached the island, though, I found that Cal was exactly right. The entire island was strangely serene, sporting of all sorts of different plant life and filled with a perpetual gentle breeze. Adding to the puzzle, there was a neat cobblestone path leading us forward, a clear sign that this place wasn¡¯t nearly as wild as the other regions had been. Without any other leads, the three of us followed the path laid out for us. ¡°I will confess, regardless of what manner of trial awaits us, I sense that I will greatly prefer this region to the last.¡± In much higher spirits than she¡¯d been in the labyrinth, Verin walked about with her hands behind her back, taking in the greenery as if she were on a guided garden tour. Reaching the center of the island, the pathway split in two, and we opted to take the left pathway. It went directly to the edge of the island, leading us to a sheer dropoff. While there was no wind bridge here to allow us to continue, we did at last find something of interest. A pedestal. Cut from a pleasant, light green gemstone and engraved with delicate detail-work, it rose up to chest-level. A circle had been carved out of its center, giving the intense suggestion that something needed to be placed within it. Unsure how to proceed, I was happy to have God¡¯s Eye come to the rescue. Sky Obelisk Insert a charged arial gem to continue in this direction. Equally helpful and unhelpful at once. ¡°Has anyone seen a charged arial gem?¡± On receiving negatives all around, we were forced to continue our search. Much to our chagrin, the second path only revealed an identical, empty obelisk. ¡°Okay, team! First one to find it wins bonus points. Go!¡± Without bothering to tell us what we could use ¡°bonus points¡± for, Cal shot off. The hunt for the arial gem was on.
An hour later, I was at my wit¡¯s end. The island wasn¡¯t huge. My Perception was high. I had Detect Secret. I was using Arcane Vision. By any stretch of the imagination, I should have found whatever an ¡°aerial gem¡± was by now. That was doubly true with the three of us all searching for it. The pathways were the obvious starting place if the dungeon wanted to make it easy for us, and I¡¯d spent a good five minutes where the three paths met just examining every centimeter of the cobblestones below me. Eventually admitting that the search would be a bit trickier, I began a methodical snake-pattern walk to cover every part of the island. Tremor Sight checked for any hidden burrows beneath me. Vitality Sight scanned the vegetation to look for any irregularities. Gust Sight checked for strange air patterns. Even so, I found nothing. Feeling a bit bad about defacing the carefully cultivated plant life, I cut up tracts of grass and uprooted a few bushes, too. Right as I was beginning to suspect the gem wasn¡¯t on the island at all, a triumphant cheer sounded out. Following its source, I soon discovered a figure perched on a branch, high up in a tree. Only, it took a while for my brain to verify what my eyes were seeing, as it was not who I¡¯d have expected. With a few leaves stuck in her white hair and some scuff marks on her clothes from where the branches had scraped at her, Verin patiently awaited our arrivals. When both of us were there to witness her victory, she gazed down with a poorly restrained air of smugness. ¡°As it is an ¡®aerial gem,¡¯ I posited that it may have been placed somewhere elevated. Lady Calilah, I will accept these ¡®bonus points¡¯ of yours. Catch.¡± Verin grabbed at something out of view before tossing it down. Her aim was atrocious, and the throw went wide, deflating some of her superiority. With my Dexterity, it was a simple task to catch it anyway. As if intent to spend the rest of whatever coolness she¡¯d just earned, Verin then whispered under her breath: ¡°Now how do I get down from here¡­¡± Rolling my eyes, I examined the object she¡¯d thrown, finding it to be exactly as I¡¯d expected. Made from the same green gemstone of the obelisks, it was a plain disk, with God¡¯s Eye confirming it was what we were after. Sort of. Uncharged Aerial Gem ¡°How do we charge it¡­¡± I mumbled. From there, everything happened all at once. Reactive Armor has activated! You have taken 30 damage from an unknown attack. Only activating my Danger Sense at the last moment, a great force rammed into my back, pushing me forward. ¡°Something¡¯s attacking!¡± was thankfully all I needed to say as I spun about, Cal instantly vanishing even as Verin¡¯s glacier started to surround her, high up in her tree. The next attack, I managed to spot. A thin crescent of mana rushed towards me, and, after sending the gem into storage, I channeled earth mana into my armor to solidify my defense. The spell splashed across me, leaving the earthen layer with a deep furrow, but barely managing to harm me otherwise.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. You have taken 5 damage from Wind Blade. Tracing the trajectory of the attack back, I spotted a cyclone of mana, almost entirely invisible to my regular sight outside of the wind it was kicking up around it. My mana sight was thankfully a different matter entirely, allowing me to see a tightly constrained vortex of air mana, complete with two dot-like eyes staring out at me. Eager to know what I was up against, I hit the mass of mana with God¡¯s Eye. Greater Air Elemental, Level 24: 800/800hp An elemental? Not my ideal enemy, but the level and the health looked manageable. I started charging towards it, intent on intercepting all of its attacks in case one veered off towards Verin. Before I made it even two steps, however, I spotted two smaller blades of wind coming in hot, one on each side. A quick glance revealed two new enemies, half the size of the first, with their mana lazily circling about. Air Elemental, Level 16: 200/200hp Seemingly intent on halting my advance, harsh winds suddenly slammed into me, first in one direction, then abruptly in another. Instinctively, I used Heavy Step and Vine Boots to brace myself, though the rapidly shifting directions made it hard to get my bearings. My senses cried out as every noise on the island was drowned out by the chaotic whirring of the gale force winds. Forced into a squint from the unremitting pressure against my face, at first, I thought I was seeing things. With Arcane Vision¡¯s assistance, though, I grew more certain of what I was seeing: little globs of mana floating on the wind. Initially, I thought they were part of some spell, but after trying to identify one on a whim, I was surprised to find something entirely different. Lesser Air Elemental, Level 8: 50/50hp There were dozens of them, each moving so fast I had no hope at catching them without abusing my Spatial Step. Speaking of which, I wasn¡¯t sure what else I could use in this situation. A quick glance into the tree revealed an unharmed Verin, her protective ice now more than thick enough to handle a few wind blades. As I watched, the branches she was on snapped under the weight, and one startled noble crashed to the ground below. Thankfully, the fall wasn¡¯t enough to crack her glacier, and she was mostly upright. Trusting that she could handle herself, I dismissed my other Mana Feet variants to use Spatial Step. It was, unfortunately, a horrible mistake. The very moment I was no longer rooted to the ground, a gust of wind swept me off my feet. I tried to right myself, but just as I was about to hit the ground, another burst of wind slammed into me from a different direction. Over and over, I was hit with a solid barrage of air, some even shooting up from below me to keep me from ever touching the ground. In short order, I ended up hovering over a meter off the ground, rapidly spinning about. I struggled to free myself with a few Jet Steps, but each time, the elementals adjusted their efforts accordingly. Impairment Resistance has reached level 7! What the hell can I even do here? I needed to escape now to make sure that Cal and Verin were safe. Even as I spun about, dozens of wind blades cut into me, and while I knew I could take that level of punishment, I wasn¡¯t sure about the others. Ranged attacks, maybe? Would arrows even work in wind this bad? As I spun about, I tried to keep track of the greater elemental. I¡¯m going to need to- In one clean motion, the elemental was bisected. Wreathed in a horrifying amount of mana, a sword sheered through the wind, its wielder appearing out of nowhere to deliver the blow. Not instantly defeated, the elemental responded with a pulse of air strong enough to rip up all the earth in a ring around it. It didn¡¯t matter. Cal was already gone again. After just enough time for her to charge another attack, she retaliated, her second swing ending the elemental once and for all. Scary. Watching the display, I sincerely hoped I never got on Cal¡¯s bad side. Never mind that, though. She¡¯s probably low on mana after pulling that stunt off twice. She was presumably using it to resist the winds as well, which meant I needed to free myself before she ran out. The little ones seem to be responsible for the wind. I just need a plan to deal with them. Putting Cal¡¯s stunt out of my mind, I tried to lock in on a single lesser elemental. Even spinning, though, I found it strangely easier than expected. Have they slowed down a bit? Even as I watched, the tiny blob of mana slowed to a complete stop before falling to the ground. When it landed, something cracked, and tiny shards spilled out onto the ground before getting picked up by the wind. It took me a second to identify what the substance was. Ice. Even if Verin didn¡¯t know the lesser elementals existed, her Glacial Zone was constantly slowing and freezing everything in range. One by one, the rest of the tiny blobs fell from the sky, littering the earth with their frosty shells. No longer stirring up the winds, they were powerless to confine me any longer, and I hit the ground with a vengeance. I prepared myself to tear through the three standard elementals, only to belatedly realize¡­ I didn¡¯t need to? One of the three had already vanished, evidently defeated. The second was pitifully sluggish as flecks of frost continued to form within its body before falling to the ground. Hoping to at least handle the third, I readied my spatial mana. Mid-step, however, Cal appeared behind it, ending the elemental in a single blow. With a sigh, I went for the rapidly freezing elemental instead. One teleport and a single overcharged strike was all it took. Realizing that the lesser elementals were frozen but not yet dead, I then acted as a glorified janitor, mopping up their icy forms. Your party has slain Greater Air Elemental, Air Elemental x3, Lesser Air Elemental x26. Based on your contribution, you have earned 300xp. I had a sneaking suspicion that the others had earned significantly more. With the threat vanquished, Cal appeared by my side as Verin canceled her Advancing Glacier, calmly walking out from the ice. Preempting any battle recaps or insightful commentary, Cal offered her own elevated stance on the matter. ¡°Fuck yeah! Did you see me split that big one in half? Honestly, took me longer to even spot it than it did to kill it, but I got there eventually! I will accept your fervent adulations!¡± Verin pursed her lips at Cal¡¯s outburst, seeming to be notably less impressed with her own performance. ¡°Lady Calilah, surely we have greater concerns than who contributed the most to the fight.¡± Realizing that Verin might have not even been aware of her own part in the battle, I expended some energy to explain how her Glacial Zone had essentially wiped out the bulk of the enemies. Without having spotted them herself, her battle notifications must have not informed her. My words seemed to ever-so-slightly drag the corner of her lips upwards, and she performed a curtsy in response. ¡°Truly? Then it would appear that I dealt with the most foes out of any of us. How curious. Lady Calilah, I believe you were saying something?¡± I tuned out the resulting bickering, instead pulling out the aerial gem from my storage. Is this what triggered the fighting? The timing was too perfect for anything else to make sense. But why- As if intent to explain itself, the gem chose that moment to light up. The wind began to pick up once more as a torrent of mana surged towards me from every direction. Initially fearing another attack, I channeled extra mana into my armor, only slowly realizing it wasn¡¯t necessary. The gem greedily sucked up every bit of air mana from the surroundings, essentially eating the energy left behind by the defeated elementals. When at last the process ended, the gem glowed with a gentle inner light, and I examined the gem once more. Charged Aerial Gem ¡°Huh.¡± Cal snatched the glorified battery from my hands, spinning it about. ¡°Guess that explains that, then, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Before any of us could get a word in edgewise, she started running off. ¡°Dibs on putting it into the obelisk!¡± With a muttered curse, Verin began after her. Not wanting to spoil Cal¡¯s fun, I followed from behind, reining in my Dexterity to not overtake her.
CLICK. The green disk snapped into place with a satisfying snugness. Lacking any better basis for our choice, we went with the left obelisk because that¡¯s where Cal had ran off to. Now all that was left was to see what would happen. Which, unfortunately, appeared to be nothing. True, the obelisk lit up. The glow of mana was nice to look at, I supposed. After almost a minute of nothing else happening, though, I was losing hope. Maybe there¡¯s a second gem for the other- A great rumbling tore me from my thoughts, every bone in my body vibrating as the entire dungeon seemed to shake at once. Staggering from whatever colossal forces were in play, Verin gripped onto my arm, until, just as abruptly as the rumbling began, it stopped. We waited in tension to see if it would start up again. Instead, the sight of something far grander greeted us. A speck of green. Then another. The tips of trees began to poke through the clouds only a stone¡¯s throw away. Trunks and branches soon followed, until a veritable forest had sprouted straight from the expanse of white before us. The land beneath them took only a few seconds more, and we watched as the clouds parted to reveal a new island, quickly ascending into the sky. Too stunned to say a word, we watched as it rose and rose until the entire island was even higher than we were. With a sense of weight and finality, it ground to a halt, hanging there. The obelisk chose that moment to flash with a burst of mana, shooting out the rest of its charge towards the island. Where the mana touched the air, it lingered and spread out. As if to invite us in, a new sky bridge soon formed, linking one island to the other. For a time, we simply stood there, openly gaping at the sheer scale of the magic we¡¯d witnessed. When the awe began to wear off, it was Verin who first found her tongue. ¡°Lady Tess. Lady Calilah. Perhaps this is a bit preemptive,¡± she began. ¡°I believe, however, that I will be calling ¡®dibs¡¯ on inserting the next one.¡± B4 C35: Into the Clouds With the benefit of understanding what we were up against, the three of us began to rush through the air region with ease. Each new island proved to be fairly similar to the first, with an aerial gem hidden away and an ensuing fight to charge it. In terms of finding the gems, Verin¡¯s previous victory turned out to be a bit of a fluke. To start, the gems often were not found in high places. On a few islands, we found long-abandoned structures, usually ruins of small stone huts. Whenever present, the gem almost always seemed to be inside. On top of that, now that I knew the trees were fair game, I¡¯d started climbing them as well. It was a hassle, but I managed far more easily than Verin had. Presently, I was in the lead with six finds. Cal was at three. Verin had fallen behind to two. Naturally, she was not thrilled with this development. Not that she would admit it, but especially with her Etiquette penalty, it was plain to see. On the flip side, Verin continued to prove invaluable when it came to our fights. In fact, with more forewarning, her class skills shined even brighter. We made sure to only touch each gem after giving her the chance to expand her Advancing Glacier. With each elemental immediately spawning in her Glacial Zone, they were slowed from the start. Cal continued much as before, though she would charge her weapon up and disappear before the fight began. Whenever there was only a single greater elemental, she would often cleave it down within the span of seconds. When multiple appeared, I made sure to help out. For my part, once I stopped being stupid, I ended up contributing much more to our fights. Most of the time, the lesser elementals didn¡¯t even get the chance to pick me off my feet, but on the rare occasions that they did, I was ready. If Jet Step wasn¡¯t enough to free me from their clutches in the air, then I just needed to be too heavy for them to move. Heavy Step and my earth armor were a good start, but I needed to go one step further. I cast Encumber on myself a few times before summoning my hammer, and the combined weight invariably proved too much for the chaotic winds. Once on the ground, nothing kept me from using Spatial Step, and I assisted Cal in tearing through the standard and greater elementals. Like this, our journey continued largely uninterrupted, with our only upset occurring when we reached an island without any obelisks to let us move further. It still had a gem, however, which meant we were able to backtrack and choose one of the directions we¡¯d previously skipped over. There was a decent amount of grumbling at this discovery, as it essentially meant that we were in another maze region. Still, the air biome was a walk in the park compared to the dark labyrinth, and our audible displeasure was half-hearted at best. Perhaps the singular mark against the region was the lack of good secrets. We¡¯d found no hidden treasure troves or buried lucre. No magic herbs or mineral deposits. Nothing. Of course, it was possible that there were a bunch and we just hadn¡¯t found them, but with how thoroughly we were forced to comb each island to find the gem, I doubted it. I put those thoughts on hold as Cal placed another gem into one of the obelisks, emptying my mind as I watched the arrival of the newest floating island. One might imagine that we¡¯d grown inured to the process by now, but if anything, it was the opposite. We stood enrapt as the specs of green pierced through the barrier of clouds, the sheer scale of the magic involved not allowing us to look away. I¡¯d never been one to buy much art, but at that moment, I considered trying to commission Verin to recreate the scene at some point. Even with all the gods and monsters and fantasy races, I couldn¡¯t recall ever witnessing something that so clearly shouted magic, and I knew it was the sort of sight that would stick with me. It was precisely because of my close attention that I spotted something strange. As the island floated higher, rising above our current position, I had the odd sense that something was off. Not on the surface of the island, where I¡¯d largely been focused on before, but underneath. The mass of dirt was bland on a good day, but as I swept my gaze over it, I was startled to notice something new. A hole. Just because there was nothing to find atop the islands didn¡¯t mean we¡¯d searched everywhere. ¡°I see something,¡± I dutifully explained. ¡°I¡¯m going to check it out.¡± Having made my intentions clear, I jumped off the side of the island. For whatever reason, there was some amount of shouting behind me, but I did my best to ignore it. I let myself fall through the air for a moment before activating my class skills, Featherfoot slowing my descent as Jet Step pushed me forward. Bursts of fire propelled me unerringly to my target, and in short order, I reached the small section of the island¡¯s underside that I¡¯d spotted before. Just as I¡¯d thought, there was a hole there. It would be an awkward fit, but there was no doubt that I could make it inside if I crouched. Positioning myself above it, I used featherfoot to gently drift inside. A short tunnel greeted me, and for a moment I had the fleeting thought that what I was doing might be dangerous before dismissing it. If there was a trap, I¡¯d have spotted it. Out of an abundance of caution, I overcharged my armor anyway. An uncomfortably long crawl later, and I was spit out into a tiny chamber. I¡¯d been expecting something similar to the labyrinth, maybe a few herbs or some ore. It thus came as something of a shock when the only thing greeting me was a stone pedestal, atop which sat an object which glowed fiercely with mana. Rather than a gold idol or some other equally gaudy treasure, what sat there was a single feather. White, with dizzying swirls of light green, it was mesmerizing, and I immediately identified it. Sacred Feather of the Roc Lord One of the Roc Lord¡¯s many wing feathers, secreted away before the usurpation. When worn in the Roc Lord¡¯s domain, this object grants the wearer partial domain over the skies. Slightly increases aerial maneuverability. Grants minor resistance to adverse winds and offensive air effects. This effect stacks with other Roc Lord feathers. Instinctively, I reached for it, and as if waiting to be worn, the feather flew to my waist and attached itself to my armor. Already, I felt a touch lighter on my feet. Wonder what¡¯s up with the description, though. Is there some sort of giant bird in this region? If he was the boss of the area, hopefully the fight wouldn¡¯t be too hard with him missing a bunch of his feathers. Right as I thought that, a massive wave of mana flew out from the now-empty pedestal. I froze, expecting some kind of attack or trap. When nothing happened, I gradually released my tension and started the short crawl back. Just as I was about to exit the tunnel and return to the others, I noticed a few rocky protrusions to my side, blending in with the rest of the dirt. Following them upwards, I realized that they formed a series of handholds, of sorts, leading all the way up the side of the island. Apparently it was possible to find the feather even if you couldn¡¯t fly. But then again, why bother? I jumped out into the open air. Shooting upwards with Jet Step, I quickly rejoined Cal and Verin. For some reason, my short trip seemed to have confused and distressed them. Hoping to answer their questions in one fell swoop, I pointed down at the feather now attached to me. ¡°I saw something. It turned out to be a magic feather.¡± Having said my piece, I wandered off with a nod, intent on being the first to find the next gem.
For the next two islands, things continued as per usual, save for a singular change. Now aware that the underside of each island could hold treasure, I made sure to do a once-around under each new landmass we encountered. As a pleasant surprise, it turned out that the feather was the norm rather than the exception. Two more islands held two more pedestals, each with another feather. I added them to my quickly growing skirt as the stone pillars continued to release their ominous waves of mana. On a whim, I tried to identify the third pedestal itself, surprised to receive an actually useful result. Mana-masking Plinth Obscures the mana signature of whatever object it contains. May malfunction if the held object is forcibly removed, broadcasting the previously hidden signature instead. Possibly some sort of challenge to make the feathers harder for us to track down? The line about ¡°broadcasting¡± made me nervous, and I decided to bring it up with the others. I had no idea who might be listening to such a broadcast, but I wasn¡¯t sure if the feathers were worth whatever attention we might be attracting.Stolen novel; please report. I quickly rejoined the others, my plans to explain what I¡¯d found waylaid by a curious sight. The two were leaning against one of the many stone structures we¡¯d found on our journey. This one, however, was a bit more interesting than a ruined stone hut. ¡°Tess! We found a well.¡± As if to emphasize her words, Cal leaned over the small stone well, peering into the depths below. ¡°I wanted to jump in, but Verin made me wait until you got here. But now you¡¯re here!¡± Without waiting for a response, the warrior took the opportunity to vault over and into the well, disappearing from view in the span of a second. Verin responded with a beleaguered sigh. ¡°Lady Tess. I admit to having little desire to wade into whatever might wait below. I will await your return and entreat you to make sure she does nothing overly foolish in the meantime.¡± The high noble backed away to sit against a nearby tree. With a shrug, I accepted my role in all this, hopping into the well. The fall was longer than I¡¯d expected, forcing me to activate Featherfoot. I drifted down into a small cavern, a puddle of muddy water lying off to the side. Cal had already run off ahead, skirting the puddle while holding a rusty, old bucket. ¡°Tess! See anything? Not going to lie, I¡¯m kind of missing my old class skills. Something feels weird about this place, but I can¡¯t see anything cool except for this bucket.¡± She ran her fingers along the wall as if to search for any hidden mechanisms, earning herself nothing but a dirt-covered hand. Rapidly cycling through my Arcane Vision variants, I was disappointed to see nothing of interest. I waded into the water and started sifting through the mud beneath it, but to no avail. I even took a few sips just to make sure there weren¡¯t any restorative effects. There were not, and all I earned for my efforts was the taste of dirt on my tongue. ¡°Anything?¡± Cal inquired. As much as I hated to dash her hopes, I shook my head. Maybe God¡¯s Eye? I was solid at identifying people and monsters, but I¡¯d long been in the habit of underusing the Epic skill when it came to examining objects. With the recent mana-masking plinth as a wake-up call, I tried to rectify that, aiming the skill in every direction I could conceive of. Rock Wall Rock Wall Dirt Bucket (Uncommon) Rock Wa- I paused, backing up. I hadn¡¯t received any descriptions, but the bucket was still an odd find. What made a rusty bucket Uncommon? I beckoned for Cal to pass it to me, and though she arched a brow, she complied. Still, no matter how closely I examined the simple metal pail, I found nothing worth commenting on. With a frown, I resumed my previous identification spree. Rock Wall Dirt Muddy Water (Uncommon) The water having an Uncommon rarity was even stranger than the bucket, especially after having tasted it. Although, I probably should get into the habit of identifying things before I consume them. Oh well. Hoping to understand what the rarities could mean, I glanced between the puddle and the bucket. It¡¯s not¡­ It can¡¯t be that easy, can it? In one smooth motion, I bent down and ran the bucket through the water, filling it up to the brim. Hoisting it out of the water, nothing happened. Feeling foolish, I was just about to dump the water back into the puddle when a flash of mana in my hands grabbed my attention. Where once there had been a rusty pail and some muddy water, now there was only pristine, shining metal and pure, glimmering liquid. Better yet, God¡¯s Eye claimed the change wasn¡¯t just aesthetic, either. Cleansing Well Water When imbibed, grants the drinker a temporary resistance to mud magic and physical restrictions. Alternatively, on contact, washes away all traces of dirt and mud. Can only be refilled with well water from the Roc Lord¡¯s domain. Undeniably not what I¡¯d been expecting, but it was neat. As a test, I poured some of the water back into the puddle, and it went to work immediately. All the mud within vanished, leaving us with a perfectly clear pond. A fair bit of the underlying dirt dissolved as well, eventually revealing a flash of light green. This time, there was no need to identify what we¡¯d found. ¡°Aerial gem! Nice. Are we counting this one as your find? Because I feel like I should get at least half credit for-¡± Whatever Cal had been about to say was abruptly cut off by a fierce blast of wind which rocketed down the well and crashed into us. Even with Force Dispersal, I was pulled off of my feet, sent slamming into the rock behind me. An air elemental? We haven¡¯t touched the gem yet, but we did find it. Maybe the attack has already started? That notion was quickly dismissed as the air attacked us once more, though this time with a barrage of noise. Loud cracks and rustling sounds joined the intense whirring of the wind, all of which were punctuated by a horrid, ear-shattering cry. CAW! A high-pitched shriek from Verin immediately followed, and before my mind was able to catch up, my body was already moving. A quick glance behind me verified that Cal was fine, if a bit dazed, allowing me to apply my full focus to helping Verin. I shot up the well with a burst of fire, expecting to find her right outside. Instead, the scene I arrived at was barely recognizable. A raging tempest was even now flattening the island, uprooting bushes and grass from the earth even as it tore entire tree trunks in half. The wind stung my eyes as it attempted to bowl me over, and all manner of dirt and detritus filled the air, obscuring my vision. Without pause, I activated Heavy Step and cast Encumber while summoning my armor and hammer, sending me crashing downwards. Immovable, I frantically scanned my surroundings for Verin. Not here. Just as I had in the desert, I activated Vitality Sight, but the many plants around me lit up green, blocking my sight. Think. Quickly. How else can you find her? What would she have done in a situation like this? Used a defensive skill? Ice. She¡¯ll be in ice. Heart hammering, I swapped to Frost Vision, whipping my head about fast enough that only my Constitution protected me from whiplash. There! A singular spot in the distance, colder than the others. Not paying the slightest attention to my mana reserves, I bolted forward. The ever-present dust made it difficult to see far into the distance, stymying my Spatial Step, but my Dexterity paired with Flash Feet made me a force to be reckoned with. As stones and branches thudded into my armor, I sprinted forth, tearing up the ground beneath me. The speck of blue grew closer and closer in my vision. Even with my inhuman speed, it wasn¡¯t enough. With my next step, I finally saw Verin through the deluge of debris, thankfully heavily covered in her glacier¡¯s ice. Unfortunately, however, I also saw the island¡¯s edge. Even as I bolted forward, I was forced to watch as Verin was sent hurtling over the last bit of land. As she began to plummet down towards the clouds, I threw myself after her. I wasn¡¯t sure if her glacier would be enough to survive the fall, and I didn¡¯t intend to find out. Over the edge I went, rapidly activating Jet Step over and over again to propel myself ever downward. The choppy winds sent me veering off course again and again, but I persisted, the three feathers at my side helping me cut through the air. Rapidly, I gained on the glacier. Twenty meters. Then ten. Five. I dismissed my hammer and crashed directly into the ice, only for us to drift apart as my fingers slipped off the unwieldy glacier. I panicked, the fast-approaching clouds only more likely to make me lose sight of her. One more Jet Step brought us back together, and I summoned twin daggers. With all my Strength, I dug into the ice to secure a firm grip, not willing to slip off again. Safe. I shot Verin the most reassuring look I could muster, gazing at her through the thick layer of clear frost. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I caught you.¡± For whatever reason, neither my expression nor my words seemed to calm her down. A moment later, I recalled why. CAW! Having been so focused on saving Verin, I hadn¡¯t stopped to consider what exactly I was saving her from. In the open air, however, there was no longer any dust to block my vision. Turning back, I spotted the origin of the catastrophic winds. Immediately, I wished I hadn¡¯t. Large enough to swallow the two of us in one gulp, a massive creature shot through the air roughly 200 meters above us. While it was undeniably covered in feathers ¡ª remarkably familiar ones, at that ¡ª I hesitated to call it a bird, if for no other reason than that it looked wrong. The main features were there: a cruel beak sitting in front of two hawk-like eyes; two wings long enough to span an entire island; talons large enough to grip the trunks of trees; and a grand tail at its back to match. Past the broad resemblance, however, things grew stranger. Its body was an alien mass of brown and black, misshapen and undulating. Parts of it seemed dried and desiccated while others flowed like liquid, neither of its wings quite the same size. Even the feathers were off. Patchy and sparse to begin with, many of them were backwards, while some were even sticking out at strange angles. It was as if a child in need of an exorcist had tried to draw a bird from memory. In another setting, I might have even found the sight comedic, in a way. Much of that comedy was diminished, however, by the fact that the creature was headed directly towards us. And whatever there was to say about its form, there was no denying that the beast was fast. Run away or fight? It was massive, but I¡¯d dealt with some freakishly large enemies by now, right? Even as it honed in on us, I activated God¡¯s Eye. I was met with a name and a full description, but at the moment, only one piece of information made its way to my brain: Level 48. Jet Step, Jet Step, Jet Step. My only goal was to get as far away as possible. What the hell is something that high-leveled doing here? I was under no illusions. If that thing caught us, we were dead. Despite my best efforts, though, I might as well have been stationary compared to the raging avian. In a matter of seconds, it halved the distance between us before halving it once again. If there was one small mercy, it seemed that the two of us wouldn¡¯t be forced to watch our final moments. As the misshapen predator opened its beak wide, now close enough for us to peer into its dark depths, we were swallowed by something else entirely. Moments away from death, Verin and I fell into the clouds. B4 C36: Beneath the Clouds The very instant the clouds consumed us, my body went haywire. My feet were the first sign that something was wrong. Despite pushing more fire mana into them, Jet Step failed to activate, sputtering out. The briefest peek at my mana revealed I still had more than enough, but before I could dwell further on the matter, something far worse happened. I was slowing down. While, by all rights, I should have been in free fall, Verin and I were rapidly coming to a complete stop. The unexpected force wasn¡¯t applied fully evenly, and I began to spin, lazily rotating around Verin¡¯s glacier. Under different circumstances, the change would have baffled me, but in the present, the only emotion I had room for was terror. Is it some sort of skill to keep us from running away? The creature hadn¡¯t struck me as the type to have a tractor-beam skill, but what else could be attacking us? Hoping for some sort of hail mary, I overloaded my armor as I waited for a beak to snatch me from the air. The clouds seemed to quiver with tension alongside us. One second passed. Two. Our speed had crawled to a snail¡¯s pace. Three. Four. Was it playing with us now that we couldn¡¯t move? Would it drag the kill out? Or perhaps was it struggling to track us through the dense clouds? Five. Six. Sev- CAW! The beast¡¯s cry drilled into my head, the clouds around me momentarily thinning from the powerful vibration. Instead of filling me with dread, however, the noise arrived with a sort of confused relief. Was that¡­ Did it get farther away? Loud though the deformed bird was, that hadn¡¯t been the sound of a creature only meters away. I tried to pinpoint the origin with my powerful Perception, placing it roughly halfway back to the island. Not believing our luck, my mind jumped to all sorts of even worse thoughts. Was there something even more horrifying in the clouds that had scared the beast off? Or, our momentum had already nearly vanished ¡ª would we be stuck here forever until we starved? At last, the two of us came to a complete and utter stop. As if waiting for that exact moment, the system finally deigned to explain our situation more clearly. You have entered the Cleansing Cloud Cover! All movement and propulsion skills disabled. Motion being brought to a halt pending cleansing. Disabling barriers and protective skills. Before my eyes, Verin¡¯s ice began to melt, and I dismissed my daggers as the stunned noble fell into my arms. The effect seemed unable to forcibly dismiss my physical armor, though it managed to eat away at my earthen protection in a similar manner, completely deactivating my enhancement. ¡°What-¡± It was the only word Verin managed to squeak out before a powerful wind attempted to scrape us raw. A host of raindrops accompanied it, pelting us and soaking in deep before the wind ripped the moisture away. Initiating cleansing. All mud and dirt removed. All mud and earth effects disabled. Absorbing excess water. ¡­ Success! Motion restored. I barely had time to register the messages before we were falling once more, our previously controlled flight replaced with the lurching terror of being dropped from on high. Ever the noble, Verin kept herself from yelling in my presence, though she clung to me like her life depended on it. In fairness, it probably did. Without warning, the clouds spit us out, our vision instantly clearing. In some twisted way, that almost made the entire ordeal worth it. As the adrenaline fled my system and I started to accept that I was not about to die, I forced myself to ignore the recent encounter. Instead, I focused on the view below me, the sheer scope of it taking my breath away. And not just that. I¡¯m skydiving, I realized. The giant bird from hell would not have been the instructor I would have chosen, but still, this was the sort of experience people forked over a lot of money for, wasn¡¯t it? More than that, my Perception made me feel like a satellite, able to pick out minute details on the surface that I would never have seen back on Earth. Somehow, Verin didn¡¯t seem to share in my excitement. Maybe because she was facing up instead of down? I considered flipping her around to help her out but ultimately decided against it. If there was a single disappointment, it was that the surface was largely uniform. Everywhere the eye could see were the same trees and bushes that we¡¯d just left on the islands above. Which made sense. The only exception to the monotony was the series of massive craters, as though a giant had haphazardly ripped out chunks of the earth. Not that there¡¯d been much doubt, but it was clear that the islands had come from the land below. If there was one major difference, however, it was at the ground level. Whereas the floating islands sported fresh grass and stone pathways, the earth below was brown across the board. As though the entire world had recently survived a catastrophic mudslide, there wasn¡¯t a single surface without a thick coating of swampy mud. ¡°Probably can¡¯t go back up¡­¡± I mumbled. I wasn¡¯t entirely certain I had enough mana in the first place, but even if I did, the clouds would likely cancel my Jet Steps again. ¡°Guess we go down, then.¡± Activating Featherfoot, I put a stop to our meteoric descent. Perhaps sad to be denied her skydiving experience, Verin released a heaving sigh. Aiming for the treetops below, we gently drifted down to the surface.
Our slow descension offered me some time to collect myself and reflect on the attack we¡¯d just narrowly survived. A few pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together for me, but my mind was still riddled with questions. Belatedly, I recalled that I had one major clue that I hadn¡¯t yet checked: I¡¯d managed to hit the monster with God¡¯s Eye. Scrolling up through my notifications, I returned to the description I hadn¡¯t had the wherewithal to read in the moment. Din¡¯Ket the Usurper: Level 48, 25000/25000hp In ages long past, Din¡¯Ket was revered as the lord of the earth, ruling over the region in conjunction with her brother, the lord of the skies. Despite her grand dominion, however, Din¡¯Ket was never content with her position, coveting her brother¡¯s domain. A great war soon followed, pitting the siblings against one another. Unwilling and unable to slay his sister, the lord of the skies raised his people into the sky before erecting a barrier of clouds beneath them, capable of fending off Din¡¯Ket¡¯s power. With the two realms separated from one another, an uneasy peace reigned for time untold. In a cunning act of trickery, however, Din¡¯Ket convinced her brother to allow her above the clouds with heartfelt words of peace. After ambushing and trapping the Roc Lord, Din¡¯Ket now uses the magic of his feathers to keep herself aloft. Though she has achieved her dark ambition, the cloud cover still repels her, barring her return to the earth below. Not yet powerful enough to undo her brother¡¯s workings, she will stop at nothing to retrieve the rest of his feathers. Gods¡¯ Eye has reached level 13! Without a doubt, it was the longest description I¡¯d received to date. Once again, I was left wondering how much the dungeon had assimilated from the existing pocket space and how much it had fabricated entirely. Had there truly been a people here in the distant past? Had the war actually happened? Or was this just the dungeon core¡¯s way of spicing things up? I resolved myself to ask Sett the next time he awoke. Either way, I was finally getting a sense of what we were up against in this region of the dungeon. More than that, I now knew why we¡¯d been hunted down, too. I turned my gaze to the trio of feathers on my waist, recalling the plinth¡¯s earlier words about ¡°broadcasting¡± their mana signature. To say I was regretting my incaution was an understatement. In the end, though, things had turned out fine. Out of any of us, Cal was the best suited to survive on her own, and I had no doubts that we¡¯d find her once we returned to the skies. As for me and Verin, we would manage. Neither mud nor clouds would stop us. That being said, there certainly was a lot of mud to deal with. Finally ending our descent, I touched down on a tree branch, only Featherfoot allowing it to survive under our collective weight. It was one of the few areas I could have landed without having to wade through a layer of sludgy muck. I wasn¡¯t looking forward to navigating the swampy terrain, but unless I wanted to spend all day jumping from tree to tree with Verin, I didn¡¯t see much other choice. Verin herself seemed to agree. ¡°Lady Tess. You have my deepest thanks for your assistance. Despite my reticence to brave the less-than-hospitable conditions, however, I would ask that we find a location where you can release me.¡± Still held firmly in my arms, Verin was evidently keen to walk on her own two feet again. Not trusting the branch to hold our weight once I released Verin, I opted to clear us some space first. I shuffled Verin firmly over to one arm, summoning up a spear of water mana in the other, making it as long as I could. With a brief burst of overloaded mana, I stabbed the spear downwards, hoping to clean away some of the mud. As desired, the sludgy substance recoiled from my spear tip and the water mana therein. Unfortunately, this soon proved to be for entirely different reasons than I¡¯d expected.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. You have stabbed ??? for 30 damage! Whoops. Even as I was digesting the message, a blast of mud came flying from the ground, threatening to throw us off of our precarious perch. Jet Step. Featherfoot. Knowing how much Verin liked to stay clean, I did my best to dodge it. One indignant shriek from Verin later, and we were back in the air. Even as I searched for a new spot to land, a wide swath of mud began to pull itself together, bulging upwards into an indistinct mound. If perhaps to be expected after our experiences atop the clouds, God¡¯s Eye identified it as a Greater Mud Elemental. Not content to wait until I¡¯d found firm footing, the elemental hocked another few mud bolts at us, forcing me to rapidly reposition. Verin was yelling, squirming about in my arms as she tried to get my attention, but I ignored her. After all, I was sure I knew what she wanted. No worries, Verin. I¡¯ll keep you from getting muddy. Although, it was possible that would be a bit tricky. How was I supposed to fight the elemental with only one hand? Couldn¡¯t really use a bow like that. As I angled myself towards a nearby tree, I decided to summon up a throwing knife, overloading it with a dash of water mana and awkwardly chucking it at the enemy below. You have damaged a Greater Mud Elemental for 20 damage! Nice. It wasn¡¯t much, but provided I could keep my mana expenditure low enough, it was proof of concept. ¡°Just another minute or two,¡± I assured a frantic Verin. Her response was lost to the wind as I finally reached the nearest tree, immediately kicking off of it with another Jet Step. Mud bolts and water knives filled the air as I continued my mad parkour routine, switching between Jet Step, Featherfoot, and Heavy Step to change my trajectory and speed at the drop of a hat. Acrobatics has reached level 9! There were a few close calls as massive globs of mud practically skimmed my sides, with one such attack nearly slamming into Verin¡¯s face, but my Intelligence and Perception served me well. Paired with the extra aerial maneuverability from my three Roc Lord feathers, my stats let me lead the elemental around by the nose. Despite my flagging mana, the fight was already a foregone conclusion. In under a minute, the mound of mud met its end, losing cohesion and falling apart. You have defeated a Greater Mud Elemental! A trickle of mana escaped from the corpse, shooting off into the distance. I might have followed it, except I had more immediate concerns. Once more, I stabbed at the mud with a water spear, cleaning off some of the underlying pavement before fully descending. Task complete, I deposited Verin gently on the ground. ¡°I cleared us a spot,¡± I helpfully informed her, ¡°so you wouldn¡¯t get muddy.¡± For whatever reason, Verin seemed slightly off, with wide eyes and frazzled hair, possibly from the leftover adrenaline of our skydiving experience. She stood on shaky legs and looked down at her body as if surprised to find herself in one piece. ¡°Yes¡­ I see that. Good- Good job, Lady Tess.¡± Apparently not quite ready to stand yet, Verin lowered herself back to the ground. ¡°Might I- Might I suggest we stick to the ground for the foreseeable future?¡± Seeming oddly queasy, Verin sent a hand to her stomach as she shut her eyes tight. I shrugged, not particularly minding one way or the other. ¡°Okay. You should probably use your defensive skill, then.¡± With a weary sigh, Verin responded. ¡°Do I dare ask why?¡± I scanned our surroundings, the earth entirely covered in brown muck save for our small, singular patch. Everywhere I looked, the mud began to move, forming into countless elementals of all shapes and sizes. Evidently clued in to our location after our last fight, they began to ooze their ways over. ¡°Well,¡± I answered, ¡°you¡¯ll probably get a bit muddy if you don¡¯t.¡±
Heavy Armor has reached level 13! Spears has reached level 18! Water Magic has reached level 19! You have defeated Greater Mud Elemental x6, Mud Elemental x18, Lesser Mud Elemental x25! With all manner of mud covering my armor, I collapsed to the ground, physically and mentally spent. Had we fought something more conventional, then there would be dozens of bodies surrounding me as proof of our struggle. As it was, the only sight that greeted us was a mass of cracked earth, now frozen and inert. The fight had been long and protracted, and I¡¯d been forced to constantly move about to avoid getting completely engulfed by the swarm of elementals. Despite the fact that I¡¯d been the one to put more noticeable effort into the battle, it was Verin who¡¯d done the lion¡¯s share of the work, however. If her frost magic was powerful against the air elementals, then it was doubly so against the mud version, gradually freezing them solid. Safe from their attacks inside her glacier, she might have been able to defeat them all on her own, provided I was there to dig her out afterwards. Speaking of said glacier, it broke open presently, with Verin calmly walking out, none the worse for wear. It seemed her time inside her defensive skill had settled her stomach, as she no longer looked quite as shaky or nauseous. After briefly checking that I was all right, she voiced her thoughts. ¡°I will admit, even a few months prior, I did not envision myself winning such fights. Truly, a gratifying experience. With that being said, I remain uncertain as to our next steps.¡± She tilted her chin, broadly gesturing to the land around us, devoid of any notable points of interest. Pulling myself from the ground, I dismissed my armor, the mud caking it vanishing along with it. Thankfully, I had a good idea of where we should go. ¡°I saw something,¡± was all I said, wandering off. With a sigh -- for whatever reason -- Verin followed. Some mana had escaped from the first elemental we¡¯d defeated, and it hadn¡¯t been an isolated incident. The entire fight, I watched as streams of mana fled from each mound of mud, all of them converging on one location. It was here that I was thankful for the increased spatial reasoning that Intelligence granted me. Along with my enhanced memory, it was trivial to map out where all the lines intersected. ¡°Here-ish, I think.¡± We were at the edge of where Verin¡¯s class skills had reached, the earth beneath us still frozen. Rather than trying to wash it away, I decided to cut it, summoning up a sword and enhancing it with both water and fire mana. Steam rolled off the blade, and a few slashes made fast work of the icy ground. From there, I stabbed the blade into the section I¡¯d carved out before pulling, a section of earth coming up much like a popsicle. Sadly, I hadn¡¯t been right on the money, and it took a few more such operations before I found what I was looking for. After the ground was completely littered with cuts and furrows, I finally discovered something that could explain the odd phenomenon I¡¯d witnessed. Surprisingly, it was something I was well accustomed to by now, too. I tossed our hard-won treasure over to Verin who barely managed to catch it as recognition washed over her. ¡°An aerial gem,¡± she remarked. And it was. Except, the more I looked at it, the more it felt like it also wasn¡¯t at the same time, a ruddy brown marring the otherwise airy green. Curious, I hit it with God¡¯s Eye. Sullied Aerial Gem The name didn¡¯t inspire much confidence, but Verin was still optimistic. ¡°If we can find one of the obelisks, do you think we might be able to travel back into the air as a new island lifts itself from the earth? Although, with so much of the ground covered in mud, it may take us some time to find an obelisk¡­ Perhaps we would be better served by an aerial vie- LADY TESS!¡± Not seeing any reason to waste time, I scooped Verin up into my arms, shooting off into the sky.
Finding the obelisk, as it turned out, was a fairly trivial task. Much like the trees, it was too tall to be fully submerged by the omnipresent layer of mud, and with my Perception and a bird¡¯s eye view, it stuck out fairly obviously. Seemingly eager to do the honors, Verin practically flung herself from my arms as soon as we landed, stumbling forward to the obelisk. She clutched her stomach again while muttering, doubtlessly lamenting the fact that we hadn¡¯t found time to break for a meal yet. ¡°With any luck, this will allow us back above the clouds.¡± Verin placed the disk into the appropriate slot, and much like all the other times, the obelisk lit up. A potent tension filled the air as we readied ourselves to take to the skies. Rather than send us upwards, however, the obelisk merely shot us a message. Improper energy type supplied. Would you like to convert the stored energy to the proper form? Verin accepted the prompt before I could think to, and once more, we prepared ourselves. A moment later, our hopes were dashed. Insufficient energy. As conversion consumes additional energy, a proportionally larger amount of energy must be supplied. Current charge: 3/100 As if disgusted with us that we¡¯d offered it such a paltry amount of energy, the obelisk ejected the disk. I snatched it back up as we shared a look. ¡°Lady Tess, it appears we may be staying here for longer than I anticipated.¡±
Sullied Aerial Gem: 35/100 charged Faced with the realization that we¡¯d need to fight hundreds of elementals just to charge our singular gem, Verin and I took to our task with the gusto of those without alternatives. On the positive side, the experience was excellent, and we rarely had any difficulties culling our muddy foes. Had we been able to fall back to a fortified position and relax for a while, the entire situation would have been ideal. Unfortunately, we did not, a fact that became all the more relevant as first my mind then my body began to give out. Already, I¡¯d been up for a long time, exploring island after island above the clouds. Combined with my mad dash to save Verin and my brush-in with Din¡¯Ket, the hours full of fighting and trekking through the mud were not doing me any favors. With her lesser Endurance, Verin felt much the same. Well before we¡¯d charged the gem to even half its maximum charge, we were in need of a nap. While at the best of times that was an unenviable position to be in, without Cal, it was all the more so. As Cal didn¡¯t need to sleep at all, she added a sense of security to all the times Verin and I had conked out. For once, it seemed we¡¯d be doing things the old-fashioned way. Much as was true on the floating islands, there were still a few structures dotting the landscape, dilapidated though they were. After thoroughly excising our surroundings of all forms of mud, we settled into a rundown shack, setting up the mattresses I¡¯d brought in my spatial storage. Verin offered to take first watch. Not the best at sleeping under these circumstances, she only wanted to have to fall asleep once, not twice. Without any similar compunctions, I agreed readily. Before I knew it, I was dozing off.
Well before I felt even remotely rested, a hand violently shook me, rudely waking me up. For a moment, I assumed Cal was to blame until I groggily recalled her absence. ¡°Mm? Already? Five more minutes.¡± Verin was nice. She would understand, right? A hushed but frantic whisper brushed my pleas to the wayside. ¡°Tess. Lady Tess. Get up. Now!¡± Worried that her words wouldn¡¯t be enough, Verin placed a hand on my neck, blasting me with a burst of frost magic. In a single instant, I was on my feet, rapidly casting Invigorate to combat the unpleasant chill. ¡°Wha-¡± ¡°There¡¯s an issue. It¡¯s better for you to see for yourself.¡± Before I could even start to guess at what was wrong, Verin grabbed my arm, yanking me outside. Fortunately, it didn¡¯t take long to spot what she was worried about. Unfortunately, that was because it was so large as to be impossible to miss. In a wide circle around us, perhaps one hundred meters wide, a massive wall of mud stood as if trying to brush the sky. Even as I watched, it grew higher and curved inwards, threatening to form a dome around us. The sheer amount of mud involved was staggering, a far cry from what we¡¯d seen from any of the elementals. ¡°I am uncertain as to the cause of this phenomenon, but I suggest we vacate with all due haste.¡± A shiver passed over Verin, an altogether odd thing to see from a frost mage. ¡°Before we are entirely entrapped, it may be a good idea to take to the skies to fly awa-¡± As if to taunt her, the mud wall chose that exact moment to make its move. Rather than move up to trap us in, however, it moved inwards and down. All at once, the mud began to fall. From every direction, a tsunami approached, converging on our location. Even knowing that I was out of time, I grabbed Verin and leapt into the air, summoning up only my apron so as to not weigh us down. As the wave of mud drew closer, we raced into the sky. B4 C37: A Fragment As the mud surged inwards, an all-encompassing gurgling sound filled the air, a disquieting precursor to its origin. Even the sound alone felt like it was gunking me up and slowing me down, but in reality, there was a much simpler explanation for my lacking speed. Wrapped tightly in my arms was Verin¡¯s diminutive frame. While I was fairly fast when I really pushed myself, that was significantly less true while ferrying someone else. To her credit, Verin seemed to be faring better on this trip than she had on the previous ones, keeping her head on straight as she cast small bursts of frost magic wherever she could. To her discredit, they did absolutely nothing, the mud swallowing up the magic without even slowing. ¡°Lady Tess! I do not believe we are going to outrun it!¡± Her ineffectual spellwork continued even as she spoke. She was right, though. I judged the distances and speeds, and it was a foregone conclusion. A shadow fell over us as the mud neared, only moments away from shutting off our only avenue of escape. I tried to think of any possible plan that would prevent us from dying covered in mud, not coming up with much of worth. Although, maybe Verin can? I¡¯d have to check. ¡°Hey Verin.¡± I was forced to raise my voice as my words were nearly lost to the roar of my rapid Jet Steps. ¡°You can breathe inside your defensive skill, right? Even without air?¡± Despite not understanding what I was getting at, she hesitantly responded. ¡°Yes. Why? I am uncertain as to how that would help us presentl-¡± Nice. That could work. I glanced down, finding that much of the ground was entirely flooded by now. Focusing on one such area, I shifted Verin in my arms. ¡°Use your glacier skill, then. I¡¯ll come get you if I don¡¯t die.¡± Verin started to demand an explanation, but we were out of time. Without further fanfare, I hoisted her into my hands. And threw her with all my might. A frantic squawking filled my ears, but I had just enough time to confirm that the throw was on target. Flecks of frost began to form on Verin¡¯s skin as she activated her skill. With any luck, in a few seconds, an impenetrable chunk of ice would be safely sinking into the mud. I could only hope that whatever creature we were up against didn¡¯t have any way of harming her through her skill. Unfortunately, those were all the thoughts I had time for. A moment later, the mud arrived. Pumping as much mana as I could into my feet, I tried to shoot through it, hoping to escape to the skies. I failed. Miserably. The very instant the mud touched my armor, it arrested my motion entirely before yanking me down. Instantly, the world went black, the deluge of mud swallowing every drop of light as it threw me into its depths. I thrashed against it, but I might as well have been stationary. Impairment Resistance has reached level 8! I flooded my light armor with water mana, and the mud¡¯s grip on me lessened, but not nearly enough. Mud, after all, was partly water itself. Layering on some air mana seemed to help, but by now, I was trapped under countless tons of mud. My frenzied exertions only worked to burn up what little air I had left, my lungs starting to protest already. Breath Control has reached level 17! What do I have? There had to be something, right? It was at times like these that I sorely missed my Cleansing Shower Gem Pendant and its ability to handle any movement-impairing debuffs. It would have been perfect for cleaning off the mud that was even now threatening to worm its way into my mouth. Wait. I do have something. Even in the face of death, I wanted to slap myself for not thinking of it sooner. In my defense, I¡¯d been a bit occupied from the very moment I¡¯d woken up. I tried to pull an object out of my storage, only to receive an error. Insufficient space. Please clear some room to use Arcane Storage. I cursed, wondering if it was already too late. Space. I need just a little bit of space. I shifted the mana in my armor, flooding it with both air and spatial mana. Bit by bit, I added more and more mana with Overload Armor. My mana began to drop precipitously, but it was working, too. My body sent out gale-force winds, pushing back the mud surrounding me, even if only by a hair. Combined with the spatial mana expanding the space around me, it was just barely enough. Arcane Storage. The very moment I had enough room, I summoned up the one item that had any hopes of saving me: a bucket. Though I didn¡¯t waste the energy to identify it again, God¡¯s Mind recalled its description in perfect detail. Cleansing Well Water When imbibed, grants the drinker a temporary resistance to mud magic and physical restrictions. Alternatively, on contact, washes away all traces of dirt and mud. Can only be refilled with well water from the Roc Lord¡¯s domain. Not wanting my air mana to blow all of the water away, I dismissed my armor enhancements even as I splashed half the bucket onto my face. Opening my mouth wide, I greedily drank up every drop I could. Despite my best efforts, I ended up getting more than just water, trickles of mud running down my throat as well. I coughed and spluttered, allowing even more mud in, but thankfully, it was enough. You have drank cleansing well water! Mud magic resistance and impairment resistance greatly enhanced. Duration: 5 minutes All at once, the mud¡¯s grip on me loosened, until it felt like I was swimming through regular water. That wasn¡¯t all, either. Everywhere the water splashed, the mud was obliterated. Not just thinned or diluted. Utterly and completely destroyed, entire arm-fulls of the substance disappearing in a flash. As if capable of feeling pain, the nearby mud physically recoiled. Already, however, I¡¯d used up half the bucket¡¯s contents. I hastily threw it back into my storage in case I needed more water later, but for now, I was set. My enhanced proprioception was just barely enough to orient myself, and I shot upwards through the mud, swimming for all I was worth. My Strength let me tear up great lengths in a single stride, and only moments later, I broke the surface. With a great gasping breath, I inhaled. No longer at risk of drowning, I proceeded to hack up the mud which had wormed its ways into my lungs. I half expected some new avenue of attack -- spears of mud, or dehydrating the mud around me to trap me in solid earth -- but no such attack arrived. As best I could tell, whatever was fighting us was a one-trick pony, making me safe for the time being. With that being said, what was attacking us? I attempted to use God¡¯s Eye on the mud around me, but I got nothing of value in response. Evidently, the surrounding sludge wasn¡¯t part of its body. Unfortunately, that left me with few options. Eventually, my well water would wear off, putting me back to square one. I had to end this fight before then. There has to be something to fight, right? I switched through my vision variants, not expecting to find much. It came as some shock, then, when one of my mana types immediately yielded results. Vitality Sight. Only a few meters in, there was a sphere which lit up green. For a moment, I thought it might be Verin, but a quick check with Frost Vision showed that the area wasn¡¯t cold in the least bit. Even if that¡¯s it, though, what am I supposed to do about it? Swim right up to it and hope for the best? Mud resistance notwithstanding, I had no illusions that I¡¯d be a faster swimmer than it, and the mud would blunt most of my blows regardless. My only real hope was the cleansing well water, but I didn¡¯t have much to spare. Maybe¡­ An inkling of plan formed in my mind, and without any better alternatives, I sprang into action. First step. Get out of the mud. In a weird way, this was the most tricky part of the whole thing. There was nothing to pull myself up by, and my Waterwalking only worked if my feet were above water. It was only thanks to my Acrobatics skill that I succeeded, sticking my feet out of the mud and doing an awkward spin to pull myself out. The very moment I was out, I jetted away, flying into the sky. Not to run, of course. Even if Verin somehow survived without me, there was no guarantee the mud wouldn¡¯t just follow me once I landed. No, instead I tried something a bit stranger. First, I took the well water back out of my storage. After that, I summoned up my physical bow and arrow, grabbing a singular arrow from my quiver and throwing it into the bucket. I let it soak in the water even as I treaded air, alternating between Jet Step and Featherfoot to keep myself aloft.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. When at last I deemed the arrow to be liberally doused, I nocked it and began to funnel water mana into the arrow. Down and down my mana sank, but I didn¡¯t stop. If this didn¡¯t work, I wasn¡¯t sure what other option I would have. I let the water mana flow from my core until it felt as if I was trying to dam a raging river. With careful aim, I fired. Archery has reached level 16! Practically teleporting, the arrow cut through the air, reaching the massive ball of mud in a blink. I floated there with bated breath, afraid that the attack would stop there. If anything, though, it exceeded my wildest expectations. Unimpeded by the sludge barring its way, the arrow sped through the muck, scrubbing it out of existence. Whether from the well water or the sheer amount of mana I¡¯d placed into the arrow, the mud gave the attack a wide berth. Until finally, the arrow stopped. You have struck ??? for 120 damage! A great rumbling came from the impact site, even as all the mud below me began to move. I readied myself, expecting some sort of counterattack, but the truth was something different entirely: Thus far contained tightly into its massive ball, the mud began to flow outwards, falling apart. It lost control. It let go of the mud. Not certain I would get another opportunity like this, I dismissed Mana Feet, letting myself fall through the air. At the same time, I kept up Vitality Sight to pinpoint the enemy¡¯s location. Having momentarily cleared the mud between us, I finally saw what we were fighting. If somewhat disappointingly bland, it was, in a way, predictable. The body of our foe was a simple sphere of highly condensed mud, dark and almost solid. It was no larger than a yoga ball, its appearance entirely belying its deadliness. Before it could sink back into the rapidly forming mudslide, I managed to identify it. Fragment of Din¡¯Ket: Level 30, 880/1000hp When the lord of earth usurped her brother and ascended to the skies, her great mass was too much for her stolen feathers to bear. Forced to shed the bulk of her body, Din¡¯Ket sent fragments of her form to the surface. There, they mindlessly cover the landscape, attacking anything that dares contest their supremacy. Lying in wait, they long to rejoin Din¡¯Ket¡¯s main body should she ever return to the surface. It appeared we had not entirely escaped the horrifying bird by fleeing through the clouds. On the other hand, I would gladly take a muddy yoga ball over a flying monstrosity any day of the week. The ground rapidly approached, but not quite fast enough for my liking. My mana was almost entirely empty at this point, but I still had enough for one or two more Jet Steps. Afraid that the fragment would regain its senses, I plummeted downwards until I was directly above it. Not enough mana to kill it. I could try throwing the rest of the well water at it, but if that didn¡¯t work, then I¡¯d be as good as dead. As I tried to figure out a good way to end the fight, the mud level finally lowered enough to reveal something strange: Off to the side, a large mound of earth stood still, cracked and frozen even as the mud flowed around it. Verin. Even if I was out of mana, she was bound to have plenty. Only, I didn¡¯t have the time to chip through the frozen shell she¡¯d surrounded herself with. Well, there¡¯s one way, I guess. The idea initially felt comical, but with my stats and my weapon levels, I was mostly confident I could pull it off. The mud around the fragment started to stir, signaling that I was out of time. Taking only the briefest moment to slow myself with Featherfoot, I closed in on the sphere, summoning up a long spear. Then, before it could connect with the surrounding mud, I wedged my spear beneath it. And yanked it upwards. Much like its originator, Din¡¯ket¡¯s fragment left the earth to soar into the air. This, however, was only the first step in the process. With one final Jet Step, I flew up beside it, swapping my spear out for my trusty warhammer. Please don¡¯t miss. Putting every level in Hammers and every drop of my spatial reasoning to use, I determined where exactly I needed to hit and then slammed my weapon forward. The condensed mud shot off like a bullet, and I sighed with relief as I traced its trajectory. A loud THUNK soon resonated through the entire region as its body slammed into my target. Frozen earth cracked and shattered, revealing an icy core within. And beneath that, one frightened and bewildered noble took in the scene before her. A single crack ran through her defensive glacier, but as hoped, she was otherwise unharmed. Despite likely having suffered from a near heart attack, Verin reacted instantly. A hint of frost appeared on the fragment¡¯s surface, courtesy of her class skills. Even then, I had no delusions that she would be enough on her own. Almost entirely out of mana, I landed and raced towards the two of them, throwing all of my mana regeneration into Waterwalking to avoid sinking into the morass of mud lying between us. It was good I did, too, as the fragment chose that moment to jump away from Verin, nearly escaping back into its element. The head of my hammer arrived just in time, ramming it back towards Verin. Fragment of Din¡¯Ket: 740/1000hp Even as it was in the air, in one fluid motion, I summoned the Cleansing Well Water one last time, throwing the rest of the water into the air to let it rain down. As a few drops hit the fragment, they hissed and sizzled, burning through its earthen flesh and shaving off its health. That, however, was secondary to the main effect. In a wide circle, all traces of mud vanished, leaving the fragment entirely without access to its element. At long last, I could sense the end was in sight. The fragment bolted to the side, hoping to escape its containment zone, but its Dexterity clearly wasn¡¯t its strong suit. My hammer ensured that there was nowhere to run, even as another bit of frost bit into it. Hoping to speed the process up, I used whatever mana I regenerated on enhancing my weapon with frost. Fragment of Din¡¯Ket: 547/1000hp Over and over again, the fragment tried to escape. Over and over again, it failed. Despite its high level, it seemed to lack any direct attacks or skills without access to a supply of mud. Caught between a hammer and a glacier, there was nowhere to run. Fragment of Din¡¯Ket: 215/1000hp The slow effects finally took their toll, and what had begun as a frantic game of whack a mole soon turned into a sluggish, impotent affair. Another few casts of Glaciate and Clinging Permafrost, and its entire body stuck fast to the ground, unable to even roll an inch. Fragment of Din¡¯Ket: 80/1000hp Without any real flesh that could get frostbite or hypothermia, it sat in that state for a while, its health not going down. Happy to fix that, I waited a moment for my mana to regenerate before stepping right up to the frozen ball of dirt. I hefted my hammer, sinking all of my mana into it until it hummed, seeming to warp the very air around it. In one clean motion, I brought it down. Brittle from the frost, the fragment shattered apart. You have defeated a Fragment of Din¡¯Ket! I flopped to the ground, expecting that to be the end of it. In actuality, however, there was something else: A great surge of mana. Fearing an attack, I pushed myself back up, but in the end, I needn¡¯t have worried. Following the mana, my gaze fell upon a green disk at Verin¡¯s side. As her glacier split open to allow her exit, once more, I identified the gem we¡¯d been lugging around all this time. Sullied Aerial Gem: 100/100 charged Seeming to notice the same thing I had, Verin lifted the disk in front of her face. ¡°Lady Tess. While I make a strong effort to reserve judgment, I cannot say that I¡¯ve been a fan of the surface thus far.¡± She tossed the disk to me, which I caught with ease. ¡°In light of recent events, what do you say we return to the sky?¡±
If watching the rise of a new floating island had been breathtaking from the sky, then it was double so from the ground, and perhaps triply so while standing on the island in question. As soon as we supplied our charged gem to the obelisk, a great rumbling began, threatening to deafen us even as it vibrated through our bodies. And then, motion. Slowly, we began to rise. As soon as the last of the earth ripped itself from the ground, the all-encompassing noise abruptly cut off, replaced only with the sound of wind as an unfathomable amount of air was shoved to the side. Sturdy root systems, untouched for untold years, tore apart under the unyielding force. Clumps of loose dirt crumbled off from the island¡¯s sides, tumbling down to the ground below. Throughout it all, Verin and I stood close to the island¡¯s edge, transfixed. If our impromptu skydiving had been breathtaking in its own way, then our slow ascent was perhaps even more so. Gradually, the mud-filled lands we¡¯d tirelessly battled through grew smaller and smaller, the trees shrinking down until they looked like blades of grass. The entire time, the clouds drew ever nearer. Unable to handle the sheer beauty of what we were witnessing, Verin clutched at her stomach. ¡°Lady Tess. I believe I will wait¡­ over there. Please do not feel obligated to check on me for the next few minutes.¡± Having said her piece, she rushed off. Maybe to get a better view from a different angle? I wasn¡¯t sure. Regardless, in short order, the tips of the island¡¯s trees finally poked into the clouds. Moments later, my vision went white as my head joined them. You have entered the Cleansing Cloud Cover! Once again, I underwent the cleaning process, and this time, the island joined me. All the mud that had hitched a ride with us rapidly dissolved under the effects of the spellwork, leaving our weathered surroundings in a pristine state. Then, at last, the clouds broke. For a brief moment, while the land below us was still obscured, it looked as though we were walking on air. On we rose, until the island found its proper resting place. With a grand sense of weight and finality, its ascent came to a halt. Not wanting to be stranded in the air, we¡¯d been careful to lift up the island closest to the one we¡¯d fallen off of. A new wind bridge quickly formed, linking us up to the rest of the floating network. Evidently still having something to take care of, Verin took a few more minutes before making a reappearance. For whatever reason, she looked a touch more pale than usual, too. Maybe the air? Air was supposed to be thinner the higher you went, right? I was sure she¡¯d be fine once she adjusted, though. ¡°That was certainly¡­ an experience,¡± was all she said in way of explanation. ¡°If we have collected ourselves, however, I believe our first order of business should be reconvening with the wayward Lady Calilah.¡± As if waiting for that exact moment, one regal figure popped right out of thin air before us. ¡°Hey guys. Miss me?¡±
It didn¡¯t take long for Cal to catch us up on what she¡¯d been up to and vice versa. For her part, that had mostly been twiddling her thumbs and training. Once she¡¯d seen the massive island rising into the sky, she rushed over, and that was that. With the gang back together, things continued much as they had before our unfortunate fall, with the singular exception that I stopped trying to find any new feathers. The items¡¯ effects were solid, but they weren¡¯t worth tangling with Din¡¯Ket again. On a few occasions, we also came across new wells with their own buckets and supplies of Cleansing Well Water. While I wasn¡¯t planning on going beneath the clouds again, I stocked up just in case. It was two days later when something finally changed. Unfortunately, it was hard to tell exactly what that something was. Well into the distance, the up-till-now pristine air grew murky and hazy. The effect was the most pronounced in one area, a tall cylinder of almost complete brown air. Whatever lay behind it, it was impossible to say. I had a sneaking suspicion that the cause of the phenomenon wasn¡¯t as cryptic, though. If the roc lord could summon entire blankets of clouds, then I had little doubt that the earth lord could manage a bit of dirty air. Whatever it was protecting was likely something Din¡¯Ket didn¡¯t want us to reach, though whether that was some sort of treasure stash or a nest, I couldn¡¯t say. As each new island brought us closer and closer to the foul air, though, I grew fairly certain we were about to find out. And with any luck, whatever we found would help us finally complete this region. B4 C38: Sullied Skies Another day passed before we neared the grimy patch of air. Without much fanfare, we waded into it. At first, we didn¡¯t notice any serious differences. True, the islands we visited were a bit more dusty. Some patches of mud still clung to the island, having survived the journey through the clouds. Save for the change in air quality, there was nothing that wasn¡¯t purely aesthetic, though. All of that changed when the first notification arrived, however. You have entered a Sullied Sky! Inflicts the conditions Bogged Down and Muddy Lung. Movement speed decreased. Take one damage per every two breaths. Faced with a constant source of damage, all three of us backed off, retreating until the notification went away. ¡°Truly vexing,¡± Verin supplied. ¡°I have little desire to fill my lungs with mud.¡± ¡°Yeah, pretty gross. Not sure where else we would go except forward, though.¡± Cal lazily batted the air with her sword, as if that would wipe away the muck. ¡°What¡¯s the game plan? I can probably avoid the effect with Apex Shroud as long as I have enough mana, but what about you two?¡± As I¡¯d recently discovered, Verin was more than fine without breathing as long as she was inside her glacier. Of course, given that she couldn¡¯t move in that state, the task of carrying her around would naturally fall on me. In an unusual turn of events, then, it was only me who had no good way to deal with the effect. Arcane Choker would have worked perfectly, but I was still saving up for it. Ultimately, I just shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll deal.¡± The damage was well under what I was capable of healing through. Having little desire to sleep with our health constantly ticking down, we set up camp and got a quick round of shut-eye. Once we were bright eyed and bushy tailed, though, off we waded into the murky air.
For another three islands, everything went as well as hoped. Halfway across the skybridge to the fourth, however, I started to cough right as another notification assaulted me. Status Muddy Lung has intensified. Take one damage per breath. Causes respiratory discomfort and coughing. Status Bogged Down has intensified. Increases the costs and decreases the effects of all movement skills. Movement speed greatly decreased. This, quite naturally, was not very welcome news. Even before I read through the updated effects, I hacked up a glob of mud, my mouth filled with the taste of dust and dirt. While Verin was presently encased in ice and attached to my back, I could somehow still feel her staring down at the ruddy phlegm in horror. For Cal¡¯s part, she nudged it with her boot. ¡°Tess, that was gross as hell. Give it a few more islands, and I feel like you¡¯ll be hacking up entire mud elementals at this rate. Are you going to be okay?¡± ¡°I miss Suds,¡± was all I said on the matter. If the chamber head had been with us, this entire region would have been cleared in a flash. Failing that, I would have settled for my old Cleansing Shower Gem Pendant or really anything that could have cleaned me right about now. ¡°Oh. Right.¡± Making the connection a bit later than I should have, I immediately pulled out one of our buckets of Cleansing Well Water. It was for the best that I hadn¡¯t used any yet, as I only had so much. Given the circumstances, though, I figured using some of it was warranted. I drank a tiny sip, hoping it would clean me out. Unfortunately, that was exactly what it did. You have consumed Cleansing Well Water! Internal contaminants detected. Purging. Before I could even prepare myself, a potent wave of nausea slammed into me, and I doubled over in pain. Suddenly feeling as though I¡¯d chugged a gallon of moonshine, I readily wretched, a geyser of sludge shooting out of my mouth. If there was one saving grace, it was that the process was brief, my stomach settling down immediately afterwards. Purging complete. Mud magic resistance and impairment resistance greatly enhanced. Duration: 5 minutes You have resisted Muddy Lung. You have resisted Bogged Down. For a brief moment, all three of us took in the unpleasant scene I¡¯d just created before opting to move on. Despite her intermittent Apex Shroud usage keeping her safe from the worst of the mud¡¯s effects, Cal silently yanked the bucket from my hands. Evidently wanting to protect herself before she filled her lungs with mud, she took a quick sip before passing the bucket back. With all of us now protected, we ventured deeper into the growing miasma. Thrice more, the effects increased, until we would have been entirely locked in place and practically breathing solid dirt without the aid of the well water. Each time, we resisted the effects. Rapidly, our supply of water shrank, even with the tiny sips Cal and I were taking. Theoretically, though, the dungeon was created with parties of five in mind. Given that Verin wasn¡¯t partaking, I had to imagine we¡¯d have more than enough to push through. That was assuming that there was some intelligent design in play, but I was willing to give the dungeon some credit. Nothing it had thrown at us was impossible so far. As if the dungeon was rewarding me for my faith in it, our destination soon came into view. After clearing an island as per usual, we supplied our charged aerial gem to the obelisk to move forward. Rather than pulling up a new island, however, the gem seemed to dispel the worst of the grime from the air. As the dirt thinned, our target was revealed. Taking in the sheer size of what lay before us, I could only reflect that it was a testament to how thick the dirt was that we hadn¡¯t seen it long ago. Despite being coated in a layer of crud, bits of green poked through, making me believe that the structure before us was made of the same jade-like substance as the aerial gem. While I couldn¡¯t get a good sense of exactly how large it was, the mass of green extended both up and down for as far as I could see. Admittedly, that wasn¡¯t very far at all given the visibility conditions, but the verdict was clear: We¡¯d found a tower. The usual sky bridge formed, this time linking us directly to the tower in question. Spending the last of its energy, the obelisk went one step further, clearing away some of the gunk from the surface of the tower. Previously hidden by the mud, a door was revealed at the end of the bridge. Had Verin opted to come out of her ice shell, I imagined she would say something about being cautious and taking stock of our situation. As she didn¡¯t wish to brave the powerful airborne status effects, however, that left Cal to be the voice of reason. ¡°Dibs on entering the freaky tower first!¡± She shot forward, racing atop the sky bridge without a care in the world. While my Dexterity was considerably higher now that she¡¯d changed her class, I didn¡¯t feel the need to contest the point. I jogged after her, reaching the end of the bridge right as she was shoving the door open. The very moment there was enough room for her to poke her head in, she went invisible, dashing inside. Evidently not having seen anything too alarming, she soon reappeared and thrust the door fully open, beckoning me inside. Once we were all safely within, she slammed the door shut and breathed a sigh of relief. Or more specifically, she breathed a clean sigh of relief. The interior of the tower was interesting, for sure -- we¡¯d been deposited on a staircase, carved from the same green gemstone as the rest of the tower -- but that was all secondary. More notably, the dirt was finally gone, both from the air and from all the surfaces. Even as Cal and I savored the taste of fresh air, Verin canceled her skill, removing herself from my back as the ice protecting her cracked open. ¡°Might I begin by saying that it was foolhardy to advance into the tower before properly taking stock of our situation and-¡± Entirely tuning her out, Cal shot me a cheeky grin. ¡°So what do we think? Up the stairs or down the stairs?¡± Wordlessly, I pointed up. As if trying to outrun Verin¡¯s scolding, Cal shot off, jumping up the stairs two at a time. A series of curses soon followed her, and Verin and I began our ascent shortly thereafter.
There were any number of things that I was prepared for at the top of the tower. Perhaps Din¡¯Ket would be lying in wait for us, hoping to swallow us in its muddy maw once again. There would be some giant air elemental, ready to sweep us all away. Or maybe just a plain-old treasure room for making it all the way here. To say that I was entirely unprepared for what we ended up finding wouldn¡¯t have been quite fair. Somewhere further down the list, I probably would have been half-right. The exact way in which I would have been half-wrong, however, was enough to utterly stun me.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. At the tower¡¯s top, there was a massive room of shining jade, with all manner of intricate detail-work carved into every nook and cranny. A grand altar occupied the length of the side wall, adding a hollowed and reverent air to the space. I was fairly certain that there were supposed to be a few windows to peer through, too, but unlike the rest of the tower thus far, this room had not been spared from the mud. Globs of gunk clung to the ceiling and dotted the walls, detracting from the awe the chamber might have otherwise inspired. All of that was distantly tertiary to the room¡¯s main feature, however. Standing tall against the far wall was a figure of refined majesty. Over thrice our height, it loomed high above us, its size not nearly as imposing as its mana. Pure and potent air mana swirled and roiled about it, rolling off of its body and bathing us even from across the room. Wings that could swallow the heavens lay splayed out to its sides, and two wise eyes sat above a regal beak, peering straight into our very souls. It was a creature of power. Resplendence. Grandeur and dignity. It¡¯s very presence demanded respect and adulation, and- ¡°It looks like a plucked chicken,¡± Cal helpfully supplied. Reluctantly, I had to agree. For all that the being before us was clearly powerful, it was hard to take it seriously. Whatever feathers it had once had were now gone, leaving behind a plump pink form. As part of my cooking classes back in Sylum, I¡¯d had to defeather a few birds, and the creature before us was the spitting image of some poultry ready for the oven. Thankfully, even if the giant bird understood Common, it wasn¡¯t in much of a position to rebuke Cal for her commentary. Gluing it to the wall, multiple thick masses of mud covered its body at strategic intervals along its limbs and neck. Acting as a series of shackles, they barely let the beast before us twitch a muscle. ¡°I think we found the Roc Lord,¡± I whispered. Confirming my guess, I hit the creature with God¡¯s Eye. Tal¡¯Ket the Roc Lord: Level 55, 10000/40000hp In ages long past, Tal¡¯Ket ruled over the skies even as his sister ruled over the earth below. Long before creating the cleansing cloud cover or raising his sky islands, the Roc Lord erected a tower to pierce the skies. Here, he received tribute and prayer from the many faithful who would make the pilgrimage up the endless stairway. With Tal¡¯Ket betrayed and stripped of his power, what was once his shrine now serves as his prison. Unwilling to kill him until she gets her hands on his many feathers, his sister keeps him trapped inside. I related the relevant details to the others, hoping to offload all the thinking and decision-making to them. As it turned out, I needn¡¯t have bothered. Cal wandered off into the middle of the room, taking in the Roc Lord from different angles. ¡°So, what now? Are we supposed to help you, or how does this all work? Tess can probably make you a big blanket if you¡¯re cold without your feathers.¡± In a surprisingly human expression, Tal¡¯Ket narrowed his eyes, and I swore he was considering whether or not to entertain the bothersome human that had invaded his shrine. If somewhat reluctantly, he eventually relented, a new notification appearing a moment later. Tal¡¯Ket the Roc Lord has offered you a quest! Clear Skies I Tal¡¯Ket, Lord of the Rocs and rightful ruler of the skies, has been imprisoned and trapped in mud. Free him, allowing to reclaim his domain. Rewards variable based on method of completion. It was clear that all three of us had received the message, with Verin being the first to comment. ¡°Curious. I should imagine that, given its potency, the well water we¡¯ve collected might be enough to complete this quest. Failing that, I am confident we can remove its bindings between the three of us. The ¡®variable rewards¡¯ makes me hesitant to do so immediately, however.¡± Daring to get closer to the imposing roc, Verin studied its muddy shackles in greater detail. For her part, Cal took a seat atop the lord¡¯s altar. ¡°Yeah, not to doubt the giant chicken or anything, but what are the odds that we free him, and he just immediately gets his ass kicked again? I¡¯m sorry, but he¡¯s not really inspiring much confidence right now.¡± With a huff that seemed to imply the Roc Lord could understand Common all too well, Tal¡¯Ket manipulated the mana in the room, stirring up a gentle breeze. The air seemed to brush up against me specifically, and the trio of feathers I was wearing lifted slightly into the air. As soon as I focused on the feathers, a prompt arrived. You are in possession of the Roc Lord¡¯s feathers. Return them to their rightful owner? Note: This may draw unwanted attention. Considering that I only had three at the moment, I doubted it would make much of a difference. Still, it helped clarify our options a bit better. With that extra piece of information, we came to a quick consensus. As it stood, we did not want to free the Roc Lord right now. At the very least, we needed to collect more feathers first. Unfortunately, that came with an unpleasant corollary. ¡°Wait. Does this mean we have to go back through the mud cloud?¡±
In the end, it turned out we weren¡¯t forced to return the way we¡¯d arrived. Despite the sheer height of the tower, our collective curiosity ended up winning out, and we decided to see what lay at the tower¡¯s base. Strangely enough, we discovered that the clouds extended inside the tower as well, and we were forced to undergo the cleaning ritual once again before descending further. After that, it quickly became clear why the journey was considered a pilgrimage, as I couldn¡¯t imagine having to walk all the way up the tower without a hefty dose of Endurance. When eventually we reached the bottom, the door was locked and jammed up with mud from the inside, but dousing it in well water was enough to let us escape. As to be expected, the bottom door spit us out back beneath the clouds. Paradoxically, the ground was far cleaner than its counterpart up above, as the surface was largely free from the toxic mud cloud we¡¯d had to endure. Of course, that was only swapping out one problem for another: Much like last time, we were forced to find a sky island that we hadn¡¯t activated yet, hunting down a sullied aerial gem and charging it. Another fragment of Din¡¯Ket found us in short order, but with all three of us together, it stood no chance. Cal simply snuck up on it while holding a full bucket of well water before upending the entire bucket on top of it. The rest of the fight was laughably short. And so it was that less than a day later, we returned to the sky. Once again overcome with emotion, Verin had to run off when the island started to ascend. For whatever reason, Cal found this endlessly amusing. For two more weeks, we swept through the region. Despite having made it all the way to the tower, there were still a large number of branches we hadn¡¯t taken, and unlocking the full network proved to be an arduous task. Still, it was one we were well-suited for. Considering how little threat the air elementals posed to us, the experience was excellent, and both Cal and Verin soon leveled. With any luck, I¡¯d soon follow. While the sky was calming in its own way, as time dragged on, I began to grow increasingly weary. I missed my room back at the cabin. I missed my cave. I missed my garden and my bath. I also missed sneaking down to Sett to vent to the sleeping demon. It was strange, in a way. By all rights, what I should have been longing for was my comfy bed back in Sylum or even my tent in Emer¡¯Thalis. At some point, my mind had designated our simple cabin as ¡°home,¡± though. It was an area of respite, free from the constant fighting. Hopefully, we¡¯d go back soon. Unfortunately, even when we raised the final island, our work wasn¡¯t done. We¡¯d largely managed to avoid Din¡¯Ket¡¯s ire thus far, but if we wanted the rest of the feathers, that wouldn¡¯t hold true for much longer. Here, we came up with a stellar plan to collect the feathers without becoming bird chow: make Cal do it all. She¡¯d retained enough detection skills that she would have no trouble tracking down each island¡¯s feather, and even if Din¡¯Ket came to investigate, she could just turn invisible and run away. While Cal took on her solemn duty, Verin and I, unfortunately, were not given leave to idle about. There was one last piece of the puzzle we¡¯d decided to attend to, and if somewhat begrudgingly, the two of us took it on. Another week on top of that, and it was done. The three of us met back up within the tower, ready to complete the region¡¯s quest. As expected, the journey back up the tower was hellish -- doubly so, as I ended up having to carry Verin fairly quickly -- but at last we returned to face the Roc Lord once again. Much as expected, he stood there in the exact same position we¡¯d seen him last. ¡°All right. Healing first.¡± Cal began by shooting off a few light healing spells off at Tal¡¯Ket, and I soon joined in with my own life cantrip. We weren¡¯t sure if it mattered, but we¡¯d decided to top off the Roc Lord¡¯s health before finishing the quest. Of course, that was easier said than done. My only healing spell was a cantrip, and Cal¡¯s light magic was hardly up to the task of efficiently healing a beast over level 50. Despite the fact that he should have been grateful for our assistance, I could feel Tal¡¯Ket¡¯s judgment as we spent the next day fully healing him up. For good measure, I offered him some of my cooking, too, as I figured it wouldn¡¯t be nice to make him fight on an empty stomach. If perhaps not the finest offering he¡¯d ever received, the food was accepted, with him greedily gobbling up whatever I offered to him. Notably, I made sure to avoid using any gryphon meat. I wasn¡¯t sure if that would count as bird cannibalism, but I decided not to risk it. ¡°Okay! Fed and healed. Time to wash the chicken. All you, Tess.¡± No longer needed for her healing prowess, Cal lazily lay down atop the altar. Verin started to shoo her off as I went to work. We¡¯d considered dealing with the feathers first, but on the off chance that they immediately summoned Din¡¯Ket, we didn¡¯t want her to catch us with our proverbial pants down. I removed a few buckets of the well water we¡¯d gathered, flying up to the giant bird¡¯s head to dump one down its gullet. With the others, I liberally splashed them over the many splotches of mud which bound the Roc Lord. Much as hoped, the mud dissolved. Even before they were all gone, Tal¡¯Ket ripped himself from the wall, tearing away the rest of his restraints. Not receiving the memo that we were trying to be stealthy for now, the Roc Lord let out a fierce caw that left my ears bleeding from the proximity. Before the newly freed bird could do something stupid that would ruin our plans, Cal enacted the final step for us, transferring the many feathers she¡¯d collected back to their original owner. A great cyclone swept through the room, pulling all of the feathers up into the air. The gale grew so intense, we were forced to shut our eyes as it raged on, barely managing to keep ourselves from getting caught up in its pull. When at last it subsided, the deed was done. Returned to his former glory, the lord of the skies stood tall once more. Or, not exactly his former glory. After all, a fair number of his feathers had been snatched up by Din¡¯Ket, leaving him looking a touch threadbare, but we¡¯d done a thorough job. Shining white plumage covered the bulk of his body, with a collection of green feathers creating all manner of patterns across his massive form. Seafoam green outlined his wings and wingtips, whereas the same jade color of the tower appeared on his head and chest, arranged in a fashion that seemed to flow like the wind even while he stood still. At last, his form properly suited the air of majesty he carried. Indeed, the creature that stood before us could only be properly described as a lord. Celebrating the return of his power, Tel¡¯Kat cried out in triumph once more, doing his best to fully destroy my hearing. Even so, I managed to catch Cal¡¯s words from across the room. ¡°Cool. So, now we get to chill while he goes and fights the creepy mud bird, right? Goooo, Roc Lord! We¡¯ll be cheering you- OH SHIT.¡± Cal¡¯s comments were quickly cut off as a burst of wind blasted all three of us into the air. Perhaps more shockingly, a wave of mana rolled off the roc, and in response, the tower began to morph. Apparently sporting some sort of magical sunroof, the ceiling retracted, allowing the muddy air to intrude. With a single sweep of his wings, Tal¡¯Ket dispelled the toxic cloud, revealing the patchwork mana-filled sky above. So quickly, I almost swore the creature was using spatial mana, Tal¡¯Ket rocketed into the sky, letting off another roaring shriek. And that would have been fine. Truly. All of that was according to plan. Unfortunately, there was one tiny snag we hadn¡¯t accounted for. Because, rather than looking up at the roc from the tower, we were looking down at him. From his back. Another cry filled the air, though this time, it wasn¡¯t from Tal¡¯Ket. In the distance, a colossal muddy monstrosity appeared. As Tal¡¯Ket began to race towards the beast over twenty levels above us, a new notification belatedly rolled in. Quest Completed: Clear Skies I Tal¡¯Ket has offered you a new quest! B4 C39: Raindrops Clear Skies II Assist the Roc Lord in defeating Din¡¯Ket the Usurper. Rewards variable based on method of completion. I was glad that the quest details were brief, as I didn¡¯t have the luxury of settling down for a lengthy read. Instead, I was busy maintaining a death grip on the roc beneath me, hurtling through the air faster than a missile. The other two were behind me, a fact I only knew from Verin¡¯s alarmed shouts and Cal¡¯s cheerful yelling. ¡°Fuck yeah! I take it back! I¡¯m okay with this! Look, no hands!¡± Despite Cal¡¯s insistent request, I notably did not look back. Instead, realizing we had less than ten seconds before we found ourselves in the heart of a pitched battle, I did my best to prepare. Last big fight. Then we can go home, I promised myself. I summoned up my armor, at the same time grabbing one of our last bucket¡¯s of Cleansing Well Water from my inventory. I was only glad that we hadn¡¯t needed to use all of them on Tal¡¯Ket, as I expected we¡¯d need some for ourselves. You have consumed Cleansing Well Water! Fighting back some vertigo, I twisted around, shoving the bucket into Verin¡¯s hands. ¡°Drink!¡± She took a big gulp before passing the bucket to Cal and making her own demand to me. ¡°Lady Tess! Back!¡± It took me a moment to puzzle out, but when I felt her latch onto me from behind, I understood. I¡¯d gotten used to carrying her through the toxic mud, and this had been our solution. I wrapped my arms around hers, treating her like a human backpack, and she immediately activated her Advancing Glacier. It was slightly unwieldy, but I was relieved I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about Verin falling off or getting hit. There was probably more we could have done to get ready, but unfortunately, we were out of time. What had at first looked like an insurmountable distance had nearly vanished as the two titanic creatures got into range of one another. The attacks arrived only moments later. Like a mushroom releasing its spores, Din¡¯Ket erupted, a dense cloud of dirt threatening to fill the entire sky. Contemptuously, Tal¡¯Ket parted the air with a single sweep of his wings, sweeping the attack to the side. In the single instant that our vision had been obscured, however, the usurper had already prepared another spell, a barrage of mud bolts rocketing towards us. In a move that threatened to give me whiplash, Tal¡¯Ket relied on his speed to dodge the many spells, rolling and weaving between them at a speed that defied reasoning. In the span of a second, I fell off his back three times. On each occasion, a blast of wind slammed me back into my proper place, a clear sign that the Roc Lord wasn¡¯t going to let us fall (or run away) that easily. Even so, what are we possibly supposed to do here? Melee attacks were useless in a fight like this, and the enemy was far outside Verin¡¯s range. That left what? My arrows? As I watched a blade of wind carve Din¡¯Ket in half -- only for her two halves to join back together seamlessly -- I sincerely doubted anything I could do would make a difference. And that was assuming I could hit the fast-moving target in the first place. Just as I had that thought, a drop of something brown hit my gauntleted hand. Afraid of what I might find, I turned my gaze upwards to where an entire raincloud had formed, releasing a deluge of muddy rain. Not even Tal¡¯Ket could dodge individual raindrops, and even as he fought, his brilliant plumage was soon speckled with dirty dots. I was worried that the mud might slow our noble steed down, but the truth turned out to be even worse. Spurred on by some animating force, the raindrops began to crawl over the Roc Lord¡¯s body, clumping up and growing larger. To my horror, God¡¯s Eye recognized them as more than just a complicated spell. Minor Mud Elemental: Level 12, 80/80hp Even as I watched, the elemental¡¯s level and health went up as it collected more mud. A few of them peeled off, headed our way, but the bulk of them directly attacked Tal¡¯Ket, stabbing into his flesh and attempting to yank off his feathers. Finally, there was something we could actually do. Before the first wave of elementals got anywhere near us, they were already frosted over, Verin¡¯s skills going to work immediately. Unfortunately, even frozen, they clung to Tal¡¯Ket¡¯s back, but Verin wasn¡¯t the only one who went to work. Summoning up a blade of fire, I raced from foe to foe, slicing them apart at their base and sending their frozen forms plummeting down to the clouds. It was a lurching, chaotic affair, but with wind magic keeping me from falling away, I somehow managed. On the few occasions I had a moment to breathe, I did my best to assist with the main fight, firing off a few dual air and frost arrows. The majority of them went wide, but with the extra speed from the air mana, a small handful managed to pierce Din¡¯Ket¡¯s sludgy form, frost radiating out from the impact sites. If perhaps the fight wasn¡¯t going perfectly, I liked to think we were doing pretty well. Over and over again, blades of wind sliced into the usurper while blasts of air threatened to send it toppling out of the sky. True, Din¡¯Ket was hardly sitting idle, but with us handling the elementals, it felt like we had the upper hand. Just as I had that thought, another toxic cloud washed over us right as Tal¡¯Ket was pulling off a particularly daring feat of aerial acrobatics. I easily resisted the damage from the cloud, but its effects on my vision were an entirely separate matter. The only warning I ended up getting was a brief flare of Danger Sense. You have been hit with a Mud Bolt for 230hp! Before I could even comprehend what was happening, I was sent flying through the air as a fridge-sized chunk of mud attempted to burrow through my chest. A series of cracks sounded out, which I at first thought would be my bones, only to realize they were from Verin¡¯s glacier instead. Not content to simply paste me with its blunt force, the mud decided to go one step further, reforming and encasing my legs. You have been bound! Movement skills locked. Even that would have been fine, all things considered. Once we fell into the clouds, the mud would get washed away. Unfortunately, Din¡¯Ket had other plans. Not having as much luck with the Roc Lord, the usurper decided to switch her attention to easier prey. In a moment of deja vu, Verin and I fell through the skies as the monstrous abomination homed in on us, splitting the air with a blood-curdling shriek. This time, however, it had far less distance to cross, and in only a second, its wide-open maw blotted out the entire sky, ready to swallow us whole. A second. Maybe two at the most, before we would have been bird chow. And then- Snick. A resplendent wing sliced through Din¡¯Ket¡¯s head. The chopped off beak veered off to the side, even as Tal¡¯Ket summoned a gust of wind to blast us away. Before I could get my bearings, we¡¯d already returned to his back.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. A part of me thought that would be it, but of course, we couldn¡¯t be so lucky. Just as it had previously, Din¡¯Ket reformed, pulling its two halves together. If anything, Tal¡¯Ket had taken more damage from the attack, his wing now entirely covered in mud. I shot off to clear the ever-growing elementals, but another crack from Verin¡¯s glacier pulled me up short. Unsummoning her defensive skill, the noble shouted out over the fierce winds. ¡°Lady Tess! What happened to Calilah!¡± I froze, my head darting around to catch sight of the rogue-turned-warrior. I half-expected her to reappear right behind us, but even with Verin¡¯s question, she remained hidden. Had she fallen off? When? And how? As if waiting for that exact moment, a lone figure screamed with all her might. ¡°WOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± Despite her great volume, I could barely hear Cal at all. Quite notably, that was because she was not on Tal¡¯Ket¡¯s back. Perched directly atop Din¡¯Ket¡¯s head and with the most giddy, jubilant expression I¡¯d ever seen, was the grand and holy princess of Ftheran. ¡°When did she even¡­¡± Nearly rendered speechless, it was all Verin could do to mumble out her words. ¡°And is she holding something?¡± As a matter of fact, she was. Grasped between her hands, of all things, was a bucket. One I recognized, too. ¡°Has anyone told you that you¡¯re a little dirty? Here, enjoy a quick bird bath.¡± With far too much fanfare, Cal then dumped the entirety of the bucket¡¯s contents on Din¡¯Ket¡¯s head. For good measure, she followed that off with an empowered strike before leaping from the usurper¡¯s body with a cheery shout. A warbled shriek slammed into us as a massive patch of Din¡¯Ket¡¯s head began to dissolve, its cries growing distorted as its mouth succumbed to the effect as well. Where the mud was washed away, feathers fell free, robbing the usurper of its aerial power. It wasn¡¯t quite a finishing blow, but it didn¡¯t need to be. That honor, after all, was meant for someone else. Seizing the moment, Tal¡¯Ket soared upwards and summoned his strongest blast of wind yet. Momentarily powerless to stop him, all Din¡¯Ket could do was watch as the gale surged into her, a sonic boom sounding out from the speed of the blow. Sent rocketing downwards, Din¡¯Ket at last fell into the clouds. Subjected to the powerful cleansing magic, half of her body sloughed off, even before she disappeared from view. Taking only a brief detour to swoop over to Cal and catch her, Tal¡¯Ket wasted no time in declaring his victory, filling the air with his triumphant cries. Once more, the massive roc was the uncontested lord of the skies. Or, he should have been. Cal was quick to note that such celebrations were premature. ¡°Hey! Did you get a notification that she¡¯s dead? Or did you see our quest get marked as completed? Because I didn¡¯t! Go, go, go! I don¡¯t want to have to do that all over again.¡± Cal tugged on a few feathers, as if she could steer Tal¡¯Ket if she tried hard enough. If somewhat indignant, the Roc Lord did eventually get the point, following in his sister¡¯s wake by swooping into the clouds. What little mud still covered him was washed away, and soon the skies gave way to the muddy earth below. Muddy earth that, quite notably, was rapidly pulling itself together. A mound of sludge surged and twisted about, a few errant feathers poking out of it. Several beaked maws formed from the sludge, all of them letting out their own discordant screeches. Even having been pushed through the clouds, the lord of the earth would not be defeated so easily. Din¡¯Ket the Usurper: Level 18, 800/1300hp Alive or not, the writing was on the wall. With much of her strength washed away, she had no chance of fighting against her brother. Not as she was, at least. More and more mud flowed into the growing mound, and as we watched, Din¡¯Ket¡¯s level ticked up by one. A single level was hardly cause for alarm, but as if to taunt us, another mass of mud began to rush in from the distance. Fragment of Din¡¯Ket Well before we could intercept it, the fragment joined up with its originator, melding into the main body. Din¡¯Ket the Usurper: Level 24, 2500/3000hp A shockwave rolled off of the mud, partly physical, partly made of mana. It spread through the entire region, and as I watched it unfold, Understanding perked up. ¡°A homing signal¡­¡± I mumbled out. It was summoning the rest of its wayward fragments. A tense silence reigned over the battlefield as Din¡¯Ket waited for the many fragments of her former self to join her. And waited. And¡­ waited. ¡°Told you it was a good idea,¡± Cal muttered, reclining as best she could on Tal¡¯Ket¡¯s back. ¡°Lady Calilah, need I remind you whose idea it was in the first place? I cannot fathom why you seem to be acting like you came up with it. Anyone could see it was a hazard to leave those things alone. Though I will admit we did miss one¡­¡± Verin bristled even as she absorbed the thinly veiled praise. The two continued to bicker as the lord of the earth waited for reinforcements that would never come. After all, while Cal had gone off on her own to collect all the feathers, Verin and I had needed to do something, right? If perhaps it wasn¡¯t one of the most pleasant weeks of my life, we¡¯d gotten very, very good at killing fragments. It would have been nice to say that the battle ended in some fitting act of epic heroism or some grand clash worthy of song. Without access to her many fragments, however, Din¡¯Ket barely put up a fight. Anemic tendrils of mud shot into the sky, not even reaching Tal¡¯Ket, let alone harming him. More toxic clouds erupted from her form, diffusing and dispersing before we could breathe them in. All the while, more mouths formed from every inch of the monstrosity below, screaming in rage, resentment, denial. Unhurried, and perhaps a bit reluctant, Tal¡¯Ket gathered all his might for one final working. In a distorted reflection to his sister below, Tal¡¯Ket released his own pulse of mana. As it spread through the sky, a single crack of thunder drowned out the cries below. And after the thunder, a drop. And then another. And another, and another after that. All throughout the entire region, the omnipresent cloud cover began to weep, a scattered trickle giving way to a steady downpour to a raging deluge. What by all rights should have created more mud somehow did the exact opposite. Wherever the water touched, all traces of dirt were washed away. Like a powerful acid, each drop continued straight down, scouring the earth until only water and bedrock remained. In this, Din¡¯Ket was not spared. Bit by bit, the once mighty lord of the earth was devoured by the biblical flood, frantically switching between all manner of defensive skills only for all of them to fail. Having spent both their moisture and their magic, the clouds began to thin, and the downpour at last began to slow. When finally the rain came to a complete stop, not a cloud remained. Instead, clear skies looked down upon a transformed land. Entirely uprooted, trees and patches of grass floated atop the newly formed lake. The pervasive scent of dirt and grime gave way to a subtler petrichor, and the air, first filled with hateful cries and then by the steady patter of the storm, at last settled into a complete silence. In that silence, the notification at last rolled in. Your party has defeated Din¡¯Ket the Usurper. Tal¡¯Ket, too, was uncharacteristically quiet. Rather than announce his victory or celebrate his newfound freedom, the lord of the skies flew off. Past the many sky islands, past the tower he once called home, the roc flew on until all traces of the flood below were behind him. Upon clearing the entire region, he landed, depositing the three of us in a patch of virgin grass. With a fluid, avian grace, he bowed, opening his beak. Rather than any sort of caw, the sounds that came out were entirely recognizable and in a resonant baritone. ¡°Thank you. A small part of me had hoped there might be some other ending to this tale, but it seems my sister was too far gone. You have my gratitude for putting her to rest at last.¡± With a wave of his wings, a giant golden chest appeared by his talons. Evidently not content with only that, the Roc Lord reached up to his head, plucking off three of the largest of his feathers. Under our gazes, the feathers shrunk and transformed themselves before rushing off towards the three of us. One curled about, snapping in place on my ankle, another doing much the same, but as a ring for Cal. The third wove itself into Verin¡¯s hair, the light blue pattern complementing her white locks. Quest Completed: Clear Skies II Without another word, the Roc Lord flew off, taking to the skies. In the wake of his sister¡¯s defeat, in addition to whatever gifts he¡¯d given us, the noble roc had left behind an air of solemnity. In the end, it was Cal who finally broke the silence by giving voice to what we were all thinking. ¡°Oh shit. He can talk.¡± While the others took in that sudden revelation, I quickly found myself overloaded. In front of us stood an unknown trove of rewards. Behind us sat a new and unexplored region. And before I could deal with either, I had something even bigger to take care of. As I scanned through the many notifications our quest completion had sparked, one stood out more than the rest. Congratulations! You have reached level 16! B4 C40: Nighty Night Given that I¡¯d passed all of the thresholds for my stats, I wasn¡¯t expecting anything too strange from the new level. Even so, I read through the notification first, curious to note what stats I¡¯d gain this time around. Congratulations! You have reached level 16! +2 Constitution +1 Strength +1 Intelligence +2 Wisdom +2 Endurance +1 Dexterity +1 Perception +1 Luck Divine Synergy Activated +1 Charisma I was getting to the point where one level¡¯s worth of stats -- even if I got far more than normal -- was becoming a drop in the bucket compared to how many I already had. In terms of my general fighting strength, I doubted all that much had changed. That wasn¡¯t to say that there weren¡¯t stats I still wanted more of. The Wisdom in particular was a nice bonus, partly to augment my mana control for enchanting, and partly to offset my mana loss in rougher fights now that I was spending more mana during battles. With many of the monsters here having attacks that were meant to go up against teams of level 25s, I was glad to get any extra Constitution I could get, too. Looking back a few lines, I was able to see exactly what had pushed me over the edge to the next level. Quest Completed: Clear Skies II +7500xp It was a generous boost to begin with, but coupled with a smaller 2500 from Clear Skies I and a touch more from defeating Din¡¯Ket, it was a massive windfall. As for the other quest rewards, it appeared that we would be left to examine them on our own. My attention shifted first to the feather wrapped around my ankle, largely white with dappled flecks of robin¡¯s egg blue. Despite what it was fashioned from, the anklet felt sturdy, its feathery bits thankfully not tickling me in the least bit. Talon Guard of the Roc Lord +3 Dexterity +2 Wisdom +1 Constitution Stabilizes the air around the wearer, increasing aerial maneuverability. While worn, all flight effects consume reduced mana. Seeing no real reason to hold off on testing it out, I jumped up, taking to the skies with a few Jet Steps. The maneuverability effect was immediately evident, allowing me to push against the air as if it were partially solid. This enabled all manner of aerial acrobatics, and I hoped it would give me more leverage if I needed to attack from the air. The mana reduction was the real winner, though, with my flight finally becoming something I could maintain throughout a fight without having to worry too much. If I went slow enough, my Jet Step usage was now covered by my natural regeneration rate, allowing me to stay aloft for as long as I pleased. By the time I returned to the ground, the others had already examined their own personal rewards, with one party seeming much more pleased than the other. I struggled to fully understand their reactions, although I could admit that Cal had gotten the better end of the deal, even if her ring¡¯s description was on the cheekier side. Chicken Itch +1 Dexterity +1 Endurance +1 Wisdom Channeling mana into this ring will summon the sword Chicken Scratch. Any damage to the sword will be repaired on each summon. Chicken Scratch Boost the effects of all mana enhancement abilities. Mana channeled into this sword will increase its sharpness, adding cutting winds and air damage to all attacks. While worn, birds may make fun of you behind your back. A message has been appended to this item. ¡°I would have named it something far grander had you not called me a plucked chicken.¡± - Tal¡¯Ket If the name or the secondary effect bothered Cal in the least bit, she didn¡¯t show it. Already, she had summoned her new blade, swinging it about. As to perhaps be expected, it took the form of a large feather, smaller than the greatswords used by the skeleton champions, but still looking oversized in her hands. As she swiped it through the air, gusts of wind followed, her sheer joy making her look far more like a child with a toy than a deadly warrior with an Epic blade. For Verin¡¯s part, the feather in her hair was a touch simpler. Ornithological Ornamentation +1 Wisdom +1 Constitution Releases a burst of wind whenever the wearer would suffer fall damage, arresting their downward motion. Passively calm¡¯s the wearer¡¯s stomach, curing motion sickness and nausea. A bit lackluster on the stat bonuses, and I wasn¡¯t sure why Verin would care about motion sickness, but still a highly valuable trinket. Given that Cal could disperse into the air, that made Verin the only one of us who couldn¡¯t survive a high enough drop. I felt far more relieved now that such a glaring weakness was shored up. The experience and the items alone would have been a good reward for clearing this region, but the large chest before us promised even more. I wondered if this had anything to do with how thorough we¡¯d been in grabbing all the feathers or eliminating nearly all of the fragments. Of course, I also wondered if there had been better ways to go about the whole debacle. Tal¡¯Ket¡¯s words had me thinking that killing Din¡¯Ket hadn¡¯t been an inevitability. Were there more diplomatic solutions to what we¡¯d gone through? And would they have rewarded us as well? It was impossible to say, but I would try to remember a broader perspective moving forward. Regardless, seeming to need a distraction from her nausea curative, Verin was already en route to the chest, unceremoniously flinging it open as Cal continued to play with her sword. ¡°Riches,¡± was all she said. I hadn¡¯t been aware someone could say that word with such unenthused disappointment, but admittedly, even had she not been rich, there wasn''t much to buy around here. I peeked into the chest for myself, confirming that she was mostly correct. Most of the contents were gold or the same jade-like substance this region seemed to pride itself on. A smaller section was for resources, with a bit of white ore and some seeds sprinkled in. Still, I immediately saw something the high noble had missed. Having lost her first Perception threshold bonuses, Verin clearly couldn¡¯t see that one item in the lot had far more mana than the rest. Appearance-wise, it looked near identical to the many aerial gems we¡¯d used to pull up new islands. Its effects were anything but standard, however. Tal¡¯Ket¡¯s Summoning Plate Summons Tal¡¯Ket, Lord of the Skies. When summoned, Tal¡¯Ket can carry up to five people across the dungeon. This form of transportation may only be used to travel between regions that all passengers have visited before. Additionally, Tal¡¯Ket cannot fly over regions whose bosses have not been defeated yet. Cooldown: 2 weeks It was a game-changer, and I had a strong desire to use it right then and there. Both body and brain were begging for a return to our humble cabin, and I finally had the means to indulge them. At the same time, I knew we would want more information before we went back. Specifically, we needed to know what the next region would be, either to prepare or to skirt around it in hopes of finding an alternative path forward. I related all of this to the others, doing my best not to let my desire to return home bleed through. As equally dreaded and expected, they opted to push forward a bit more, Verin¡¯s disappointment disappearing behind a mask of professionalism now that we had a new goal to pursue.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. A quick glance out our compass pointed us in the right direction, and as one, we set off. Thankfully, Tal¡¯Ket had dropped us off at the proper elevation, and we weren¡¯t forced to scale any massive cliffs or dive off of any floating islands. Instead, the landscape underwent another of its characteristic abrupt transitions. In the distance, the grass beneath our feet vanished, replaced with a thick and chaotic treeline. The many trunks in sight were covered in creeping vines, and even from here, I could make out the chirping of birds and chattering of insects. ¡°Curious.¡± Verin scanned our destination with a slight frown. ¡°I was made to believe that the dungeon would not repeat any biomes or mana types. Was I mistaken?¡± It was an understandable confusion given the forest we¡¯d already encountered. While we¡¯d yet to find or defeat the boss of the woods near our cabin, Cal and I had both spent some time exploring it. Based on the Vitality Panthers and other wildlife, we¡¯d assumed the forest was the dungeon¡¯s life-mana region. If so, though, what did that make the woods ahead? Or, perhaps woods wasn¡¯t the right word. As we neared, it grew increasingly clear that our next biome could only be described as a jungle. Even before we formally entered the region, the air grew far more humid, and I struggled to find a patch of ground not completely covered in vegetation. The sheer abundance of life here had me second guessing whether or not this was the life biome. Any such confusion, however, was quickly dispelled the moment we crossed the treeline. You are poisoned! Take 1 damage every 5 seconds. Each breath coated my tongue, fresh and invigorating save for an unpleasant, acrid undertone. I did my best to take in our surroundings, searching for any possible sources to the fumes I was inhaling, but I came up short. As best I could tell, the entire jungle would be more of the same. ¡°So it¡¯s a poison region,¡± Cal surmised. ¡°Not great for us, honestly. The toxic mud clouds were bad enough. If the poison covers the entire jungle, this is even worse.¡± As it stood, even with Cal watching over us, we wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep here without constantly taking damage. ¡°That being said, there¡¯s probably a way to make it through,¡± she continued. ¡°Let me scout it out for a while, and depending on what I find, we can figure out if we want to continue or if we should go around this region.¡± Neither of us voiced any objections, and as such, Cal turned invisible, presumably shooting off over the thick undergrowth. For our parts, we took as many precautions as we could without outright leaving the jungle. Already having encountered airborne toxins before, Verin was quick to enter her backpack form, climbing onto my back and activating her defensive skill. With my own armor already summoned, I was optimistic that we¡¯d be safe from most threats the jungle could throw at us, or at least have enough time to run away from them. Without knowing more, I had little desire to wade into the depths of the jungle, and I trusted that Cal would be better at gathering the information we needed. Still, there were certain skills I¡¯d picked up that the rogue-turned-warrior was lacking in. When it came to an area thick with so much plant life, the most relevant of said skills was my Herbalism. As I paced along the treeline, I swept my gaze over the many herbs and vines, hoping to find anything worthwhile. Very quickly, I was rewarded. Unlike in the standard life forest where I had to hunt down any interesting plants, the poison region was teeming with them. The cause of this difference was immediately clear, too, in the sense that all the plants I examined shared a single property. Toxic Razor-fern Dead Man¡¯s Thistle Stinging Tree Nettle Everything I saw was in some way poisonous. Thankfully, those poisons were largely only an issue if ingested or applied topically, but the sheer amount of poison about me was still staggering. Naturally, I wanted all of it. For all sorts of reasons, I wanted to grab samples of the herbs around me. The poison could be a valuable training aid, both for my Poison Resistance and my Alchemy. On top of that, while Cal had eschewed her cloak-and-dagger routine, we could still use it to coat our weapons. On a lesser note, I was always looking for enough new specimens to warrant an extra section to my garden. In truth, though, none of that was the primary reason I was so greedily eying the plants around me. Odds are at least one of all these tastes good, right? It was pretty much guaranteed! A lot of herbs, I¡¯d discovered, often tasted like grass. When it came to the poisonous ones, though? So far, they had a shockingly great track record. From an evolutionary standpoint, I was pretty sure that was very backwards, as your average poison was supposed to taste extremely bitter. Either the mana in them somehow ruined that assumption, or perhaps the dungeon had created them to be tasty in hopes of claiming more lives. Regardless, many had a lovely spicy, tingly mouthfeel that was a rare pleasure in this often flavorless dungeon. With Cal gone and Verin still sealed up in her glacier, no one had anything to say as I summoned up a dagger and began to harvest whatever I could. Nearly everything I encountered was too advanced for my Herbalism to fully identify, but the skill still partially helped me collect them without ruining them outright. Bark, vines, mosses, and berries all went directly into my storage, one after the other. Herbalism has reached level 13! Oooh. Big mushroom. An exceptionally chunky toadstool sat a few paces forward, its sickly green color making no effort in masking its nature. Burrowing Serpent¡¯s Tongue An admittedly odd name for a mushroom given its lack of resemblance to anything vaguely snakelike, but that was neither here nor there. I went in to slice the shroom at the base, confident that my dagger would make quick work of it. As if to punish me for my arrogance, the ground chose that moment to erupt. Five, chalk-white tendrils sprung forth, far thicker than fungal roots tended to be. Disconcertingly, each of them sported two black dots and an opening that could generously be considered a mouth. As they attacked in tandem, targeting different areas of my body, I reflected that perhaps I should have given more stock to the mushroom¡¯s name. Two of them wrapped around my legs while another bashed into my wrist. The fourth opened up its mouth to reveal tiny fungal fangs, attempting to sink them into my forearm. A quick yank tore away the roots on my legs, while the other attempts were easily rebuffed by my armor. As the fifth root stood still, warily observing, I turned to face it with only a sense of pity. ¡°Sorry shroom. Maybe that would work on a squirrel or something, but you¡¯ll have to try harder than that for me.¡± The last root opened its mouth, and for a second, I thought it would somehow respond to my provocation. And in a way, it did. Just not with words. From the mouth of the root, a stream of spores spewed out, directly into my face. My extensive armor, offering head-to-toe coverage from physical blows, did nothing to stop the airborne particles. Before I could stop myself, I breathed in the many spores even as they covered my face. You have been poisoned! Take 6 damage every second for 1 minute. Motor coordination impaired. -2 to Perception Moderate hallucinogenic effects and cognitive impairment may persist for multiple hours. ¡°Agh. Ach. Crap.¡± Instantly, I recoiled, the spores stinging my eyes even as they burned my airways. With my Charisma threshold bonus, I theoretically could have kept myself from coughing or tearing up, but in this case, I very much so wanted my body to remove whatever spores it could. Rethinking my herbalism excursion, I rushed out of the jungle entirely. Despite my heightened Dexterity, I found myself stumbling awkwardly, nearly tripping over the dense underforest a dozen times. The very moment I passed the treeline, I doubled over onto all fours, hacking up a lung as my body tried and failed to clear my airways through mundane means. A sharp crack signaled Verin deactivating her glacier skill, and she began to pepper me with all manner of questions. Despite my excellent Perception, though, the words seemed garbled. Was something wrong with her mouth? I took a break from my coughing fit to more fully examine my companion, and just as I¡¯d thought, her mouth was strange. As I watched, her skin began to warp and turn purple, her lips widening out and curving in impossible ways. Parts of her seemed to vaporize, dispersing into the air around her which twisted and roiled in a dizzying dance. Her hair, normally a stark white, turned to snow and began to fall apart. Unable to take in what I was seeing, I flopped to the ground, unable to close my eyes as everything started to spin. My thoughts were similarly jumbled, and it took me some time to grasp them firmly enough to speak. ¡°Verin! I didn¡¯t know you could shapeshift.¡± Was that a new skill, or had she just never told me? ¡°You look very nice. Thank you for showing me. That¡¯s me lying, by the way. You look kind of scary, but I¡¯m not going to tell you something mean like that. Ooh! Two!¡± A second figure appeared to Verin¡¯s side, though I found it hard to make out the newcomer¡¯s identity. They were just as bizarrely jumbled as Verin, their skin a neon orange. ¡°Verin, did you learn a clone ability? Or is that Cal? I bet it¡¯s Cal. Cal, why didn¡¯t you tell me you had a shapeshifting skill too! Now I feel left out.¡± Evidently, their changes didn¡¯t stop there, as the two of them began rapidly speaking in an entirely unfamiliar tongue. Did they get together and learn a new language? Well, that was kind of mean. Not that I had anything against being bilingual or anything -- in fact, it was pretty cool! But why learn a new language except to talk behind my back? Their words slowed down and grew louder, more insistent. At first, I thought they were rubbing in their secret language skills, but then it hit me! They wanted to teach me their secret language too! I eagerly nodded to make it clear I understood, doing my best to pick up on each word they uttered. Most went over my head, but maybe the language was related to Common? They repeated a few words over and over, and I could have sworn that they sounded familiar. Disk. Home. Home. Disk. Bird. Disk. What a weird conversation topic! Who would ever think to talk about bird home disks? That was a neat coincidence though, wasn¡¯t it? I was pretty sure I¡¯d seen some sort of bird home disk earlier today, hadn¡¯t I? Oh! That¡¯s right. Without much thought, I summoned up the relevant item, eager to show it off. Before I could so much as utter a word, Cal snatched the disk from my hand. That wasn¡¯t very nice. I wanted to tell her that, but all such thoughts fled as some manner of commotion began. With a great surge of mana, a massive white form appeared behind Cal and Verin. As I took in its wings, its tail, and its protruding, beak-like nose, I realized I knew exactly what I was looking at. ¡°Airplane!¡± I exclaimed. Woah. They build an airplane. That¡¯s so cool. All the work that went into building it must have been incredible. The sheer scope of the task had my brain short-circuiting, and I found myself spacing out. When I came to, I¡¯d moved, somehow finding myself lying on the back of said airplane. The wind rushed around us as we soared through the sky. I tried to move, but something was lashing me down. Nice. Always use your seatbelts! Safety first. Always a fan of nodding off on long flights if I could help it, I did my best to pass out. Thankfully, neither my mind nor my body fought that desire, and I nodded off in short order. Nighty night!
An indeterminable amount of time later, I awoke in a familiar room and in a familiar bed. My head swam, as though suffering from a hangover on steroids. Blearily, I tried to recall how I¡¯d gotten here, my fuzzy mind momentarily drawing a blank. ¡°What the hell happened to me?¡± Hoping that the system could offer me some clarity, I scanned my notifications. With the very first one I read, everything came rushing back, and I groaned. Poison Resistance has reached level 17! B4 C41: Decompressing Drinking has reached level 14! ¡°Lady Tess,¡± Verin choked out, only her Etiquette level keeping her from coughing up a lung. ¡°With all that you¡¯ve built here, one wonders if we might install a still of sorts. Surely we would all benefit from rectifying the lack of quality alcohol, no?¡± Even after all these months, Verin eyed her moonshine warily, as if it would lurch out of her cup and slap her. ¡°Just think of it as training!¡± Cal supplied. ¡°We had to inhale toxic mud and that nasty jungle poison in the last few regions. By the time you get used to the moonshine, you won¡¯t even flinch at stuff like that.¡± To prove her point, Cal knocked back the rest of her cup, managing to do so with barely a wince. Needing something to wash down the potent booze, she snatched a strip of gryphon off the makeshift stone grill that sat between us, throwing it into her mouth. She barely bothered to chew it before swallowing, rubbing her oily fingers against her pants to clean them. Uncertain as to what deserved her disgust more, Verin nearly went cross-eyed trying to direct her contempt to both her drink and her royal companion. Evidently needing to be more drunk to handle Cal¡¯s lack of decorum, Verin did her best to down the rest of her cup as well. Following suit, I finished mine as well before conjuring up another ball of moonshine. All three of us scooped our cups into the floating sphere, and on we drank. If perhaps to be expected, the first thing we did after we returned home was to celebrate. Or, not the very first thing. The first three days had been dedicated to waiting for me to wake up. Thankfully, I was able to pass off my long slumber as a side-effect of my overzealous mushroom harvesting and the spores I¡¯d inhaled. In reality, that was far from the truth. Poison Resistance, as it turned out, was not my only resistance to end up leveling after I fell asleep. Soul Resistance has reached level 12! Mental Resistance has reached level 19! It had been over a month since we¡¯d set off on our grand journey to clear the sky and darkness regions, and in that time, I¡¯d been doing my best to power through without worrying the others. Finally having returned to the cabin on our ¡°airplane,¡± however, I was able to fully relax in a way that my mind and soul had been begging me to. With both the long rest and the newfound levels, I found myself feeling clearer headed and more refreshed than I had in ages. Which was good. I was quickly sensing that I would need that energy to make it through the night. We had quite a lot to celebrate, after all, and despite her distaste for our drink of choice, even Verin was in a mood to ¡°go hard,¡± so to speak. Part of that was just being back home. Now that we no longer needed to worry about rationing food or avoiding hangovers, there was no reason to hold back. More than that, though, we were coming off the high of clearing an entire two new regions. Back when we¡¯d first gotten here, even that much had felt like a pipe dream. Cal and Verin had essentially been confined to the cabin, and when we¡¯d first started fighting scorpions, even one of the creatures was enough to make for a pitched battle. Even if they hadn¡¯t been too useful in the darkness region, the two couldn¡¯t help but look at our progress with pride. It certainly didn¡¯t hurt that all three of us had returned with a new level under our belts. ¡°Board games now, or is it too early?¡± Having already finished her next glass, Cal was keen on doing more than just eating and drinking. I, for one, was eager to agree. There wasn¡¯t that much for three people stuck in a dungeon to do during a party, and board games were far preferable to the alternatives. The last time we¡¯d all gotten too drunk, she¡¯d tried to rope us into dueling, and the time before that, she¡¯d attempted to make me perform some songs from Earth. Just about anything would be better than that. ¡°Very well. But I will be choosing the game.¡± Verin¡¯s tone brooked no argument, which naturally meant that Cal immediately began to argue. Their heated bickering took longer than any board game possibly could, though I felt no need to stop them. I still sometimes struggled to catch social cues these days, but their back-and-forth felt warmer than I recalled. ¡°Solitaire? You want to play solitaire? The game that Tess taught us specifically because it¡¯s one-player?¡± Cal gripped her hair as Verin did her best to hide her wry amusement. Over the months, the noble had gotten far better at determining what she could say to set the princess off, and she delighted in doing so. It was a welcome change from the stiff exasperation Cal used to engender in Verin. While a small part of it might have been Verin¡¯s new class weakening the grip of her Etiquette skill, I liked to believe our recent journey had helped the two grow closer. Eventually, the two managed to settle on some slow-paced card game, which we had long since created all manner of drinking rules for. Either my Luck and Gambling skill were failing me for once, or Cal was performing some sort of sleight of hand, as I lost brutally. Whether it was the booze or my recent levels in soul and mental resistance, I wasn¡¯t sure. Much to my eternal shame and horror, however, by the time the night was over, I did give in to peer pressure this time. You have learned a new skill: Singing My only consolation was that no one had a recording crystal to capture my tone-deaf shrieks, and for once, I was the one to push more drinks on the others, in hopes that they would forget what they¡¯d heard. There was, however, only so much celebrating a person could do. When at last the night drew to a close, I ended up groggily ambling off to bed. A full day later, when the worst of our hangovers abated, we slowly settled back in to our old routines.
In the wake of our revelry, our trio was still collectively feeling positive about our progress. On the flip side, if there was one thing that put a damper on our spirits, it was the poison region. The more we thought about it, the more we realized that we¡¯d hit a wall of sorts. Verin was fine. With her glacier skill, she¡¯d be able to traverse the jungle with no problem as long as I carried her. Cal and I were a different matter, though. For Cal, she still wasn¡¯t able to keep her Apex Shroud up 24/7. That was fine when it came to the toxic mud cloud, as it had been much smaller. If we were forced to endure the poison jungle for days on end, though, she¡¯d be subjected to a good deal of poison by the end of it. In the worst case scenario, if she inhaled something like the mushroom spores I¡¯d disturbed, she¡¯d be in a very bad spot. Even if we managed to find some ways to cleanse poisons, she didn¡¯t feel comfortable with the region until she had at least one more level under her belt. I was much the same. The bulk of the region¡¯s dangers would be fully negated once I got my hands on my Arcane Choker class skill, but having spent the bulk of my class points during my fight with the forsaken seer, I wasn¡¯t grabbing it any time soon. Ultimately, that left us with three real options. One, wait around and train up until we were ready to tackle the poison region. Two, try to go around the jungle, pushing through one of the regions to its sides. Three, abandon the entire area for now, tackling one of the other directions instead. Logically, there was a clear answer. According to Sett, the further we moved from the center of the dungeon, the tougher the monsters we could expect to run into. The smart thing to do would be to slowly clear the dungeon in a spiral pattern, giving us the most possible experience before pushing into harder areas. From a morale standpoint, it was trickier. It felt like we were so close to finally making it to one of the mana storage sites. Not only would that make us all feel a lot more confident about eventually getting out of here, but it would also let us wake Sett up again. At the very least, I was confident I could bug him for some new spells. The only option that was fully off the table was skirting the jungle. It would make our journey longer, and if we entered a region that wasn¡¯t adjacent to the sky biome, we wouldn¡¯t be able to use Tal¡¯Ket to get home. If the poison region truly turned out to be impossible to clear, we would consider it, but only as a last resort. Anything related to the jungle, however, was something of a moot point for now. Tal¡¯Ket¡¯s summoning plate was still on cooldown, which meant we were effectively stuck here unless we left by foot. Thankfully, that didn¡¯t mean we were just sitting around twiddling our thumbs. If anything, I quickly found myself busier than ever, our recent journey offering me a host of new avenues to explore.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Alchemy has reached level 9! I dipped a pinky into the cauldron of bubbling green liquid below me, bringing it up to my tongue to sample the smallest of drops. You have been poisoned! A host of secondary effects followed, though none of them were anything to write home about. The taste was nice, at least, with a pleasant smokiness that I could see going well on ribs. As for the potency, while I¡¯d collected a host of valuable reagents, both my skill and equipment were lacking. Skill-wise, that was something I was attempting to remedy presently. Mostly, that meant brewing dozens of different poisons. Not always, of course. A handful of herbs had different effects, and if prepared just right, some of the poisonous plants could be used to make curatives and cleansing potions. It was these that I was most excited about, hopefully offering us some extra defense for when we returned to the jungle. With that being said, none of them were particularly strong. At least not yet. With the bulk of my ingredients being too high-leveled for my Alchemy and Herbalism skills to fully identify, I was left doing things the old-fashioned way, through trial and error. Even a single plant could result in dozens of different effects and strengths depending on which part I used, how I prepared it, what I combined it with, and at what heat I brewed it. The class I¡¯d taken back in Sylum had prepared me well for this, with multiple lessons having been dedicated to exactly this sort of experimentation. Still, it was still a slow-going process. Bottling my latest batch in a stone container and storing it away, I repeated the process all over again. It was a routine process by now, and one that was becoming increasingly mindless for me. As such, it was something of a shock when I received a new notification. Right after sampling my sixth attempt (highly poisonous, awful tasting), the system offered me something that was at once both fresh and familiar. You have been offered a quest: Mithridatism II Already, you have taken the first step on the path of the powerful and the paranoid, bolstering your resistance to a myriad of potent poisons. The road to true immunity, however, winds endlessly onwards. To forge ahead, half measures will not suffice. Only when poison flows through every vein in your body will you be able to advance. Requirements: Take 100,000 accumulated damage from self-inflicted poison. Dose yourself with at least 50 different types of poison. Of those 50, at least 20 must be Uncommon, 10 Rare, and 1 Epic. Additionally, 10 must confer differing secondary effects. Rewards: 5000xp Dependent on your current level of Poison Resistance, up to 5 additional levels in Poison Resistance. Greatly reduces the effects of all low-rarity or weak poisons used against you. I¡¯d finished the first quest in the quest line back in Sylum, and given that it was titled Mithridatism I, I wasn¡¯t overly surprised to find that there was a second. With our eventual destination, I was glad to receive it, too. Even a few extra levels in Poison Resistance would make me feel far better about our odds, although it was questionable if I¡¯d actually complete the quest in a short enough timeframe to make it matter. Ignoring the requirements to find an Epic poison, 100,000 damage was no laughing matter. Still, that¡¯s no reason not to start working on it now. After bottling the newest cauldron¡¯s worth of poison, I began on the next, mixing in some of the herbs I¡¯d grabbed from the dark labyrinth. Unsurprisingly, the end concoction was a deep black color. With a quest to complete, I decided to up my dosage this time around, sampling a full spoonful of the finished product. You have been poisoned! You have been blinded! You have been paralyzed! As the world went dark and my muscles stiffened, I made sure to keep my mind focused on what really mattered. Kind of tastes like licorice¡­
For all that I was focusing on my alchemy, it was hardly the only one of my hobbies to receive my attention. In the aftermath of our long journey, three other professional skills all gained levels. Enchanting has reached level 6! Advanced Internal Mana Manipulation has reached level 16! Intrinsic External Mana Manipulation has reached level 4! While I hadn¡¯t gained any valuable insights into the deeper workings of enchantments, I had grabbed a few more points of Wisdom, courtesy of my most recent level. The extra points yielded a small but noticeable bump to my mana skills, allowing me to work my mana with a bit more finesse. I wasn¡¯t quite able to handle the mana-pulling addon that had stopped me previously, especially without the proper materials, but small progress was progress all the same. Cooking has reached level 16! The level was a long time coming, as cooking was one of the few things that I did almost every day. Even if I¡¯d wanted to stop, I wasn¡¯t cruel enough to leave Verin to fend for herself. I¡¯d seen some of her cooking attempts, and even calling them edible would have been undue praise. In this case, though, I owed the level to something more concrete than my standard dinner fare. As of late, I¡¯d been experimenting with a host of new ingredients, courtesy of my other professional skill to finally level. Gardening has reached level 6! If nothing else, our trip had been kind to my humble garden. We hadn¡¯t been gone long enough for it to grow too unruly, and in fact, it was quite the opposite. After a bit of careful pruning, everything I¡¯d planted was looking better than ever, with crisp, healthy leaves reaching for the sky. How exactly that worked without a sun, I wasn¡¯t sure, nor particularly did I care. What had begun as two small patches of earth -- one for standard plants and one for less friendly ones -- had now grown to four. In both cases, the new additions corresponded to one of the regions we¡¯d conquered. The first was for the handful of plants and seeds included in Tal¡¯Ket¡¯s rewards. Unlike the fairly standard grasses and trees we¡¯d seen on the sky islands, these seemed to be more magical in nature. In fact, planting them initially hadn¡¯t done much until I¡¯d had the idea to bury a few aerial gems alongside them. The result was both bizarre and unexpected: Over the course of a few days, beads of water began to float near the earth, growing denser over time. By the end of the first week, my third garden patch was completely covered in fluffy white clouds. Nothing I¡¯d planted had yet broken through the cloud cover, but I¡¯d confirmed by touch that they¡¯d all finally sprouted. As for the darkness plants, I was forced to get equally creative to get them to grow. Here, I had a wider variety of cultivars to cultivate, half from the labyrinth caches I¡¯d discovered, and half from the safe room. Various blindness-curing herbs like the Blind Man¡¯s Bracken made an appearance here, along with the Soothing Dusk Fruit we¡¯d eaten on Verin¡¯s birthday. I¡¯d even dug a pond to try growing the Dark Pondweed we¡¯d used like seaweed. Unfortunately, not a single one of them would grow in the light. Having slain the labyrinth¡¯s boss, however, I was sporting just the right thing to address that. In the middle of my plot, I plopped the Lightless Heart I¡¯d grabbed from the forsaken seer, activating it to blanket the area in darkness. To take things one step further, I made sure to water the plants with dark water, some of which I¡¯d gathered from the safe room¡¯s pond, some of which I¡¯d grabbed after killing the seer. Not wanting to run out, I conjured more with Create Liquid. With how much moonshine we had saved up, I didn¡¯t need to be making more each day, and I could always switch the spell back if need be. All that to say, even without counting the new poisons I¡¯d harvested, I now had far more herbs and spices to play with. I would have to use what I had on hand sparingly until the garden could grow us more, but that didn¡¯t stop me from experimenting. The air plants were the only ones I hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to taste before, although a good deal of them were incredibly delicate. They dissolved when stewed or outright evaporated when exposed to dry heat. The flavors they imparted were likewise subtle, adding gentle hints of their respective flavors in a way that reminded me of la croix, of all things. If I ever got my hands on some flour, I thought they¡¯d be good for pastries. As it stood, most of them were a bad match for our standard meat-heavy meals, although one had a sort of cranberry taste that was fine in sauces. In light of everything we had going on, I would understand if someone thought my growing obsessions with gardening and cooking were a bit frivolous. They were! But they were also keeping me one step closer to sanity. And besides, not everything I did during our break was fraught with frivolity. Having maxed out my rank in Overload Weapon and Overload Armor, I¡¯d opened up two new class trials to try out. Even from the outset, I could tell that they would both be easier than Arcane Vision¡¯s, as was par for the course for weaponmaster and armorist trials. That was doubly true this time around, as the skills in question were fairly simple. Much like on my previous go-arounds, I was stuck fighting conjured enemies and running bothersome obstacle courses, this time with a much larger emphasis on mana conservation. At my current rate of progress, I hoped to be done with both trials in only a month or two. And last but not least, there were my efforts to grab enough class points to buy Arcane Choker. With spell schools being the simplest path forward for me, I threw myself into training with as much gusto as I could muster up. While I worked on all of my remaining Initiate-tier magics, I gave special attention to Water Magic. It had hit 19 while I¡¯d been fighting the mud elementals, making it the closest to the next rank. Well before I could eke out that final level, however, our two weeks came to a close. Frankly, I¡¯d expected Verin to pull us into some sort of strategy meeting by now, but it seemed that she was more than content to defer any tough decisions for now. Especially in the wake of all the mud we¡¯d endured, I often caught her either heading to or returning from the baths I¡¯d built, and I imagined she was loath to leave them. No, without Verin to herd us along, it was Cal who ended up cornering the two of us. Considerably more startling than the speaker were the words themselves, however. ¡°So, just a thought here.¡± Grabbing the two of us by opposite shoulders, she squeezed me and Verin together, eliciting an icy glare from the high noble. ¡°But how would you two feel about clearing a region without me?¡± B4 C42: Into the Woods The suggestion to brave another region wasn¡¯t overly surprising. It was, after all, kind of the point if we ever wanted to get out of here. To do so without Cal, however, was significantly less expected. More than that, it was less appealing, too. As the only one of us who could somehow go completely without sleep or food, Cal was a godsend when it came to keeping us safe during longer trips. Considering that Verin couldn¡¯t deal direct damage, either, Cal¡¯s absence would force me to fight all the harder. Expecting the questions and concerns, Cal elaborated without prompting. ¡°Hear me out. We only have four uncleared biomes that we know about right now: the lake, the forest, the mountains, and the jungle. Jungle is out until we level up a bit. Lake is out until we grow gills. That pretty much leaves two options. If we do the mountains, then Verin shouldn¡¯t come. If we do the forest, then I shouldn¡¯t.¡± That much, I had to agree with. All three of us had grown by leaps and bounds since coming here, but we still had various weaknesses. For Verin, the gryphons were her natural enemy. Carrying her around in ¡°backpack mode¡± wasn¡¯t going to work. To start, it would hinder my mobility, especially in the skies. More importantly, her ice had to be very thin for that strategy to work, and the gryphons would have no trouble cracking her skill open. On the flip side, her Advancing Glacier skill took a while to form. If she just walked alongside us and summoned it as needed, then she would be vulnerable to ambushes. Worse yet, I was fairly certain that some of our feathery foes would be able to pick her up, glacier and all. With her new hair ornament from Tal¡¯Ket, she wouldn¡¯t die from fall damage, but once she was properly in the sky, she¡¯d be at the gryphons¡¯ mercy. We could probably keep her safe 99% of the time, but all it would take was one mistake for her to be gone for good. It was a risk I saw no reason to take. Despite her stealth, Cal had a similar problem with the forest. Even in backpack mode, Verin would be more than safe from the relatively lackluster claws of the Vitality Panthers. Cal, on the other hand, had next to no real defense, relying exclusively on her Apex Shroud to avoid strikes outright. As it was, we¡¯d yet to find proper armor for her that covered the entirety of her neck and head. Until she could keep her skill up continuously, though, there would be periods of time when she¡¯d be open to attack. With the panthers¡¯ stealth and speed, they could easily tear through her before we got a chance to intervene. Not to gloat, but I, of course, would be fine in both regions. ¡°While I understand your logic in part,¡± Verin responded, ¡°is there a reason that you wish for us to traverse the forest instead of you two climbing the mountains? I do not see why one would be vastly preferable to the other.¡± Cal beamed, as if hoping Verin would ask exactly that. ¡°Are you going to tell me that if Tess and I left you alone for a few weeks, we wouldn¡¯t come back to find you half-dead from food poisoning and starvation?¡± The air grew icy as Verin tried and failed to target Cal with her spells. Before she could resort to more drastic measures, Cal hastily amended herself. ¡°Real answer, though, is that I think that would suck for you. If we leave you by yourself, you can fight some scorpions every few days, but otherwise, you¡¯ll be bored out of your mind. If I go solo, I can try and find the boss of the mountains region. I can also take Tal¡¯Ket for a joy ride and try to do some scouting to see if there are other biomes that are better suited for us.¡± At least partly mollified, Verin refrained from impaling the princess atop an ice wall. Instead, after careful consideration, she responded with a resolute nod. ¡°Very well, then. When do we depart?¡±
The answer, as it turned out, was ¡°not now.¡± Under the guise of wanting more time to consolidate our gains from our previous trip, all three of us decided to stick around in the cabin for a tad longer. Even with my spotty record of interpreting social cues these days, I could easily discern the true reason: We wanted a bit more time to relax. That wasn¡¯t to say that we didn¡¯t train or fight in the coming weeks, but there was a certain psychic weight that came with spending too much time in hostile territory. Sleeping safely in our own beds was a luxury that even the sleepless Cal was reluctant to give up. If perhaps we extended our vacation by a full month, then where was the harm? With the time dilation, that was less than a week back home in any case. And regardless, we were putting our break to good use. Case in point, presently, I was trying to answer two very important questions: How much water could sand absorb, and how wet did sand need to be before giant scorpions had trouble walking over it? As a great mass of claw and chitin closed in on me while screeching with fury and bloodlust, I continued my experiment. Spatial Step. Right as the hellish arachnid would have split me in twain, I teleported away. Like a bull narrowly missing a matador, it barreled onwards, its momentum forcing it forward. Its many claws dug into the damp sand, finding purchase without any issue. Damn. I¡¯d been at it for a good twenty minutes at this point, and I was worried the scorpion was going to tire out before I succeeded. Still, that was no reason to stop now. Dampen. Dampen. Dampen. I chained the spell rapidly in succession while also firing off a few overcharged water arrows. Even as I did so, I was also channeling water mana into my eyes, armor, feet, and gloves, trying to maximize my skill growth. As I watched, the stretch of desert I¡¯d been focusing on momentarily turned a bit soupy before the sand greedily sucked up the moisture. Three more times, I led the scorpion into the slowly forming oasis, and three more times, it charged through without issue. On the fourth time, though, I had high hopes. The section of desert I¡¯d been focusing on was practically quicksand by now, a sandy morass that even I would have trouble navigating without my movement skills. The first of the beast¡¯s claws sank into the sand, slowing it, but not ultimately holding it in place. Giant clumps of soggy sand flew into the sky as it ripped its limbs from my makeshift trap. With each new leg that entered, however, its movements grew more stilted and erratic, until it at last lost its bearings, crashing to the ground. I cheered, only to realize that my celebrations were premature. Mana erupted from the scorpion¡¯s carapace, and as I watched, the wet sand ripped itself from the ground. If somewhat less gracefully than usual, it flowed over the monster¡¯s body, forming a thick armor. The ground, previously drenched and waterlogged, was now completely dry once more. I sighed. Guess we do this the normal way. Summoning up my hammer, I began to funnel as much water mana as I could into the weapon. Less than a minute later, a great crunch filled the desert air. You have defeated a Sand-encrusted Scorpion! Hammers has reached level 17! Water Magic has reached level 20! I allowed myself a small grin as the expected quest completion notification rolled in, along with a new augment.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Volumetric Augment All water effects which directly conjure water can now conjure greater amounts at no additional cost. It wasn¡¯t overly flashy, but especially if it applied to the Conjure Liquid variant of my Conjure Water cantrip, it was a welcome upgrade. I assumed it would also work on Dampen, though it wouldn¡¯t help with any of the water variants of my class skills. Done reading, I spared a glance at my surroundings. A small crater had formed from the force of the blow, with both me and the scorpion sitting at the bottom. Or, at least what was left of the scorpion. Having been struck with the force with the full brunt of my fully upgraded Overload Weapon class skill, it wasn¡¯t in the best of states. Chunks of its body had flown off, liberally coating the inside of the crater, limbs poking out from the newly dampened sand. Even having achieved my goal, I gave the scene a slight frown. ¡°Probably can¡¯t use this one for dinner, can I?¡±
The rest of my break thankfully involved far fewer crushed scorpion carcasses. While Water Magic ended up being the only spell class I managed to push over the edge, I made solid progress on all the others. Without exception, the rest of my basic schools of magic were now either at 18 or 19. With any luck, only another month or two of training stood between me and a new influx of class points. For a while, things continued much in the same fashion as they had before. I gardened. I brewed some more poisons. With how much time I¡¯d had to amass cloth from the necrolord¡¯s bandages, I did a bit more clothworking. I even carved up another two board games, shamelessly stealing from my memories of Earth. Somehow, I doubted I¡¯d be getting into any trademark or copyright issues here in the dungeon. As all breaks do, however, our relaxation time came to an end in what felt like a blink of an eye. There wasn¡¯t even a discussion to end it. One day, we all made eye contact, and by silent agreement, we knew it was time. After a hefty breakfast containing a bit of nearly everything I had stored away, we left our cabin behind. With Cal heading off to the mountains, we said our goodbyes, knowing that we wouldn¡¯t be seeing her for some time. I left Tal¡¯Ket¡¯s summoning disk with her, and at the very minimum, if she used it, she¡¯d be gone for two weeks. A part of me worried about sending her off alone, but in truth, Cal was probably the one I should have been the least worried about. After all, she was mostly scouting and fighting standard enemies. Verin and I were hoping to clear an entire region. Having made the trek from the cabin to the start of the forest, the two of us stared up at the treetops and into the dense woodlands. With little fanfare, Verin climbed onto my back, wrapping her arms in mine before activating her Advancing Glacier. Thus prepared, we advanced into the woods.
Trying to discover something hidden in a forest was, unfortunately, no small feat. Was the boss hiding in the canopy? Were we dealing with some sort of dryad, residing within a tree? Should we be looking for a cave, or was there somewhere we needed to dig down, searching beneath the soil? Ultimately, there was no way to be certain, which left us aimlessly wandering, keeping our eyes peeled. And by ¡°us,¡± in this case, I mostly meant me. While Verin did have more Perception than most, her class had nothing on mine and its many vision skills. By and large, I switched between all of Arcane Vision¡¯s variants as we walked, although I gave precedence to Tremor Sight in hopes of finding anything below us. It would have been nice to say that after walking for a few hours, I magically spotted some grand secret, but the truth was the exact opposite. The first day was a slog of slow-going travel coupled with battling panthers. As was the second day. And the third. On the few occasions that we felt secure enough for Verin to leave her glacier, she expressed that she did not enjoy being on my back as I lurched around fighting the life-infused felines, but such was life. Despite her presence limiting my mobility and disabling my Spatial Step, Verin was a large boon in fighting the frenetically fast foes, her skills drastically slowing them down. After the third day, we decided that we needed to switch things up. Our initial hope had been that the dungeon would help us out as long as we strayed far enough into the woods. After all, it had pushed us towards regions¡¯ bosses before -- I doubted we would have ever found the desert crypt without the dungeon springing the sandstorm on us, and its traps had forced me into a confrontation with the forsaken seer. It wasn¡¯t unreasonable to think it would engineer another encounter this time around. Without any signs of dungeon meddling this time around, however, our optimism was rapidly dwindling. On one of her rare breaks from her icy shell, Verin decided to switch things up. ¡°Barring us continuing on and simply hoping to stumble upon something, perhaps we should move forward with a greater intentionality, so to speak. As we¡¯ve yet to find any notable landmarks or waterways, might I suggest we make for the center of the forest?¡± The alternative would be to slowly canvas the entire woods in a snake pattern, a venture that could very well take months if it worked at all. Truth be told, I vastly preferred walking through the forest to our time in the other biomes, but that preference still had its limits. I would gladly exhaust all of our easier options before we took that path. ¡°I don¡¯t know where the center is,¡± I admitted. ¡°Backpack. Let¡¯s check.¡± Seeming to understand my intentions, Verin was initially reluctant to return to her position on my back. Rather than be left on her own, though, she climbed on and formed her glacier. Immediately, I Jet Stepped, shooting through the canopy and taking to the skies. In general, I tried not to fly too much in the dungeon. If the goal was to explore a region, then it was often counterproductive. Case in point, I couldn¡¯t see much with the dense blanket of leaves blocking my view of the forest floor. If the goal was to bypass a region, then I tried to do so even less. For starters, I¡¯d never had enough mana to fly over an entire biome without landing -- especially if I was carrying either of my party members -- and dropping myself off in the middle of a region while low on mana was a recipe for disaster. More importantly, the skies weren¡¯t always safe themselves. Had I tried to fly through the air region, for example, I likely would have stumbled upon Din¡¯Ket mid-flight. Barring a quick descent into the clouds, that would have been a death sentence. With all that said, this still felt like the time to put my flight skills to good use. With my new anklet reducing Jet Step¡¯s mana costs, I wasn¡¯t concerned about running out, and given that I hadn¡¯t seen any aerial enemies in the forest, I doubted anything would attack us. That thankfully proved to be true as the forest shrank and shrank beneath me. Before I could get too high, however, I noticed something rather strange. Namely, the prairie. We¡¯d left the region a solid three days prior, but from the air, it looked as though we were only a stone¡¯s throw away. Did we get turned around at some point? It wasn¡¯t impossible, but it was at least highly unlikely. With my Perception, it wasn¡¯t that difficult to reliably travel in a straight line. Then again, I liked to think that my Perception would make me resistant to any disorientation magic or any other possible reason for getting lost, too. Doesn¡¯t matter. As long as I could see from the air, I wouldn¡¯t get tripped up again. For extra measure, I took out our compass, moving directly ¡°north¡± to ensure we traveled in a straight line. This time, I was glad to see the prairie vanish behind us as I quickly covered more distance than we had in days of traveling. After using up a quarter of my mana, I then drifted downwards for a brief pit stop. I descended to the forest floor, only resting long enough for my mana to fill before returning to the skies. It was something of a shock, then, when I scanned my surroundings, only to find the prairie directly behind us once more. How¡­ Was it a disorientation effect? Mental magic? Some illusion not even I could break through? My existing skills should have made all three of those unlikely, but there I was, somehow right back where I¡¯d started even after flying deep in the forest. Could be teleportation, maybe? Then again, I¡¯d never been teleported without noticing it before. In the end, though, the exact how of it wasn¡¯t relevant. More important was what we were going to do about it. I dropped back to the ground, securing the area and gesturing for Verin to create a few ice walls to protect us from any particularly ambitious panthers. Once we were fully fenced in, I motioned for her to come out from her glacier, catching her up on the situation in case she hadn¡¯t noticed what I¡¯d seen. ¡°The forest is keeping us from moving forward,¡± I began. That was, however, as far as I got in my explanation. As if waiting for me to say exactly that, the system interrupted. Abruptly, a notification popped up. You have been offered a quest! B4 C43: The Wandering Woods In the grand scheme of things, I hadn¡¯t been offered that many quests since becoming a Protagonist. Still, I¡¯d gained and completed enough of them to know that one usually didn¡¯t receive a quest without any sort of inciting incident. As I read through the quest description, it quickly became clear that this was the case presently, too. With that being said, the trigger was unconventional, to say the least. The Wandering Woods I Some unknown force is preventing you from advancing through the forest. Relegated to the periphery, you¡¯ve aimlessly wandered only to return to where you began. Recognizing your predicament, however, is the first step in escaping it. Secure passage through the trees to reach the center of the forest. Rewards: +1000xp From her reaction, Verin clearly had gained the quest as well, no longer needing any further explanation from me. ¡°Curious. And yet, patently unhelpful.¡± She squinted, presumably rereading the quest description to glean any new information from it. Just as she¡¯d said, though, the quest didn¡¯t actually tell us anything we hadn¡¯t already figured out. At best, it was a confirmation that I wasn¡¯t going crazy -- or at least not any more crazy than I already was. ¡°Compass?¡± I suggested. Without a better plan of her own, Verin nodded, and I removed the grand magus¡¯ makeshift compass from my storage. Another trip to the sky helped me orient myself, determining that the center of the woods should be directly north of our location. From our previous experiment, we knew flying directly there wasn¡¯t likely to work. With little else to go off of, we set off on foot, carefully following the compass to avoid any mishaps. Now that we knew what we were up against, with any luck, we¡¯d find a way to complete the quest in no time.
After another three days, it was safe to say that we did not have any luck. Despite the acquisition of our new quest, not much else changed. As we continued to trudge through the forest, fighting our way through a seemingly endless supply of panthers, I could only hope that Cal was faring better. At this rate, she¡¯d be back before we¡¯d made even a smidgen of progress. The entire time, I¡¯d been wary of any form of flying in case that somehow set us back. After day after day with no visible change, however, I was willing to risk it if just for some form of confirmation that we were still going in the right direction. Up I rose, high above the canopy, Verin along for the ride on my back. And once again, there was the prairie, right behind us. A full six days of traveling, and we¡¯d effectively done nothing. ¡°Well. Damn.¡± I set us back down, and Verin conjured a few ice walls to grant us some measure of protection. No longer needing to worry about panther attacks, I flopped to the ground, uncertain of how to proceed. If somewhat more refined, Verin reacted much the same, a pensive look crossing her face as she sat with her back against one of the walls. Flying didn¡¯t work. Wandering about had failed us. Walking directly towards the center did nothing. My various vision variants had spotted nothing. What were we missing? It was at moments like this that I sorely missed the guidance of those back in Emer¡¯Thalis. Something told me that any of the forest shadows would have breezed through the entire region with ease. With her eclectic host of forest-related class skills, Hartha in particular would have been invaluable here. Or Elphaea. If the dryad were around, she probably could have moved us directly to the forest¡¯s center, using her standard trick of traveling through the tree- Wait. I hastily pulled the quest description back up, scanning it until I reached the relevant line. Secure passage through the trees to reach the center of the forest. What if the quest was offering us a hint? What if the description was more literal than we¡¯d imagined? Thinking back a full year to when I¡¯d first encountered Elphaea, I finally had a vague plan. ¡°I have an idea. Backpack.¡± I beckoned Verin over, and though she shot me a questioning look, she readily complied. ¡°I suppose I will allow myself to be surprised, Lady Tess.¡± She climbed onto my back and secured herself, prepared for whatever I might have in mind. With a single Jet-Step-enhanced jump, I abandoned our enclosure and wandered off until I found a stretch of forest that was slightly sparser than the rest. A clearing would have been better, but this would do. With that, I sat down, and I closed my eyes. By far, the sense that I relied on the most was my vision. That had been true before I¡¯d gained magic powers, and now that I had Arcane Vision, it was only more so. Still, that didn¡¯t mean that sight was all I had to go off of. In addition to my standard senses, I¡¯d even gained a few new ways of perceiving the world. Mana Sense was one, and I often made use of it. While I often overlooked it, however, Danger Sense was another, a reward for reaching the first Perception threshold. More than just alerting me to actual danger, it also gave me a sixth sense for when I was being watched. Rather than honing the sense to make it more powerful, however, I¡¯d actually spent most of my time actively suppressing it. Alone in a dungeon, it was a useful tool, but I¡¯d spent far more time in society, flitting between different settlements before landing in Sylum. Clearly a foreigner -- and more recently, one who¡¯d passed the first Charisma threshold -- I¡¯d attracted a lot of stares everywhere I went. If just to keep myself from being overstimulated, I¡¯d quickly learned to filter out most of what Danger Sense was telling me unless it detected actual danger or malice directed my way. For the first time in a long time, I now did the exact opposite. Retracting the rest of my senses, I shifted every iota of my focus towards the ability, searching for even the barest hint that anyone was looking my way. Initially, I sensed nothing. Even with my Perception far higher than normal for someone my level, I wasn¡¯t able to detect anything amiss. As the seconds dragged on, I began to fear that it wasn¡¯t an issue with my senses at all. It was entirely possible that there just wasn¡¯t anything to find. In the first place, this had been a long shot, and I was probably getting myself excited over noth- There. It was faint. Faint enough that I wondered if it was a figment of my imagination, at first. Starting out as the barest of tingles in the back of my skull, the sensation grew until I was certain that I wasn¡¯t making it up. Something was watching me. Better yet, considering that no claws were presently slashing at my throat, I had to imagine my onlooker wasn¡¯t a panther. As far as I knew, the felines weren¡¯t known for their patience or circumspection. All right. On the count of three. I counted down, readying myself. As soon as I reached ¡°one,¡± I whipped my head around, homing in on the origin of the feeling. Not immediately spotting anything, I raced through all my vision variants. And for once, I actually got a hit. Vitality Sight. The life variant of Arcane Vision was practically blinding, as everything around me was teeming with vitality. Even so, a singular tree stood out from the rest, glowing so brightly that there was unmistakably something different about it. Given that the location of the tree also coincided with what Danger Sense was telling me, I knew that I¡¯d finally found what I was after. Without pause, I sprung forth. With Verin on my back, I couldn¡¯t use Spatial Step, but that didn¡¯t stop me from racing over the earth, Flash Feet propelling me forward. In the blink of an eye, I¡¯d already crossed half the distance between us. Admittedly, I wasn¡¯t actually sure what to do when I reached the tree, but that didn¡¯t stop me.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. And more importantly, the figure watching me didn¡¯t know that either. At last reacting to my mad dash, the great wellspring of life mana pushed against the wooden confines of the tree. In a familiar display, the bark rippled as if liquid, and a figure pulled itself out of the tree. It was here that my initial assumption was turned on its head. While I¡¯d had the broad strokes right, it was clear that the creature before me was no dryad. Rather than being made of physical wood like Elphaea, our hidden spy wasn¡¯t corporeal at all, instead being a mass of mana in the general shape of a young woman. ¡°Eep!¡± With a childlike squeal, our quarry bolted, its speed giving me a run for my money. Even as I chased after her, I shot off God¡¯s Eye to see what I was up against. Forest Nymph: Level 23, 1300/1300hp A woodland spirit residing in the Wandering Woods. With many of her kind now deep in slumber, boredom has taken over her. While offering me some interesting new data points, the description didn¡¯t change anything for me. Regardless of whatever the nymph¡¯s role in my quest was, I wouldn¡¯t be able to figure anything out if she successfully ran away. And so, in an odd repeat to the time I¡¯d chased Elphaea, I rushed after the forest spirit. Just as the dryad had so long ago, the nymph similarly dove into tree after tree, narrowly evading me by reappearing further into the forest. Having gotten over her earlier shock, the spirit constantly glanced back at us as she ran, laughing as we failed to reach her. Soon, the only sounds surrounding us were the rush of the wind and the high, chirpy laughter. Had there not been any spatial shenanigans going on, I would have considered leaving Verin behind to free up my Spatial Step. As it was, I was afraid if we got separated, we might not be able to find each other again. Of course, being with Verin had certain benefits, too. ¡°Eee!¡± Another cry left the nymph, though this time it was equally startled as it was indignant. Creeping Permafrost gripped the spirit¡¯s feet, somehow applying its slow despite the lack of a physical body to grip onto. In retaliation, the nymph sent a pulse of mana down into the earth. Roots erupted from the ground, half barring my way forward while the other half attempted to ensnare me. Forewarned, however, it was simple enough to launch myself over the grasping roots with a few Jet Steps. A few low-hanging branches quested out to similarly impede me, but Tal¡¯Ket¡¯s talon guard finally made its worth known as I rapidly redirected myself midair. Not bothering to waste time breaking my fall, I hit the ground with a resounding thunk that rattled my bones. Even as the nymph stared wide-eyed at my acrobatic prowess, another layer of permafrost coated her feet. The chase didn¡¯t end there, with the nymph narrowly evading me for far longer than I¡¯d like to admit, but the debuff all but sealed her fate. Even as she grew slower and slower, my Endurance kept me going long past what would have been possible on Earth. There. At last, the spirit made a mistake. In her mad flight, she¡¯d momentarily strayed too far from the nearest tree. Summoning up every last ounce of speed at my disposal, I lunged. While she sensed me closing in and dove away, it was too late. One Jet Step was all I needed to finally catch up, my fingers at last brushing up against her back. I curled them into a fist, hoping to grab on to the spirit. It was much to my bemusement, then, when the only thing I caught was empty air. A cheery giggle seemed to fill the entire forest, even as the nymph¡¯s form dissipated before me, vanishing entirely. Was that all for nothing, then? Please tell me that wasn¡¯t all for nothing. As if keen to do just that, a system notification preempted my curses. Your party has gained the blessing of a forest nymph! This blessing persists as long as you remain within the Wandering Woods. ¡°O- Okay?¡± The message was infuriatingly vague, and it was a far cry from the actual conversation I¡¯d been hoping to have with the nymph. If anything, it only left me with more questions than answers, sending me back to square one. At least that was what I thought until I looked around. I must not have noticed during my single-minded chase, but the forest that now surrounded me was starkly different from the one I¡¯d begun in. The woods were much denser here, especially up above me where branches blotted out the sky. Barring me forcefully cutting through the canopy, I doubted I¡¯d be able to fly out anymore. Without the constant laughter, the forest air was also eerily quiet, some heavy weight pressing down on anything that would dare make a sound. With nothing better to do, I wandered onwards for a time, the trees seeming to subtly herd me in a single direction. I considered running off, but the nymph hadn¡¯t struck me as malicious, and I had no other leads. After a long walk that would have been pleasant and scenic in other circumstances, the path finally ended. Up ahead, a singular massive tree stretched upwards, as thick as my wingspan. I approached it warily at first, but on sensing no actual danger, I relaxed. Unsure of how to proceed and welcoming a second opinion, I motioned for Verin to cancel her skill and join me. The noble wobbled out of her icy cocoon, immediately sending one hand to her stomach while the other rubbed at the feather in her hair. ¡°Lady Tess, I am beginning to revise my opinion of the treasure Tal¡¯Ket bestowed upon me. In retrospect, should you continue to lug me in such a chaotic fashion, I may have received the best gift out of the three of us.¡± I didn¡¯t entirely follow what she was talking about, but I was happy to know she liked her hair ornament. Despite her newfound appreciation for her equipment, however, Verin had little more idea of what to do than I did. Both of us agreed that we were supposed to do something with the large tree, but neither of us was certain exactly what. We poked it. We prodded it. Climbed it. Dug around it. It was only after we exhausted the simpler options that I truly thought about the events that had brought us here. Opening the quest description once more, I homed in on the line that had made me search for the nymph in the first place. Secure passage through the trees¡­ It couldn¡¯t be that simple, could it be? ¡°Verin, I want to try something.¡± I pulled her beside me, directly in front of the wide trunk looming above us. Then, with a confidence that I didn¡¯t truly feel, I walked forward. Rippling like water, the bark parted to admit me. Dragging Verin along with me, I stepped directly into the tree.
Moving through the tree was a novel, if brief, experience. A slight pressure pushed on every inch of my body as the light winked out, trapping me in a cedar-smelling void. Before the sensation could evolve into true claustrophobia, it was already over. I stepped out of a new tree, a mirror image of the first, with Verin at my side. As to be somewhat expected, we were still in a forest. Whether it was the same forest as before was open to debate. The trees here stood much taller, to the extent that the leaves above us looked more like a green sky than they did a canopy. I entertained the thought that we¡¯d been teleported directly to the center of the woods, but a quest notification was quick to disabuse me of that notion. Quest Updated: Having amused the idle forest nymph, you have successfully secured passage through the trees, growing one step closer to the forest¡¯s heart. To progress onwards, let the winds guide your path. There were all sorts of things that might mean, but a nudge from my Danger Sense helped me narrow them down. Having a sneaking suspicion where this was going, I focused on the feeling until I could pinpoint where it was coming from. Switching to Gust Sight, I watched as the winds whipped about, converging on a single branch high above me. A small figure perched there, an amorphous caricature of a boy with an ill-defined face. Much like his life-aligned predecessor, he was more see-through than not, formed mostly of whitish-green mana. God¡¯s Eye revealed him to be a wind nymph. Noticing my attention, he brought a hand up to one of his eyes, pulling down on his poor excuse for an eyelid. At the same time, a tendril of mana poked out of his mouth, the spirit sticking its tongue out at us. ¡°Blehhh!¡± An unpleasant, juvenile taunt left his lips, and with that, the nymph bolted off, jumping from branch to branch. ¡°Backpack. Now.¡± Not waiting for Verin to move, I grabbed the noble and threw her onto my back. Before she¡¯d even fully activated her skill, I was in the air. With Featherfoot to lighten my steps and Jet Step to shoot me forward, I flitted from tree to tree, navigating through the haphazard highway above the forest floor. Far ahead, the wind nymph taunted and jeered.
Your party has gained the blessing of a wind nymph! This blessing persists as long as you remain within the Wandering Woods. After much travail, I at last plunged my hand into the spirit¡¯s hazy form, this time prepared as he dissolved into motes of air. He left behind an ugly, snotty laugh in his wake, and I could only be glad that I wouldn¡¯t be subjected to more of his vast repertoire of irksome squawking. Despite the change in venue, this chase had gone much the same as the last, with Verin¡¯s slows allowing me to gradually close the distance between me and the nymph. Just as before, the air spirit seemed incensed by the permafrost, though instead of summoning roots, he tried to shoot me out of the trees with blasts of wind. Had I challenged him before acquiring my anklet, I likely would have lost. With my newly heightened maneuverability, though, I dodged and weaved through the aerial barrage. This time around, the entire thing barely lasted half as long. Unable to dodge directly into the trees like the forest nymph had, the wind variety just wasn¡¯t geared to stop me. In fact, that was doubly true when one of the skills I¡¯d gained with Advisor Flithus ended up leveling once more. Acrobatics has reached level 10! Congratulations! You have reached the Initiate rank in Acrobatics! Based on your skill usage, you have been granted a skill augment for achieving a new skill rank. Augment of Aerial Maneuvering Slightly enhances your Dexterity while pulling off acrobatic skills initiated while already in the air. Soon thereafter, the dense forest cut off to reveal a clearing down below. The only feature of note was a mound of earth with a large opening in the side, looking more like a hole than a genuine cave. Gust Sight went absolutely wild as I examined it, the entrance completely covered with an almost-solid wall of wind. Sensing that it was my next destination, I leapt down from the branches and approached. Even from afar, the air began to push against me, and with every step I took towards the opening, it intensified. By the time I reached the cave in question, my hair was entirely horizontal, trailing out behind me. Even so, it was a far cry from what it could have been, and I imagined that had I come here without catching the wind nymph, things would be going very differently for me. Firm steps took me forward, and the wind bowed to my new blessing. With Verin still along for the ride on my back, I descended into the earth. B4 C44: The Crowded Clearing Your party has gained the blessing of an earth nymph! This blessing persists as long as you remain within the Wandering Woods. If the first two nymphs had put up a fight in their own ways, getting the earth nymph¡¯s blessing proved to be a breeze -- or whatever the earth version of a breeze was. A pebble? Catching the earth nymph proved to be a pebble. Another boyish blob of mana, the ruddy brown spirit proved to be much more amiable than his airheaded brother. Rather than actually run from me, he hid within a large cavern, slipping behind stalagmites and into crevices to keep me from finding him. Each time I did, he would slip into the earth to reposition himself. Thankfully, his presence seemed to solidify the ground around him, making his location easy to suss out using Tremor Sight. Admittedly, that didn¡¯t help me actually catch him, as the very moment it sensed that I¡¯d found the spirit, he hid himself anew. Even if I rushed after the nymph, I had no hopes of reaching him in time. Somehow, though, I sensed that wasn¡¯t the point. Not feeling any danger, I had Verin leave her glacier to assist. Though she wouldn¡¯t admit it, once she got over the aerial abuse I¡¯d put her through with the wind nymph, I thought she was enjoying herself. I purposely turned off Tremor Sight to make the search harder for myself, and the two of us ran about the room seeing who could find the spirit first. Well before we even realized it, our mission was complete. Having cycled through every possible hiding spot in the cavern, the earth nymph came out of hiding at last. With a tiny hand, somehow blocklike despite being made purely of mana, it nudged Verin¡¯s side. Much like the others, it left us after granting its blessing, slipping into the earth until not even my class skill could detect it. Verin stared at the now-empty spot with a rare unguarded expression of warmth. As soon as she recalled that I was watching, she quickly schooled herself, as if I¡¯d caught her in some shameful act. ¡°Lady Tess. I will admit that was a most enjoyable diversion.¡± Thus said, she led the way this time to a tunnel at the far end of the chamber. It terminated in a dead end of pure stone, but by now, we knew the score. As we walked directly into the rock, it shifted around us. This time around, I did have time to feel claustrophobic as it fully encased us, effectively burying us alive. Blessedly, the transition was short-lived.
Emerging from the ground with the earth crumbling around us, Verin and I instantly recognized what our next task was. Given the environs, it was hard not to, after all. Far more scenic than the cave or the multiple forest terrains before it, what lay before us was a small lake. A small river flowed deeper into the woods that penned us in on all sides, while a much larger waterfall dropped into the lake from an overhanging cliff. All in all, it was a calming, tranquil scene, and under other circumstances, I would have enjoyed nothing more than to read a book by the lake side. Taking it all in, I found myself slightly glad that my emotions had yet to fully heal -- the sight brought back memories of the Larins and the nights we spent at their lake house, particularly on Alara¡¯s birthday. The roar of the waterfall helped to wash such memories right out my head, and I welcomed its assistance. Out of everything around us, it was the odd man out, the only feature that didn¡¯t fit with the lackadaisical aura. Spurred on by some sort of magic, the water fell far faster than gravity warranted, its roar drowning out all other noises. I was fairly certain that standing beneath it would be enough to strip the flesh off someone, though I was hardly eager to put that to the test. ¡°So. Water nymph,¡± Verin supplied. Having reached the same conclusion, I nodded. ¡°One might assume said nymph would be in the water then. Shall we?¡± No longer as concerned with getting damaged given the disposition of the last three nymphs, Verin led us right to the water¡¯s edge. Even with some light turbidity around the base of the waterfall, the lake was otherwise remarkably clear, allowing us to see directly to the silty lakebed beneath. As expected, that wasn¡¯t the only thing we saw, either. Surging through the water like a mermaid at a circus, a sleek figure bobbed and weaved about. While slightly hard to tell with how fast she was moving, I thought she might be a touch older than her siblings, though, admittedly, I wasn¡¯t the best at inferring age from blobs of sentient water mana. Looking first to the nymph and then to me, Verin fixed the lake with the barest hint of a frown. ¡°Lady Tess, it occurs to me that neither of us has a swimming power that I am aware of. How do we intend to proceed?¡± Huh. Honestly, I hadn¡¯t thought that far. The two of us sat by the lake for a time, occasionally shooting ideas at one another, though spending most of our break in silent contemplation. There were Verin¡¯s ice powers, of course. Presumably, the nymph wouldn¡¯t be able to evade capture if the entire lake was frozen solid. Ignoring whether or not Verin could do such a thing, however, we weren¡¯t sure if she should. While her class skills didn¡¯t directly deal damage, that didn¡¯t mean that they were harmless, a fact that many a dead scorpion could attest to. Freezing a water spirit solid seemed like a bad idea if we weren¡¯t trying to harm it. A more reasonable option would be swimming. With my own respectable physical stats, I was confident that even without a dedicated skill, I would be able to move through the water at Olympic speeds. Somehow, I doubted that would be enough, but that was far secondary to the main issue. ¡°Not going in,¡± I mumbled. Despite our predicament, Verin steadfastly agreed. ¡°Nor should you. Just because the past three have been friendly does not guarantee the fourth will be, and neither of us can breathe underwater. Moreover, I could imagine it accidentally drowning us while innocently trying to play some manner of game. The risk does not justify the reward.¡± Our reluctance to brave the waters landed us in something of a pickle.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. After much thought, however, I slowly lifted myself to my feet. ¡°I have something. Maybe.¡±
A bolt of water shot from the lake, making a beeline for my head. It wasn¡¯t the first, and at this rate, it would hardly be the last. With my armor, I doubted I was in any real danger, but I ducked to the side just in case. I¡¯d say the nymph was overreacting by shooting at me, but as it so happened, I was shooting at it too, in some sense. In my right hand sat a large harpoon, entirely constructed from mana. A long chain led off from it, allowing me to manually retract the weapon after throwing it. Normally, getting hit with such a weapon would be incredibly painful, not to mention the actual damage it would cause. In this case, I didn¡¯t have to worry: The entirety of my conjured weapon was made up of green life mana, rendering the entire thing harmless. In fact, if I could actually hit my target, I would end up healing her. Short of jumping into the water, this had been the only solution I¡¯d been able to come up with. I¡¯d started with a long fishing spear, but the lake was slightly too deep, and the nymph was far too fast. I tried a net after that, but try as I might, I couldn¡¯t get Arcane Armament to recognize a net as a proper weapon. The harpoon with chains had been stretching it, but apparently, it counted. ¡°Hi. Please stay still.¡± I reared up and hurled the weapon into the crystal waters, my not inconsiderable Strength causing it to cut through the lake at frankly ridiculous speeds. Annoyingly enough, it still wasn¡¯t enough. Not content to stick to one spot, the water spirit raced about, fouling my aim. Water went splashing every which way as the harpoon momentarily caused a liquid crater to form at its impact sites, waves and ripples forming as the water leveled itself out again. Joining the makeshift raindrops was another wave of water bolts, forcing me to reposition. Right as I was about to give up and head back to the drawing board, a stray thought hit me. I mean. I doubt I¡¯ll be the best at it, but my Dexterity should help me compensate, right? Thus decided, I reeled the mana harpoon back, holding it in one hand. And then, in the other, I summoned a second harpoon. With a menacing grin, I gazed down at the elusive nymph. Twin splashes soon followed, and while neither strike landed on target, this time, I felt much more confident.
Dodge has reached level 12! Spears has reached level 19! You have learned a new skill: Fishing Fishing has reached level 2! While the entire endeavor had taken far longer than I¡¯d expected, at last, it was done. I thought that the system was being a touch too liberal with its definition of ¡°fish¡± in this case, but it was hard to argue that I hadn¡¯t reeled in a solid catch. With a length of my harpoon sticking out of her chest, the water spirit hung in the air with a pout. If there was a small mercy, it was that reeling her in hadn¡¯t been an issue once I¡¯d managed to hit her. Much as desired, a quick God¡¯s Eye confirmed that the attack wasn¡¯t damaging her at all, and her dour expression had more to do with the method we¡¯d used to catch her than anything else. Briefly, I wondered if we¡¯d gain some sort of curse instead of a blessing, but -- if slightly non-standard -- it appeared our method of attack was dungeon approved. A single water droplet formed before my eyes before flicking into my forehead, somehow bypassing my arcane armor. With that, the cranky nymph broke apart, her body flowing back into the lake below. Your party has (begrudgingly) gained the blessing of a water nymph! This blessing persists as long as you remain within the Wandering Woods. Not wasting another moment by the lake, Verin and I made straight for the waterfall. Even as we neared, the raging flow didn¡¯t abate in the least bit. Trusting in the blessing, however, we forged ahead. Rather than break our bones or shove us downwards, the falling water simply slid off of us. Unimpeded, we passed through, entering into a tunnel that had been hidden behind the waterfall. Rather than leading to another earth nymph, however, the short tunnel quickly spit us out into the forest. Much as before, it seemed some spatial shenanigans were at play, as the woods we entered were nothing like the ones we¡¯d left behind. Even before we¡¯d fully escaped the tunnel, Verin and I were struck with a sense of weight. I felt Danger Sense go off to alert me I was being watched, but this time around, I couldn¡¯t pick out the origin of the sensation. If anything, it felt like something was staring at me from every angle, its awareness diffused throughout the air. Our initial reactions were only magnified as the ground opened up to reveal the trees surrounding us, each of them putting their earlier counterparts to shame. Taller than the oldest redwoods and with a sturdy thickness that looked as though it could survive the strongest of my attacks, the trees that surrounded us were a different sort of beast. Each one of them passively inspired a sort of reverence, and I had trouble envisioning larger or more imposing trees. Wordlessly, Verin and I wandered on, each of us prepared to find another nymph. Somehow, this didn¡¯t feel like the sort of place to be holding childish games of tag or hide-and-seek, but perhaps this nymph would be of a different sort. As it turned out, we were worrying for nothing. Eventually, the trees thinned out to form a clearing so large, I¡¯d initially thought we¡¯d escaped the forest altogether. A number of unbelievable sights quickly disabused me of that notion, though they needn¡¯t have bothered. A quest notification made it excessively clear exactly where we¡¯d ended up. Quest Completed: The Wandering Woods I You have reached the heart of the forest. ¡°Lady Tess, I think it may be best if I activate my glacier once more¡­¡± Her reaction was as tame as could be given what lay before us, but I couldn¡¯t entirely disagree. As it turned out, my earlier assertion that there couldn¡¯t be larger or more imposing trees had been wrong. Very wrong. And, debatably, the fact that we were in a ¡°clearing¡± wasn¡¯t quite right either. There, at the very center of the open space, was a tree trunk. Wider than several houses put together, it extended into the sky for so far, I was fairly certain magic was involved just to keep it from crumbling under its own weight. If the sky was still its usual patchwork of mana, I wasn¡¯t sure. Extending out from its crown, the massive boughs of the colossal tree spread outwards, blanketing the entire multi-mile-wide space. Laden with leaves that could feed a caterpillar for decades, the branches ensured that not an inch of empty space remained to let us peer upwards. In sum, it was a very big tree. Given the awe-inspiring sight, I could be forgiven for temporarily ignoring the rest of the clearing, but it was eventful in its own ways. The first item of note was the landscape. Completely surrounding the central trunk was a wide stretch of water, effectively serving as a large moat. Making the comparison all the more apt, a single strip of grassy land ran atop the water, a tiny bridge connecting the outer clearing to the tree. None of that, however, was what had prompted Verin to retreat into her defensive skill. ¡°I¡¯m voting we don¡¯t fight,¡± was all I had to say on the matter. Ringing the moat and tightly guarding the single bridge were a host of hulking root creatures. Though largely humanoid, they were devoid of any true face, instead only having masks of smooth bark covering their heads. Over twice our height, each of them looked as though it could give Sylum¡¯s Warforged Titan a run for its money. That only became doubly true when I identified them. Heartwood Sentry Golem: Level 38, 8000/8000hp Tasked with ensuring the safety of the heart wood, these sentries serve as a final line of defense for any evildoers who would claim the forest¡¯s treasure for themselves. Tread carefully lest you draw their ire. A large part of me hoped that whatever we were here for, it would allow us to bypass the golems entirely. Admittedly, given the layout of the clearing, I sincerely doubted we¡¯d be so lucky. As I took a hesitant step forward, that dream was dashed entirely. You have been offered a quest! B4 C45: Ready, Set The Wandering Woods II Having ventured deep within the forest and reached its center, it would be bad form to leave without greeting your host. Requirements: Gain an audience with the king of the forest. ??? Rewards: +2500xp Variable dependent upon method of completion. Especially with the incomplete requirement section, the quest felt alarmingly nebulous. Even ignoring that aspect, I wasn¡¯t liking my odds of reaching said ¡°heart tree.¡± Something told me the many sentries wouldn¡¯t appreciate it if I tried to breach their perimeter without permission. On the plus side, the quest description emboldened Verin, placing her more in her element. Never mind that the sentries were still just as powerful and just as likely to pulp us for some perceived transgression. Phrases like ¡°greeting your host¡± and ¡°king of the forest¡± activated the noble like a sleeper agent, and she immediately broke out of her icy cocoon. ¡°Curious. I would not have expected anyone to be holding court within such a region. Do you suppose the central tree is some form of palace, then, with the king living in its center?¡± I couldn¡¯t detect any signs that people were living within the tree, but I hoped so. Maybe they had better beds, or a real kitchen. Given the forest denizens we¡¯d spotted so far, I tried not to get my hopes up. I sincerely doubted the king in question was human, and his idea of creature comforts might be very far removed from mine. Although, maybe we can snag a few rooms for ourselves if we play our cards right. Before I could get lost in pleasant thoughts of living in a palace instead of a cabin, Verin tugged on my arm. ¡°Come. I do not know if the king has already been made aware of our presence, but either way, it would be rude to keep him waiting. I will do my best to gain us an audience.¡± Despite her low Strength, her grip was firm as she fearlessly led us towards the very same creatures she¡¯d feared moments before. To her credit, the golems made no move to attack, even as we approached. Moving straight to the two sentries guarding the bridge inwards, Verin launched into a measured speech. ¡°Greetings. I am Verin¡¯Sylus, high noble and prospective head of Sylum and its surrounding territories. Alongside me stands my companion, Tess, god-touched ruler of the ancient city of Emer¡¯Thalis. While we apologize for our unannounced arrival, we would be honored to pay our respects to his Highness at his leisure, should he be so amenable.¡± Though her Charisma was much diminished after changing her class, I swore I could physically feel it as her Etiquette pushed up against the sentry. If we were dealing with a standard guard, I had little doubt that they would be running inside to deliver her message. As it was, the golem merely stood there, impassively. While Verin was likely prepared for all manner of reactions, it was clear that she was not geared to receive only silence. ¡°Perhaps there is a dedicated functionary we must speak to further in? Or it is possible they communicate at a distance, and the message has already been passed on.¡± Either way, Verin wasn¡¯t going to let such a minor obstacle stop her. ¡°If you have no qualms with our presence, then I will approach the palace to announce my arrival in person. Please let us know if we should continue to wait, or if you have been instructed to prevent us from moving forward.¡± When, once again, she was met with only silence, Verin nodded, turning back to me. ¡°I have relayed my intentions, and they remain entirely docile. I would suggest proceeding for now, and if they attempt to stop us, to take it gracefully and back off.¡± I was uneasy moving between the high-leveled golems, but barring us storming in, guns ablaze, I had no better solution. Sensing my acceptance, Verin once more grabbed my hand and tugged me forward, confidently stepping onto the bridge leading to the central tree. The golems¡¯ response was immediate. From their gnarled hands, a root shot off from each of the sentries. With razor-sharp tips and speeds that belied their wielders¡¯ lumbering forms, the attacks whizzed through the air, en route to run Verin through. Before I could fully process what I was seeing, the attacks were already halfway to skewering Verin. With another ten points in Dexterity, I might have been able to react perfectly. I would summon a sword and deftly chop the roots apart before they closed the distance. As it was, it was all I could do to jerkily thrust my gauntleted hands in front of the projectiles, arms spread wide to block the attacks from opposite directions. Without time to wrest my hand from Verin¡¯s grip, I was forced to yank her to the side, barely managing to activate Overload Armor before the strikes landed. Piercing Root hits you for 5 damage! Piercing Root hits you for 6 damage! Breaking through my mana armor, the roots managed to strike the plate mail underneath, denting the metal and leaving my hands smarting. If that was the worst of it, however, things would have been fine. Though deflected by my armor, the roots didn¡¯t recoil or retreat. One was sent off at an angle, harmlessly smashing into the ground below. As for the one that hit the hand still gripping Verin, it slid down the path of least resistance. Not even sensing the attack until it was already biting into her, Verin cried out in both pain and shock as the root gouged out a bloody furrow in her arm. Flash Feet. Not waiting for another round of blows to arrive, I grabbed onto Verin and jumped back, hugging her to my chest. The entire time, I trained my eyes on every groove and ridge of our wooden foes, ready to react to whatever else they might throw our way. As if warded off by my vigilance, however, the next attacks never came. The entire clearing seemed to freeze in place, save for Verin. The noble did her best to muffle her pained hiss, even as she clutched at her arm, a steady stream of blood falling down to water the earth. As much as I wanted to heal her, I worried that the slightest misstep would sick the sentries on us once more. Slowly, I began to move back, dragging Verin along with me. Step by step, we retreated until we reached the edge of the clearing. At last marginally letting my guard down, I immediately started to cast Minor Healing on Verin. If nothing else, I was glad the spell¡¯s Initiate augment had given it a small boost to blood regeneration. My measly cantrip wasn¡¯t up to the task of completely healing Verin in one cast, but I didn¡¯t let that discourage me, casting it over and over until the flesh knit itself back together. It was only then that Verin allowed herself to speak, her arm going slack as I held it. ¡°Lady Tess. I am afraid I was not successful in securing an audience.¡±
In a kinder world, that would have been the end of things. After having twin roots nearly quarter Verin, we would have retreated back to the cabin and carried on without giving the golems another thought. Unfortunately, this was not a kinder world, and both of us had been through far worse. Even for Verin, who was normally insulated from the worst of the damage, a single near-death experience wasn¡¯t enough to send her packing. Admittedly, whether she was actually okay, or she was just hiding her shaky nerves behind a layer of etiquette, I wasn¡¯t sure. Regardless, she was committed to continuing with our quest if we could. And as it turned out, we could! Sort of. Our first discovery after our ill-fated entry attempt was that the sentries didn¡¯t hold a grudge. While we had to be exceptionally careful while confirming that fact, every sign pointed to the guards going back to their previous, stationary state. Not that it was particularly comfortable being so close to them now that we knew what they were capable of, but Verin was determined to figure out how to meet this so-called king, one way or another. For obvious reasons, we didn¡¯t try to cross the bridge again, but that didn¡¯t stop us from trying to elicit a reaction from the golems in other more innocuous ways. While she wasn¡¯t too familiar with golems in general, Verin shifted through a wide range of possible trigger words to grab their attention. When that didn¡¯t work, she changed languages. With how popular Common was -- as one would expect from the name -- she¡¯d never had cause to gain full fluency in any other language, but she at least knew how to say ¡°hello¡± in a good handful. For all her attempts, nothing seemed to work. In the end, it was a stray thought that led us forward, although, in hindsight, it should have come to me much sooner. In my defense, it relied on a skill that I had little desire to use these days. Do golems have minds? Or how do they work? My own mind flashed back to darker times, back in my final dungeon run in Sylum. There, I¡¯d found multiple objects that could be controlled mentally, chief amongst them being the forge that had created my hammer.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. While that was probably the singular best example of something that had gone horribly in my life, I liked to think that the technique still held some merit. ¡°I¡¯m going to try something.¡± I gestured for Verin to back up, and without questioning, she retreated before encasing herself in ice. With her safe, I bit the bullet and entered my mental space. Endless piles of black rubble surrounded me, perfectly matching the bleak landscape around it. Not wanting to give myself a chance to dwell on what I was seeing, I immediately cast Sense Minds. Without the usual citadel walls, the spell rippled out directly from me, sweeping through the dilapidated remnants of the fortress. Even having cast the spell for exactly that reason, I was still slightly surprised as the ripples broke against two objects to my sides. In the directions of the two golems, two tiny purple orbs floated in the void. Heartwood Sentry Golem No more information was forthcoming from either orb, and not quite knowing what to do, I focused on one of them, trying to reach out, and- Mental Magic has reached level 19! ¡°Gah. Crap.¡± I reeled back as I was forcibly kicked out of my mental space, landing on my ass. Vaguely, I was aware of Verin rushing up to check on me, but I couldn¡¯t focus on her. The hands that I should have used to break my fall were instead tightly clutching my head as an unfiltered wave of images and feelings assaulted me. Even without speaking to me in any true language, the thoughts contained bits of meaning that hammered their way into my head. King. Wait. Sleep. Guard. Variations of those four words repeated themselves, until, despite the sentry¡¯s lackluster mental vocabulary, I thought I understood. And as it turned out, the system seemed to agree. Quest Updated. The king of the forest lies in deep slumber. Until he wakes, his royal court is out of session, and none are permitted near him. Will you wait for the end of his long rest, or will you resort to my drastic measure to awake him? Verin helped me to my feet as I slowly overcame a pounding headache and a brief bout of vertigo. Having seen the update on her own quest log, she didn¡¯t need me to relay the new information. Instead, she turned to the nearest golem with a resolute nod. ¡°Very well, then. I suppose we will wait.¡±
Three days later, the cool and collected noble reached a novel conclusion: ¡°Lady Tess. I do not enjoy waiting.¡± If there was one plus side to our time in the center of the forest, it was the safety. The finicky guards notwithstanding, nothing saw fit to accost us, even when we set up camp and slept in shifts. If there was a downside, it was the sheer monotony of it all. That wasn¡¯t to say we sat and twiddled our thumbs for three days. Though the clearing was massive, we¡¯d long since covered every accessible inch of it, looking for some hidden clue that would help us proceed. Finding nothing, we went with a simpler option: making noise. Ever the consummate noble, Verin was aghast at the very suggestion of raising a clamor outside a king¡¯s palace. When it became clear that the king in question was grabbing far more than some quick shuteye, however, she begrudgingly allowed it. I¡¯d spent a solid hour banging my armor with an assortment of hammers like the world¡¯s worst xylophone player. I even went one step further, singing along to the cacophonous din. If nothing else, it served as very solid proof that the king was well insulated within his tree. With my vocal skills, I trusted that anyone in ear range would be forced to show themselves if just to beg me to stop. That didn¡¯t keep the system from giving me a pity level, though. Singing has reached level 2! With the king still sleeping and without any other leads, we were forced to admit that we only had two real options. We could break in uninvited, earning the ire of the guards, or we could call it a wash and retreat. Of course, there was a third possibility, but neither of us could pull it off. With a poorly stifled huff, Verin said as much. ¡°Loathe as I am to suggest that we cannot handle this region on our own, it does seem that this would be an ideal scenario for the Lady Calilah, does it not?¡± She gazed out towards the bridge where she¡¯d nearly been skewered a few days prior, scanning its length. ¡°Were she to become invisible, I doubt the guards would give her any trouble, and it is entirely possible she could complete our quest in a matter of minutes. I am aware that we have gotten rather far on our own, but perhaps we should retreat for the time being and return with our resident stealth specialist.¡± If that was what Verin wanted to do, I wasn¡¯t going to fight her on it. I actually felt like I was holding up pretty well, all things considered, but I wouldn¡¯t say no to a few days back at the cabin regardless. Assuming we could share the quest and the various nymphs¡¯ blessings with Cal, it hopefully wouldn¡¯t be too hard to get back here. Better yet, we hadn¡¯t seen a single panther since the quest began, taking the bulk of the risk out of play. It did feel like a bit of a letdown to get this far only to pack up and head home, but we weren¡¯t here to go out in some blaze of glory. If there was a slow and careful way to beat the region, we would take it. ¡°May we have better luck when next we return.¡± Bidding the clearing farewell, Verin hopped onto my back, summoning up her Advancing Glacier. Just like that, we waded back out into the dense sea of trees, doing our best to retrace our steps. Our best, sadly, didn¡¯t prove to be very good at all. With God¡¯s Mind, I was certain I remembered the exact direction we¡¯d come from. Even so, when we walked back to where the tunnel from the water nymph¡¯s region should have been, it was notably absent. In fact, everything was absent save for the pervasive looming trees. No waterfalls. No caves. Nothing. The more I looked around, the more it felt like there was an eerie sort of uniformity, as if someone had copied a single chunk of the woods and then pasted it over and over again. We kept wandering for a time, hoping to spot even the smallest of deviations from the norm. As the hours dragged on, I wondered if we¡¯d made a mistake in leaving the clearing. What if the forest just never ended? What if we were confined here with no escape now? It was almost a physical weight off my mind when I spotted the trees abruptly drop off up ahead. Rushing forward, I was ready to greet the prairie once more, or failing that, anything but the deep woods. It came as a shock, then, when I realized the area ahead wasn¡¯t a new region at all. Instead, it was a clearing. With a massive, towering tree. And a moat. And a bridge. And a ring of wooden golems. I was certain that I¡¯d walked straight. There was no chance we¡¯d gone in a circle. Which left only one decidedly unpleasant possibility. Cracking open her glacier, Verin took in the familiar sight. ¡°I suppose we¡¯ll be staying here a touch longer than we thought.¡±
We camped out for one more day. In part, that was from a futile hope that this sleeping king would finally wake up. Mostly, though, we used our time to verify that we were well and truly trapped. And as best we could tell, the answer was a resounding yes. After gaining our first nymph¡¯s blessing, we¡¯d been transported by walking into a tree. In that vein, Verin and I spent a solid hour choosing trees at random and trying to walk into them, hoping to find one that functioned similarly. Rather than making any headway, we only managed to make ourselves feel increasingly dumb, walking into tree after tree with nothing to show for it. Going up was likewise fruitless. Or, at least I thought it was. The canopy was so thick, we couldn¡¯t see what lay above it. Twice, I¡¯d ascended -- once in the clearing, and once in the forest proper -- hoping to saw my way through the obscuring branches to break free. What exactly would have happened had I followed through, I couldn¡¯t say. On both occasions, Danger Sense had activated with such an intensity, I immediately let myself free fall through the air rather than risk traveling even an inch higher. Failing that, we¡¯d even tried asking the golems to let us leave, which went as well as one might expect. Knowing that they weren¡¯t very verbal, I tried to recreate the earlier mental link, but this time, send my thoughts to them. Whether I wasn¡¯t doing it right, or they just didn¡¯t care, I couldn¡¯t say. Either way, they didn¡¯t respond. Truly, it seemed we were out of luck unless we completed our quest. Backed into a corner, the only thing that remained was the logistics. ¡°In sum, I would say the most pertinent question is whether we wish to fight our way to the center, or run there while dodging the sentries¡¯ attacks. If the latter, we will have to determine if I should assist you from your back, or if you wish to leave me behind.¡± Verin paced not far from the guards in question, none of them looking our way even as we openly discussed defying them. Frankly, I didn¡¯t have much input, leaving Verin to nervously monologue for most of the debate. Still, in the end, I was satisfied with our choices. As for if we should fight or run, we decided to run. Ignoring the fact that the supposed king might not be entirely happy with us if we chopped down all his guards, we just weren¡¯t strong enough. Even two heartwood sentries had landed blows on us, and that was only with one of their skills. If all we had to deal with were sharp roots, then maybe we¡¯d be fine, but that was optimistic to the point of delusion. At level 38, the guards certainly had more than one basic attack. What would we do if they had an immobilization skill? What if they could summon roots to drag us into the earth and bury us alive? If none of those attacks ever landed, we¡¯d be fine, but in a protracted battle against an entire swarm of golems targeting me at once, there was no chance I¡¯d dodge everything thrown at me. So. Running. As for the second matter, that took us considerably longer to figure out. On the pros of taking Verin with me, she would be much better at speaking to the king if we managed to find him. And safety wise, even if we ignored her various slowing skills, I wouldn¡¯t mind having someone who knew the Ice Wall spell watching my back. There was also the question of if the golems would start attacking her even if I was the only one to make a run for the central tree. If so, she was better off with me. As for the cons, her glacier would be in the thin backpack mode, leaving her vulnerable to attacks with enough force. Particularly concerning for my chances of success, her presence on my back also heavily limited my mobility, tying down my Spatial Step as well. Truthfully, if that was all, I would have wanted to go alone. Safety aside, the mobility boost would be huge if I wasn¡¯t hefting her about. The real concern, though, was what would happen if I actually succeeded without her. What if the quest involved me staying in the palace for another month? Would Verin just sit out here starving the entire time? Even if she somehow found food in this oddly lifeless stretch of the woods, with her cooking skills, she¡¯d probably die from food poisoning before a week was over. Or, worse yet, what if the quest ended, and the king teleported me out of the forest for good. Would he bring Verin with me? Would she be trapped for good if I didn¡¯t find a way to come back? No, for better or for worse, as long as we had this quest, Verin and I weren¡¯t splitting up. And so it came to be that, after over a week of our journey, I stood before the bridge to the great tree, two golems at my side, and Verin on my back. Despite my need for speed, I wore my plate armor, both to insulate me from the cold of Verin¡¯s glacier and to ward off whatever attacks might head my way. The sentries had already proven that their roots could poke through my mana defenses, and dent the metal armor beneath, and I had little desire to subject my skin to such a treatment. With Verin mute and immobilized while in her glacier, it fell squarely on me to kick things off. I took a deep breath, steeling myself for whatever was about to come. Wanting whatever advantage I could get, I then activated Flash Feet, sinking light mana into my soles. And at last, I sprinted forward. One step. Then two. Past the guards and onto the bridge. As one, the entire ring of sentries turned to face me. And all at once, the entire clearing exploded into action. B4 C46: To Wake a King I¡¯d known from the offset that I could expect long-range attacks from the sentries, and on that front, they didn¡¯t disappoint. Over a dozen wooden titans lifted their gnarled hands, sending forth their first offensive wave. Spear-like roots trailed out from their wrists like streamers, their honed tips homing in on me. Here, at least, I held the clear advantage. With the golems stationed around the circumference of the moat, the bulk of their attacks were far enough to give me plenty of time to react. As for the two directly behind me, despite their near success the first time around, I was ready for them. Right before the roots would have slammed into my back, testing the limits of Verin¡¯s glacier, I Jet Stepped to the side. As the roots were still connected to the sentries, I had a brief worry that they would manipulate them in some way, causing them to snake through the air and attack us again. My fears proved to be unfounded as their opening salvo missed entirely, digging into the earthen bridge beneath us. Though there were some close calls, the rest of the comically elongated spears followed suit, one by one hitting the bridge or the water below. That wasn¡¯t so bad. At this rate, I¡¯d be on the central island in no time. Already well past the limits of standard human Dexterity, with my Running skill and my Flash Feet, I was tearing up the terrain. What are the odds I get there before they even send out a second round? Though I hadn¡¯t spoken the thought aloud, I knew I¡¯d tempted fate the very moment it entered my head. Before I even realized what was happening, my vision spun abruptly, my head rapidly approaching the ground. I¡¯m falling? Reflexively, I threw my hands down, flexing my muscles in a manner I¡¯d grown well-accustomed to during my acrobatics practice back with Advisor Flithus. In a flash, I transformed what would have been a concussion-inducing tumble into a front handspring, struggling to adjust my balance to handle the extra weight on my back. Acrobatics has reached level 11! For a split second, I was upside down with my head facing backwards. Though my vision was flipped, I instantly spotted what had tripped me, realizing I hadn¡¯t even needed to ask. Right where my foot had just been, a knobby root poked out from the earth. If that was all I saw, I would have been fine. Knowing the sentries could summon tripping hazards at any moment was rough, but manageable. Unfortunately, as I hung there suspended, I spotted far more than I¡¯d bargained for. With my Intelligence pushing itself to the max, time seemed to drastically slow as I took it all in. As if in agonizing slow motion, I watched as a pulse of mana traveled through each of the many roots stabbing into the land around me. Spurred on by the mana, long savage thorns began to sprout from the roots. Half of the thorny tubers then ripped themselves from the earth, no longer spears, but some form of hellish whip instead. At the very peak of my flip, right before I lost sight of the landscape behind me, I watched the first of the whips start to sail towards me. No thank you. I had no idea if those thorns could pierce my armor, but I had no plans to find out, either. As my legs flew back down to the earth and my vision righted itself, however, I quickly discovered what the other half of the roots had been up to. Evidently having burrowed through the ground, the rest of the roots began to sprout from the bridge at a clip that defied logic. Splitting off and forming their own thorny branches in real time, they transformed into the start of a briar patch. With a heavy thud that seemed to fill the clearing, my feet met the ground once more. Time, which had slowed to a crawl, sped up with a vengeance. In a single second, everything went to shit. Dirt sprayed my legs as the entire pathway before me erupted into sections of impassable vegetation, transforming my straight-shot to the island into an obstacle course. Left. Right. Over. I weaved around the impediments before they had too much time to grow, jumping over them whenever I could. I likely could have gone faster, but my unexpected spill made me wary to go all out. If I tripped again, it would be directly into the ever-growing brambles. Still, I managed to get a good quarter of the way across the bridge before the real battle began. Down. The first of the golems¡¯ whips reached me at last, laterally slicing through the air right at my neck. A quick duck was all I needed to dodge, though the move put me into an awkward position to avoid the whip¡¯s successor. The second whip came from behind, threatening to sweep me off my feet. Shooting directly into the air from my crouch, I vaulted over the next mass of thorns. It was only at the last moment that I realized my aim was off. As soon as I hit the ground, I was jerked to a halt, the whiplash alone enough to shave off a few points of health. You have been rooted! Even as a trio of whips closed in, I glanced down to where I¡¯d barely clipped the edge of the briars. While the thorns themselves hadn¡¯t pierced my armor, even as I watched, the branches multiplied, climbing up my leg. Bracing myself with my other foot, I yanked with all my might, tearing myself free. Impairment Resistance has reached level 9! Unfortunately, the damage had been done. Capitalizing on my moment of inaction, two whips closed in from either side while a third threatened to vertically slice me in two. The time for dodging was long past. Come on. Please work. In both hands, I summoned a blade, overloading each of them with death mana. My ability to dual-wield left something to be desired, and I winced as I sent my hands in different directions to take out two of the three attacks. Even if it wasn¡¯t my best work, the abundance of mana turned what would have been glancing blows into clean cuts. The tips of the two whips limply fell off, granting me some breathing room. Sadly, that still left the third. It tore through the air, and I braced myself for impact right as it was about to connect. CRUNCH. The whip was forced to a halt, though not before it imparted every shred of its bone-shattering force to its hapless victim. Thankfully, however, that victim was not me. A thick wall of ice stood to my left, nearly shattered from the collision, but ultimately holding strong. Verin. Though she was tucked away in her glacier, the noble didn¡¯t let that stop her from influencing the fight. And, in fact, that wasn¡¯t her only contribution. From the corner of my eyes, I watched as the two previous whips flailed about, a thin sheen of frost coating their newly truncated tops. At the same time, the telltale black rot of death mana seeped out from my earlier cuts. If nothing else, hopefully our combined assault would keep the two weapons out of the fray for a while. Not stopping to celebrate, I was already sprinting forth once more. Over and over, we managed to narrowly block, evade, or cut through the worst of the barrage. In a series of lunges, hops, and frantic crouches that would have dizzied the most devout of parkour enthusiasts, we made painstaking progress. Even so, it was clear our current situation was untenable. Not for a moment had the brambles stopped growing, and what had begun as disparate bushes was quickly evolving into something far greater. The bushes¡¯ many ligneous limbs never stopped thickening and ascending upwards, at times wrapping around one another to almost fuse together. The end result was part bush, part tree, tall enough to preclude a simple jump and wide enough to keep me from skirting around. If that wasn¡¯t bad enough, the growths seamlessly shifted whenever the whips neared, parting to allow them to ravage us with impunity. We need to leave the bridge. Reluctant though I was to leave the solid earth for the open air or the moat below, I saw no other choice. I only eked out a few more meters before I had to admit that staying land bound would fully pen me in. And so, saying farewell to the monstrous vegetation ahead of me, I rushed to the edge of the bridge and leapt off. Initially, I thought I¡¯d keep to the air rather than run along the water. A quick flare of Danger Sense was the only warning I got before that plan went haywire. WHUMP. Like the hand of god, a titanic force slammed into me from above, and down I went. I briefly wondered if someone had chucked an entire tree at me until I felt my body continue to speed up, gale force winds shoving me directly downwards. My brain rattled around in my head, and it was only through a miracle that I had the presence of mind to activate Featherfoot and Waterwalking before I hit the water. Jarring as the landing was, I managed to land on my feet without breaking any bones. Doing anything more than that, however, was fully out of the question. Even taking a single step under the pressure of the winds was impossible, and with my footing currently churning and rippling, it was a struggle just to stand. Why? Just because I left the bridge? And how do I get out? Dive into the water? My musings were cut short by the arrival of another whip, somehow entirely undeterred by the ungodly air currents. Barely able to move, I could only stand there as it slapped into me, the thorns scraping against my armor. I leaned with the blow, hoping it could drive me out of the debilitating winds, but I had no such luck. Instead, the root latched onto my arm, curling around it like a boa constrictor. And, in fact, the similarity didn¡¯t end there, as it began to tighten. Far sturdier than they should have been, the thorns bit into the metal armor, and I could feel as it began to buckle. No, no, no, no, no. Let¡¯s not- Pain Resistance has reached level 17! My cry was lost to the wind as dozens of thorns first pierced metal and then pierced flesh. They continued to sink deeper, until I could practically feel them scratching against my bones, a sensation I hoped to never feel again. With my mana the only thing I could control right now, I channeled as much death mana as I could into my armor while also casting Deaden over and over. While the wood rapidly blackened, it didn¡¯t give me even the slightest bit of slack. The wind. I need to get out from the wind. Everything else was secondary. With the root gripping me, I wasn¡¯t even sure I could escape into the water anymore, though. I don¡¯t have anything. I can¡¯t get out. Right before the full weight of my helplessness could sink in, it happened. A giant surge of mana burst out from the two of us, expanding until it filled the entire clearing. When it finally ran its course, the air around us was calm and placid, the wind entirely erased. Before I could figure out what the cause was, the system helpfully butted in. The blessing of the wind nymph has been consumed. The air in the heartwood has been forcibly stilled. Flight skills temporarily disabled. Thank you wind nymph! I silently forgave the spirit for being the most annoying out of the four, even if I wasn¡¯t thrilled with my flight being locked. Eager to get going, I sliced through the root embedded into my arm, disconnecting it from the whip. Not willing to spend the time uncoiling it or tugging it out of me, I left the remainder still attached to me as I ran off atop the water.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. With more open space available to me this time, I was a blur, gliding atop the moat at record speeds. Whips came and went, sliced apart or otherwise dodged, and I was optimistic that I¡¯d be done with this gauntlet soon. Another thorny tendril tried to wrap itself around my legs, and I effortlessly jumped over it. Danger Sense screamed at me right as I was about to land, and in the heat of the moment, I activated Jet Step in an effort to return myself to the air. Skill Jet Step is temporarily locked. Even before I read the notification, I recalled my error, but it was too late. ¡°Gah. Shit.¡± Those were my last words before something wrapped around my ankle and yanked me into the water. A hasty overloaded dagger was enough to sever the thin, kelp-like plant pulling me down to my watery grave, but it was too late, too little. Even as I freed myself, I was shoved by an abrupt downwards current, the moat no more happy to see me than the air above it. Without any aquatic movement skills, I was powerless to defend myself from the water¡¯s wrath, and I quickly hit the bottom of the moat, hard. A large bed of kelp cushioned the collision, but its presence only made me groan internally. As expected, it stirred to life as I neared, wrapping around all four limbs in an instant. Trying to free myself, I thrashed about to no avail. Breath Control has reached level 18! The skill was getting a workout, though I sorely wished I¡¯d bought Arcane Choker instead of having to rely on it. The only saving grace was that the forest king hadn¡¯t stocked his moat with any fish or sharks. With the thorny root still poking into my arm, I was leaking a steady supply of blood into the water. If I die fighting kelp, Cal is going to laugh at me. It was right as I had that thought that I managed to rip a chunk of the seaweed off me, only belatedly realizing that they were more brittle than they¡¯d been moments before. Verin. Bit by bit, the area around us began to freeze, courtesy of her Glacial Zone. While not enough to fully freeze the plant life in place, it greatly weakened them. Even so, with the current still pinning me in place, I knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough. My lungs burned within my chest as I fought the urge to take a breath in. Need. Air. Now. My mouth opened, almost unbidden. Right before I could suck in a lungful of water, a second burst of mana rippled through the moat. Dry air licked at my wet skin, even as I struggled to comprehend what I was seeing. The blessing of the water nymph has been consumed. The water in the heartwood has been parted. All swimming and water propulsion skills have been temporarily locked. In a shockingly biblical act, all the water around me retracted, two solid walls of water forming on my sides. The effect didn¡¯t extend all the way up, leaving literal tons of water threateningly hovering over my head. It did, however, extend laterally, creating an underwater corridor that ran all the way to the island ahead. Had I not had more pressing concerns, it would have been a breathtaking experience. Only taking a moment to catch my breath, I ripped myself from the frostbitten kelp binding me to the ground and began to run. Kelp strands peeked out of the water, hoping to ensnare me as I ran. Worse yet, a few of the thorny roots had found their way here already, poking out of the moat bed in an effort to impale and impede me. For once, I was largely able to turn my brain off. To both my sides, ice walls sprung up, one after another. With Verin blocking the worst of my obstacles, I charged through the corridor. Gradually, it began to slope upwards, until I could see the island just up ahead. Maybe ten seconds away, at most. Close. So close. Please let there be nothing else. Even as I prayed for an easy end to this quest, I knew it wouldn¡¯t come. What are the odds I get away with just using two of my blessings? Air. Water. Please don¡¯t tell me there¡¯s also something for life and ear- As if to mock me, the ground chose that very moment to tremble. Right as I would have escaped the underwater pathway, a slab of stone rose from the earth, locking me in. Through the water, I could see it rise high into the sky, completely surrounding the island. Guess you can¡¯t have a moat without a castle wall. If that wasn¡¯t demoralizing enough, three smaller walls soon joined the first, boxing me in on all four sides. Surreally, the ceiling was now the only thing made of water, and I would have considered jumping into it had the previous system message not warned against that. So what? I¡¯m just stuck in a stone box? Are they trying to asphyxiate me? As if to laugh at my naivete, two of the walls began to slowly grind against the others, pushing inwards. Nope. Not dealing with this one. Already spent from nearly drowning, I had no desire to pit myself against some sort of crushing trap. I probably could survive it, either through brute strength or enough armor reinforcement, but I was too spent. Instead, I cheated. Activating Arcane Storage, I quickly took stock of everything I¡¯d been storing away. While a lot of it was food, I also had a sizable chunk of plain stone. Without any metal to work with, the stone was what I made most of our bottles and cookware out of, and I¡¯d been hoping to use it for some enchanting matrices eventually. Block after block appeared in the tight confines until I had enough span the entire width of the trap I¡¯d found myself in. The two walls groaned as they pushed up against the solid mountain rock, and for a moment, I worried that they would somehow smash through the stones. Instead, they simply stood there, impotently, trying and failing to crush us. Knowing what came next, I slumped to the ground, letting my flagging stamina refill itself. A few roots burrowed through the ground to take advantage of my captivity, but the tiny space was ideal for Verin¡¯s skills, freezing them before they had a chance to attack. In the end, the break was far too short for my liking. Before I knew it, a third burst of mana signaled the resumption of my trial. The blessing of the earth nymph has been consumed. I didn¡¯t bother reading on, as the effect was already clear. The section of the wall blocking me from the island slid to the side, freeing me at last. One more. Just one more. Stamina partially refilled, I burst from the underwater corridor, finally on the island proper. Just ahead, the massive trunk of the heartwood easily dwarfed everything in sight. If I was relieved to finally step foot on the island, the heartwood was anything but. As if the entire forest was sent into a rage the moment I arrived, the attacks on me only redoubled in effort. The whips, having held off while I was stuck in the moat, homed in on me once again. Summoning a blade, I went to chop the tip off of one of them, only to jump back as Danger Sense warned me away. With a pulse of life mana, the weapon chose that moment to grow, its single tip splitting into nine thorny heads. All across the clearing, its siblings did the same. Their subterranean counterparts were not immune to the change either. As I back-stepped away from getting shredded and entangled, a root exploded from the earth right by my foot with all the force of a landmine. For once, I was glad that Verin¡¯s glacier blocked most sounds. The prim and proper noble had no need to hear the foul string of curses that I let out. Next time, I¡¯m getting a defensive skill and making her carry me around. Unfortunately, there was nothing to do but move forward. Layering Heavy Step and Withering Step to protect my feet from the worst of the underground blows, I advanced. Taking some inspiration for various jungle-trekkers I¡¯d seen in movies, I summoned two oversized machetes, overloading them to hack at any whips that got close. With every inch I gained, I bled mana and stamina in equal parts, but as close as I was to my goal, they would hold. Then again, there¡¯s still one more blessing. Thankfully, I had a sneaking suspicion as to what the final obstacle would be. After all, I hadn¡¯t spotted any doors or windows to enter the tree through. Dodge has reached level 13! Swords has reached level 6! I was a whirling dervish, entering a sort of battle fugue I rarely was able to access. In tune with Danger Sense, I pivoted around roots before they emerged, ducking under whips that came from behind me, and slicing through anything that stood in my way. In what felt like hours but could only have been minutes at the most, I painted the ground red with my advance. And given that I was fighting plants, that red was mine, unfortunately. As powerful as I¡¯d become, I was far from being able to handle that many attacks at once. Every few steps, I found myself wrapped up in a new set of thorns, constantly having to resummon my leg armor as root blasts took entire chunks from my calves. By now, even putting weight on my legs was a struggle, but one I bore with a grimace. Heavy Armor has reached level 15! Bleed Resistance has reached level 15! When at last I reached the solid wood of the colossal tree, it was with more shock than proper relief. And as if to apologize for everything I¡¯d been put through, for once, my blessing didn¡¯t make me wait. A fourth and final blast of mana burst out from me, washing over the bark of the tree. The blessing of the life nymph has been consumed. In record time, a hollowed-out archway formed in the trunk. I rushed inside, hoping that the worst of the fighting was finally behind me. I was somewhat incredulous, then, when the whips straightened themselves out and followed me, taking probing stabs at my back as I ran inside. They ripped through ice wall after ice wall, barely even slowed by the barriers. Come on. Forest king. Find the forest king. He had to be somewhere in here, didn¡¯t he? If I¡¯d expected a regal palace fit for a king, though, I was out of luck. The inside of the tree was exactly that, essentially just a large wooden cave. Only one thing stood out, and as my eyes fell upon it, I knew without a doubt it was what all of the golems were defending. Suspended in the center of the tree was a wooden heart. Anatomically correct and twice as tall as I was, it rhythmically pulsed, pushing thick sap through its attached veins and arteries. I feel like this really isn¡¯t supposed to be how trees work, but I¡¯m going to dwell on that later. While I hardly had time to be reading, I hit it with God¡¯s Eye nonetheless, needing to know what I was up against. Wooden Heart of the Heartwood The seat of vitality for an ancient heartwood tree. Can be used as a powerful reagent for a host of rituals and solutions, or can be directly consumed to empower the imbiber¡¯s Constitution and Life Magic. Removing or otherwise destroying this heart will slay the heartwood, disabling any defenses surrounding it. The description proved to be enough to grant me some further reading, which I sped through as the roots behind me pounded against layer after layer of ice walls. Quest Updated! Besieged by the heartwood¡¯s defenses, you have battled your way to the forest¡¯s heart. As an alternate quest completion requirement, you may forgo speaking with the king to instead claim the heart as your own. My head swam as I parsed through the updated quest. This wasn¡¯t what we¡¯d come here for at all. Weren¡¯t we supposed to wake some sort of king? When did this turn into a heist? But it¡¯s right there. And it would get the roots off our back. And the promised boost to Constitution and Life Magic was potentially a better reward than we¡¯d gotten from any other region. Could I really pass that up? Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have time to come to a slow and thought-out decision, as evidenced by the chips of ice spraying over me from behind. I wasn¡¯t sure how much mana Verin still had, but with how many walls she was summoning, I knew she couldn¡¯t last forever. Just take the heart. Let it be over. This entire trial had lasted long enough. I was drenched. Bloodied. Exhausted. Covered in thorny roots, still clinging to my flesh. And yet¡­ I was sad when we cleared the air region. It felt like¡­ It felt like maybe there was a better way to settle things. This time, the dungeon was being even more explicit, outright telling me that I had a choice to make. Did we come here to kill the forest and steal its power? Or were we here to wake a king? A movement on my back signaled Verin breaking out from her glacier, abandoning her defenses just to shout. ¡°Lady Tess! I¡¯m nearly out of mana. Do something!¡± It was perhaps the most direct statement I¡¯d ever heard her make, free of her usual flowery language. That, more than anything else, drove home just how serious the situation was. I need to do something, but what do I do? If I wanted to wake the king, did I even know how? ¡°Hey! Wake up! Wake up and stop attacking us!¡± I screamed with all my might, my voice echoing through the chamber. No quest updates arrived, and the roots continued, undeterred. ¡°We¡¯re not here to take the heart! Just call the roots off!¡± Nothing. Wavering, I looked down to my machete, taking tentative steps over to the wooden arteries holding the giant heart aloft. Even as thick as they were, I knew it would only take me a single empowered strike to sever them. Think. There has to be something else. ¡°Tess! Now!¡± With Verin¡¯s shout came the shattering of ice, and an entire army of roots poured into the room. Trying to buy even a single second, Verin ran behind me, using the very last of her mana to resummon her glacier. While it was better than nothing, I knew that without ample time to grow, it wouldn¡¯t do her much good. I placed the edge of the machete against the bundle of faux vasculature, hesitating even as the first of the roots slammed into my leg, snaking up its side. How am I supposed to wake it? Is there something we missed? A hidden room? Some other way to communica- Another way to communicate. Was it that simple? A second root wound around my arm, trying to stop me from using my weapon, but I paid it no heed. Delving into the tattered ruins of my mental space, I cast Sense Minds. At first, I didn¡¯t spot anything, worrying that I¡¯d done all that waffling for nothing. Just when I was about to accept that I¡¯d been wrong, though, I saw it. It was dim. Unmistakable, now that I saw it. Large and powerful, a grand purple sphere that no mind I¡¯d seen compared to. But all the same, it blended into the background, diffuse and hazy. Not even bothering to identify it, I rushed towards the mind, instinctively trying to connect with it. Hey! You¡¯re attacking us! Wake up! Wake up now! Please! Another root latched onto me, a pool of blood forming at my feet as it added to the already significant number of puncture wounds I was sporting. Even with my focus largely on my mental space, I vaguely noted a few roots traveling deeper into the cavern, headed towards Verin. Not able to delay any longer, I began to struggle against the root on my arm, slowly bringing down the machete. Pain, fear, regret. All of them filled my mind, radiating through my mental space, raw and unvarnished. And though my frantic thoughts hadn¡¯t been enough, my emotions finally did what my urgent pleas could not. They slammed against the mind before me. At long last, something ancient stirred. Quest Updated! B4 C47: A Sweet Reward Earlier, when I¡¯d connected to the mind of one of the sentries, the experience had been both painful and jarring. Now, faced with a mind just as alien but far stronger, I was momentarily overwhelmed as a flood of raw sensations washed over me. Feelings, images, senses that my body couldn¡¯t perceive at all, all jumbled together in an unnatural melange. So powerful was the effect, that I wasn¡¯t even aware of what was happening to my body anymore, completely focused on my mental space. As the foreign mind slowly cast off the caul of slumber, however, it marshaled its thoughts into some semblance of order. I could detect the exact moment it became aware of me, with it immediately launching a mental probe my way. ??? ¡­ ! Raw curiosity gave way to a murky understanding, followed by a sort of excited panic. Its mind hastily reorganized itself into something more regimented, replacing the unguarded sensory stream with something more familiar. Sound. The mind flickered through hundreds of utterances in a single instant, only pausing once it sensed me react to one of them. Spared from the vast weight of its mind, I was finally able to partially detach from my mental space, relieved to discover that the thorny roots were no longer attempting to puree my entire body. Unsummoning the machete I¡¯d been seconds away from using, I slumped to the ground, exhausted. Safe. Good. Or that wasn¡¯t entirely true. Even with the battle concluded, I found myself lying in a puddle of my own blood. A puddle which was, unfortunately, still growing at an appreciable pace. One of this place¡¯s many accursed roots began to slide over to me once more. Thankfully, I watched as it retracted its many thorns, effectively declawing it as it poked at my wounds. ??? has cast Forest¡¯s Renewal on you. +100hp, 10 Stamina, 5 mana every second for 20 seconds. The sheer volume of mana within me made my soul feel close to bursting, and I wondered if it was possible to damage me with too powerful a healing spell. Even so, I was practically thrown to my feet by the sheer restorative energy flowing through me. Soon, the only evidence of my previous ordeal was the damage to my gear, with even the blood having sank into the soil. A weary and dirt-stained Verin shuffled over, thankfully sporting no more than a few cuts and bruises. ¡°Lady Tess. I saw our quest update. The option to claim the heart has been removed? I assume you managed to do something. Is it over, or what still remains?¡± With more pressing concerns, I hadn¡¯t read the quest update myself, but I was hardly surprised at the development. Deciding to leave the explanation to whatever forest entity was speaking into my mind, I answered by gesturing to a clump of roots which was weaving itself together. Though awkward at first, its form slowly refined itself, with various bits of wood thinning and thickening, extending and retracting, until it took on the shape of a man. If anything, the guise was a tad too convincing, far more realistic than Elphaea¡¯s usual appearance. With long pointed ears and angular features, the wooden body was clearly supposed to be some manner of elf. Complete with a set of robes and a pair of eyes that seemed to be permanently shut, the only thing that separated the body from being perfectly lifelike was its monochromatic, wooden exterior. The elf sent a hand to his throat, massaging it as he gingerly opened his mouth. ¡°Test-test-test. Good! That seems to have worked nicely.¡± He spun about until both Verin and I were firmly in view of his sightless eyes, giving us a shallow bow. ¡°Hello! Thank you two for waking me. I truly slept in this time, didn¡¯t I? Apologies for the poor welcome -- the defenders can be a bit overzealous in my absence. Here.¡± You have been granted safe passage through the Wandering Woods! All creatures in the woods will be non-hostile unless attacked. All disorientation and seclusion magic bypassed. Even as the elf continued to speak, I sagged in relief. We¡¯re not trapped anymore. We can go home. That, in and of itself, was a blessing. ¡°Now. Flesh-folk have names they give people when meeting them for the first time, isn¡¯t that right? Mmm. At the risk of coming off as frivolous, how about something tree related, yes? You may call me Arbor, ancient heartwood and king of the wandering woods. You were granted some form of quest to get here, it would seem? Curious. Consider it fulfilled.¡± Quest Completed! +2500xp Access to Arbor, King of the Forest. This was our so-called king of the forest? Admittedly, I¡¯d kind of gotten that vibe after entering the tree and seeing the heart, but it still managed to surprise me. I hadn¡¯t necessarily assumed he would be human, per se, but I would have expected a nymph or even an actual elf more than I would a full-on tree. It was lucky that he could speak Common in the first place, honestly. I ignored Verin pulling me into some sort of stiff bow, instead focusing on the more important issues. This probably means no kitchens or beds anywhere, huh. If Arbor took offense at my halfhearted bow, he didn¡¯t show it. Instead, whether he¡¯d sensed my disappointment or was otherwise privy to our quest rewards, the king rubbed at his nonexistent facial hair with a grimace. ¡°Lackluster rewards, hmm. Without you two, I likely would have slept for another few centuries, at the very least. The nymphs tend to grow restless when I leave them be for too long. And¡­ something seems different about the forest? What a conundrum. The last time I saw a flesh-folk was very long ago. I don¡¯t believe I have much that will be suitable to reward you with.¡± Even more so than Din¡¯Ket and Tal¡¯Ket, Arbor felt aware in a way that nothing else we¡¯d encountered in the dungeon had been. I almost wanted to ask him if he had a soul or was aware that he was in a dungeon, but that could wait. Morals aside, his musings had me second guessing if I¡¯d made the right choice. We¡¯re underleveled and stuck here. Not just me, but Verin and Cal, too. Not that I liked to dwell on it, but I knew that we could genuinely die here if we didn¡¯t get strong enough. Had I given up a huge boost to our power with nothing to show for it but goodwill and a clear conscience? ¡°I could maybe teach a spell or two if either of you practices Life Magic¡­¡± He paused, noticing as my ears suddenly perked up. Admittedly, it was nothing the grand magus couldn¡¯t do for us, but with him asleep, it would still be a nice perk. ¡°And, well. Probably not that exciting to you, but I can grow most plant life on command as long as it¡¯s something I¡¯m aware-¡± Even with his eyes closed tight, the king of the forest looked alarmed as I rushed him, closing the distance between us with a spatial step. Clamping down on both of his polished shoulders, I brought my face close to his as I donned the most serious, no-nonsense face I could muster. ¡°Your Highness. I have a list.¡±
¡°And what about pineapples? Do you know what a pineapple is? Or maybe a jackfruit? I don¡¯t actually need to eat either of them, although I guess I would, but I think I heard on the internet that you can make pineapple leather. Do you know fruits that you can turn into leather? Or wait, what the hell am I saying? Cotton. Or what¡¯s linen made from? Is that flax? What even is flax, actually? Maybe let¡¯s stick to cotton. White and fluffy and-¡± A gentle hand grabbed my arm, cutting me off with a polite tug. Shifting her eyes from me to King Arbor, Verin tried to communicate something silently, but it went entirely over my head. And besides, whatever it was, it could wait. Did she understand how important this was? I backtracked, trying to remember where I¡¯d left off, before Verin gave my arm a more insistent yank. ¡°Lady Tess. While it thrills me to no end to hear you speaking this much, might I suggest that we continue this conversation at another time? We do not wish to impose further on His Highness, yes?¡± She quirked a single brow upwards as if daring me to gainsay her, which I was entirely tempted to do. Arbor didn¡¯t mind, did he? I fixed the wooden elf with my most winning smile, more genuine than I¡¯d managed in ages, only to realize that the king looked¡­ a bit wilted? Not that he actually had any leaves coming off of him, but he visibly slouched, somehow looking less solid than he had before. I had the distinct sense that if I pushed my thumb into him hard enough, it would leave an indent. What¡¯s his problem? We¡¯d only been at it for¡­ Actually, I wasn¡¯t sure. It couldn¡¯t have been that long though, right? ¡°I think that would be¡­ for the best, yes,¡± he lethargically agreed, completely spoiling the fun we¡¯d been having. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m not used to being awake and actively using my magic like this. I might just take¡­ a brief¡­ nap.¡± His elven form sank to the ground, propping his back against the still-beating giant heart. Seeming to fight to get each word out, he said his farewells.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Come back¡­ in a few weeks¡­ for more.¡± Almost as an afterthought, he managed to append two more words before succumbing to the siren call of slumber: ¡°Bring¡­ stories¡­¡± And with that, all at once, the roots making up his body unwound themselves, leaving the two of us alone in the king¡¯s heart chamber. Even with how elated I was with my rewards, I couldn¡¯t help but stifle a grumble. Ripoff. I¡¯d only made him grow me, what, like, twenty different plants? What sort of king got tired from twenty plants? Maybe I should have eaten his heart after all. As if sensing my change of heart, the king somehow managed to make his invitation a bit more formal than a few sleep-laden ramblings. A welcome notification sprung up on my interface. You have been offered a recurring quest! A Story for the Somnolent King Arbor of the Wandering Woods has fallen back asleep, requiring a hearty nap before he can be woken again. Confined to his tree, the king is ever the fan of stories of the outside world. If you trade the king a story, he¡¯ll be happy to grow you plants or teach you magic until sleep claims him once again. This is a recurring quest. This quest can be completed once a month. A whole month! After he¡¯d just finished sleeping for untold centuries? How did we get stuck with the world¡¯s worst narcoleptic running our new dungeon-supplied grocery store? Well, not the biggest deal. I hadn¡¯t managed to get any new spells from him, but with my Life Magic sitting at level 19, it probably made sense to hit the Apprentice rank before asking him in any case. And I also got all sorts of ingredients I don¡¯t know how to use. Wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it takes me a few weeks to figure them out, honestly. Actually, what should I even start with? I was so lost in thought, that I didn¡¯t even register the warm, content looks that Verin was giving me until she spoke. ¡°Lady Tess. Your smile looks much more natural today. As always, I am glad to see it.¡± I froze, sliding a hand up to my face to trace my lips. I was smiling. When had that happened? Not that I never smiled, but these days, it was usually during a conversation. A proper reaction to a good joke, or a face to put on when circumstances warranted. But just while walking around? For myself? How often did that happen? ¡°Huh. I guess I am.¡± My mind was pulled back to the many new treats I¡¯d get to make in the upcoming days, and to Verin¡¯s and Cal¡¯s reactions when I did. ¡°I guess I am,¡± I repeated, more assuredly. The entire way back to the cabin, I felt a certain lightness to my step. Cal hadn¡¯t arrived by the time we got there, but that suited me just fine. I needed the time in any case.
Cooking has reached level 18! For all that I had more important things to be doing, I spent the week after our forest expedition playing with the various odds and ends I¡¯d made Arbor grow for me. Some small part of me noted that it was a poor use of my time -- the whole point of us challenging the region was to level up until we were ready for the poison biome, after all -- but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to care. Away from Verin¡¯s prying eyes, I experimented in my mountain cave as much as possible. Now, one might wonder exactly what sort of ingredients took an entire week to get used to. Even with only my single semester of cooking classes to go off of, I wouldn¡¯t need any time to acclimate to your average leafy green, for example. Despite the number of times that I cursed myself for not thinking to ask for this or that, though, I had managed to snag two of the most important plants of all. The first, to my great joy, was wheat. Or, at least something wheat adjacent. Even at a glance, it was clear that what I was working with was slightly different from the heavily cultivated wheat I was used to, but I wasn¡¯t complaining. To begin with, I was shocked the king knew about the grain at all, as I was fairly certain it wasn¡¯t a standard forest plant. There was probably a story to be told there, but Arbor had fallen asleep long before I could ask. The only thing that managed to temper my growing enthusiasm was the realization of just how annoying raw wheat really was. Without any modern tools, I was forced to beat each stalk against a rock, threshing it by hand. While I¡¯d already long since made myself a mortar and pestle for alchemy, grinding all the wheat berries into flour was far more labor intensive than I¡¯d imagined too. And at the end of all that, I discovered first hand just how little flour all those wheat stalks actually make. It was a ripoff! A scam! Add that to how much I wasted making the world¡¯s worst yeastless bread (without an oven), and I was sorely tempted to try waking Arbor up early just to score some more. If the first of the two Grand Ingredients would hopefully become a staple for us eventually, the second wasn¡¯t meant to be eaten on its own. Instead, it was to grant us something that we¡¯d been very, wildly, incredibly, supremely, inordinately lacking: sugar. Not from the plant I¡¯d been hoping for, admittedly. As strangely knowledgeable as Arbor was about non-forest vegetation, he drew a blank when it came to sugar cane. Sugar beets, on the other hand, were on the menu. Needless to say, I¡¯d grabbed a metric bajillion. With magic often making up for my new life¡¯s relative lack of technical prowess, it was rare that I truly missed modern conveniences. In fact, in a lot of ways, I was better off. Who needed air conditioning when I could regulate my temperature whenever I wanted? And if I wanted an ice-cold drink from the fridge, I could just conjure it directly in front of me before freezing it with a single spell. When it came to turning a sugar beet into sugar, however, I had to admit that the internet had its selling points. I was sure there was a way to get pure, solid sugar from the ugly white tubers, but that definitely wasn¡¯t what I ended up with. Instead, after chopping, boiling, and mashing them, I created a slightly funky brown substance that I was fairly sure counted as molasses. The consistency was off, the taste was weirdly earthy, and it wasn¡¯t half as sweet as pure sugar was, but I didn¡¯t care. It was the sweetest thing I¡¯d tasted in months, and there were still plenty of things I could do with it until I made something better. While the wheat and the beets were the true winners, that didn¡¯t mean the rest of my produce haul went unappreciated, either. In something of a rarity for me, I worked for a solid week without even considering taking a recovery day. In fact, when I finally stopped trying out new recipes, it was less because I¡¯d grown bored of cooking and more because I¡¯d already run out of most of my new ingredients. Verin was treated to a few new recipes during this time, but lest Cal accuse us of feasting like queens in her absence, I mostly stored the new dishes in Arcane Storage. It was something of a letdown, then, when she didn¡¯t show up that week at all, forcing me to keep all the food stashed away. After a full day of resting, I reluctantly returned to my spell training. I didn¡¯t manage to level a single spell school, but that was less because I wasn¡¯t making progress, and more because Cal finally showed up only a few days later. Despite her penchant for arriving unseen, her return was anything but subtle as the grand figure of Tal¡¯Ket swooped through the skies to drop her off. With an easygoing grin, she hopped from the bird¡¯s back and gave us her most affected, deep bow. ¡°Miss me?¡± Forestalling any possible response from Verin, she held a hand up in a warding gesture. ¡°Rhetorical question. I know the answer is yes.¡± Verin pursed her lips in what was probably the noble version of a snort, immediately firing back with a retort that ignited their standard bickering. Before they could get too far -- and before we inevitably traded stories of our time apart -- I cut them off. In this case, my concerns took precedence. ¡°Hi Cal. Welcome back. I made something.¡± I ushered them to the table we usually played board games on, feeling that this deserved more than just sitting on the ground. Preempting any speculation, I took out the first component of my greatest success, placing it between us. ¡°Oh shit. Are those crackers? When did we get wheat?¡± Not bothering to wait, Cal snatched a few from the stone plate I¡¯d set out, lazily throwing them into her mouth. ¡°Ooh! Herby. Pretty solid. Was this what you wanted to show us? Because it¡¯s good, but I feel like you¡¯ve done better.¡± Muttering something about being ungrateful, Verin followed suit, pinching a single cracker from the plate before biting off a single corner. She masked her emotions much better, but I could tell she felt much the same as Cal. Which made sense, honestly. The crackers weren¡¯t my best work. The herb blend I¡¯d settled on worked really nicely, with a sort of rosemary flavor as the dominant note. Without salt or butter or oil, though, there was only so much I could do. No, the true reveal was what came next. Reaching into my Arcane Storage, I removed three stone jars with knives already sticking out of them. With her class change, Cal had sacrificed just about all of her Perception, but the same wasn¡¯t true of Verin. The moment the jars hit the table, she homed in on them, their sweet scent calling out to her. If Verin had been a touch less proper and not insisted on using the provided knife, she would have been the first to sample the new offerings this time around. As it was, Cal grabbed a cracker and dipped it directly into one of the jars. She munched on it noisily, making no effort to restrain the little squeals of joy she let off. ¡°Jam! You made jam! Wait, Tess, this is actually really good!¡± Having said her piece, Cal grabbed another cracker, dipping it into both of the other jars to sample the remaining two flavors at once. She barely even looked guilty as her actions earned her a cry of outrage from Verin, instead greedily licking her lips before going in for another round. ¡°Lady Calilah, I am aware you do not sleep and are exceptionally skilled at escaping unpleasant situations, but please rest assured that if you finish any of those jars before I even try them, I will find a way to encase you in ice.¡± Having established her threat, Verin finally made her own opinion known. ¡°This is remarkably good, though. Some flavors I¡¯m failing to parse, but ultimately, they work rather nicely. Is this what you¡¯ve been working on all this time?¡± I nodded, treating myself to a few crackers as well. For all that I¡¯d assumed jam would be easy, I¡¯d actually had a fair bit of trouble getting three batches to turn out all right. Substituting molasses for sugar was already a hurdle, and then figuring how hot and how long to simmer the mixture for also took some trial and error. Even then, some fruits just worked better than others. It was probably something chemical that I just didn¡¯t understand, but once I¡¯d chilled half jam attempts, they¡¯d jelled into a nice, spreadable consistency. The others were just sugary fruit. I¡¯d had high hopes for some peach jam, but it was one of the worst results of the bunch. I scooped up a large dollop of the biggest success -- blackberry jam -- and let the pleasant taste wash away the memories of raw rabbit and plain, pan-fried scorpion. To my sides, both Verin and Cal wore expressions of absolute contentment, each of them reaching for another cracker, and then another after that. Tomorrow, it was back to training, and then we¡¯d all be stuck in a poison jungle after that. But for all that the dungeon put us through hell and back, sometimes there were moments like these, too. Moments where I got to watch my friends¡¯ faces light up while trying something I¡¯d made them. And moments where I got to eat some good jam. Soul Resistance has reached level 13! B4 C48: The Killer Chef As it turned out, Cal hadn¡¯t been idle during our time apart. While apparently she made some good progress on her class quests, the real prize she brought back was information. True to her word, she¡¯d spent time exploring the mountains to the best of her ability, and then scouting out the regions around the poison jungle. Both endeavors yielded results, although both results were frankly a bit disappointing. Mountain-wise, she was relatively sure she¡¯d discovered where we needed to go to find the boss. I hadn¡¯t given the matter much thought, but I wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if there was some giant gryphon¡¯s nest, nestled atop the tallest peak. In fact, that would have been ideal, as Cal and I were well suited to fighting the beasts. Cal was quick to bring that hope crashing to the ground. ¡°Underground cave system,¡± she confirmed. ¡°Found the entrance, but didn¡¯t go too deep. The dungeon turned off its lighting down there, so it¡¯s completely pitch black. I¡¯m decent in low-light conditions, but full darkness is a bit much for me. And in any case, cave-ins are probably one of the few things I can¡¯t deal with.¡± In retrospect, it wasn¡¯t that shocking. It would be a waste for the dungeon to create an entire mountain and only use the top of it. Still, all three of us were in agreement to leave the region alone for now. I was probably the only one who could handle it, and even then, much like Cal, I didn¡¯t have a way out of cave-ins. ¡°And there¡¯s truly no hope of us skirting the jungle?¡± The question was a bit strange coming from Verin, as she would be the safest of all three of us. Considering she didn¡¯t have to breathe while in her glacier, she was already set. Then again, perhaps she was hoping for a region where she got to stretch her legs instead of being lugged around on my back. ¡°I mean, do you want to deal with the regions I found?¡± Apparently, to the east of the jungle was a zone for magma mana. Ignoring the less-than-stellar memories I had with magma, I couldn¡¯t imagine a region worse for Verin. The air was hot enough to deal constant damage over time, and unlike the jungle, that damage couldn¡¯t be avoided just by holding our breaths. The west was no better. All Cal had seen was that it was another aquatic region, this time with black water. Presumably, it was some composite mana type involving water, maybe combined with dark or death mana. Understandably, we would not be touching the region with a thousand-foot pole. While catching up, we spent some time telling Cal about the Wandering Woods as well. She was slightly sad to have missed it, but any bad feelings were tossed aside as she launched into a long list of her favorite fruits. Once we told her about Arbor, her only concern was creating a grocery list for next month. And there would be a next month. Rather than search for a novel region or strike out on a brand new journey, we decided to tackle the jungle next. As we were hardly ready to brave its ever-present toxic fumes quite yet, that meant more training. Cal seemed to have some new ideas on how to rush through a few class quests, but for my part, that meant more slow and steady spell casting. And so it was that, with a clear goal in mind, the three of us settled back into our cabin routines.
Die. Live. Die. Live. Meandering through the forest, I targeted random patches of greenery, alternating between casting Deaden and Vivify. With Arbor¡¯s blessing, I no longer had to worry about getting mauled by panthers, and while I would miss the sporadic experience, it was a worthwhile tradeoff. Having already hit the Apprentice tier in Water Magic since last I¡¯d leveled, I was currently sitting at three class points total. With seven points to go before I could grab Arcane Choker, I had a wide variety of different paths I could take to get there. I wasn¡¯t likely to level again before we left, but when it came to class skills, I had a wealth of options to choose from. Life Magic, however, was an easy no-brainer. It was already at level 19, and with Cal¡¯s class no longer having a healing element, that role mostly fell to me. At the same time, the best healing spell I had was my Minor Healing cantrip, which couldn¡¯t quite keep up with the kind of damage our enemies could dish out these days. If Arbor was still willing to teach me some new spells, then reaching a new rank before next I saw him was my number one priority. The only problem was how annoying training my life magic was. Die. Live. Live. Die. Most of my other spell schools could be used offensively. Failing that, a number of my Initiate-tier spells were useful in my day-to-day life, like Chill and Invigorate for modifying my temperature. My life magic, on the other hand, was almost entirely useless unless someone was hurt. The exception was Vivify, which strengthened something¡¯s vitality. Used on a human, the most it would do was slow the rate at which their skin cells died. Maybe if I could figure out how to target organs, I could slow down internal cell death and thus delay the effects of aging, but that was entirely speculation. If anything, I might end up giving someone magic cancer instead. Regardless, neither uses held much appeal to me. Since hitting the first Charisma threshold, I¡¯d never had a bad skin day or clogged pores, and aging wasn¡¯t a big issue after hitting the Constitution threshold either. All that to say, strengthening random plants was the best I could do to train. ¡°No reason not to speed things up though¡­¡± Taking out one of my most recent alchemical concoctions, I dumped the entirety of it into my mouth. You have been poisoned! After all, why not? I funneled my life mana into my armor, passively healing away the poison damage. The extra leveling speed from using my armor was fairly minimal by now, but every bit counted. Plus, the poison was going to good use, leveling up my resistance while slowly chipping away at my Mithridatism II requirements. Die. Live. Die. Die. Death Magic has reached level 19! Nice. Not the level I was most excited about, but it was still one step closer to grabbing some class points. Live. Live. Die. Live¡­ For my own sanity, I would have liked to say that I grabbed the last level I needed later that day. Unfortunately, gone were the days where I could train up all of my magics to the next rank over spring break. Not that I exactly hated going on long solo walks through the woods, but it took another week before it finally happened. As was often the case for my non-combat skills, the level didn¡¯t come from any flashy fight or brush with death. Instead, it arrived much like its predecessors, by rote repetition and mind-numbing routine. Die. Live. Live. Live. Live. Li- Life Magic has reached level 20! Congratulations! You have reached the Apprentice rank in Life Magic. Based on your skill usage, you have been granted a skill augment for achieving a new skill rank. Vitalizer¡¯s Augment Plants that you strengthen with your life magic may gain additional bonuses to their quality and potency. These effects become more pronounced if you continue to strengthen the plants over time. Class quest completed: Raise a basic school of magic to the Apprentice rank (Repeatable). + 2 Class Points +5000xp Evidently, my skill had reacted to all the times I¡¯d used Vivify. From a combat perspective, the augment was a wash. Still, who cared? I wasn¡¯t trying to be a dedicated combat healer for the rest of my life. Maybe something to use on my garden. I wondered if it would improve the taste of what I grew, too. If not, then it would still be useful for alchemy, but any boost to my cooking was much appreciated. Speaking of which, I think that¡¯s enough training for the day. What should I make for dinner?
¡°Try it.¡± Having returned home, I pulled the others over to the dinner table. One of my long standard scorpion dishes sat there, but it wasn¡¯t the focus tonight. Gesturing to some crude bowls, I watched with rapt attention as Verin and Cal picked up their forks. ¡°If you¡¯re going for the fancy chef vibe, I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯re supposed to explain what you made before we eat.¡± Cal stabbed a fork into the crisp pile of greenery before her, making no move to eat it as she eyed me expectantly. Fair point, I think. With a slight flourish, I presented my modest creation. ¡°A baby spinach salad with candied walnuts and toasted peaches.¡± Was that enough? I felt like I was supposed to say more. ¡°I¡¯ve gotten a bit better at pulling the sugar from the beets, but you may still notice a darker, earthy flavor from the walnuts. As for the peaches, I¡¯ve simmered them in herbs before applying some low, dry heat. The goal was something refreshing that balances a meat heavy meal, but can also function as a standalone snack to keep you going after hours of training.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Cal and Verin shared a glance, neither seeming to expect the lengthy description. Before they could further delay, I repeated myself, more forcefully this time. ¡°Try it.¡± Knowing that wouldn¡¯t be enough to get honest feedback, especially from Verin, I tacked on another command. ¡°Be honest. We¡¯re here for a long time. I need feedback.¡± Not particularly bogged down by the edicts of etiquette in the first place, Cal was happy to comply after stuffing the first forkful into her mouth. ¡°Mmm! S¡¯ good! A little simple, though. Could use another note or two, I think. Walnuts are a bit gummy, too, but you¡¯re still working on the sugar.¡± Having carefully assembled a bite which included a bit of all three ingredients, Verin nodded in agreement, having to finish chewing before she could speak. ¡°I largely concur. A dressing, or one more unifying ingredient. And while the peaches are good as is, I believe you could play with how you cook them. Grilling them may play more to their strengths than toasting.¡± That was actually surprisingly good feedback, although I didn¡¯t know why I¡¯d expected anything different. In terms of refined palates, I couldn¡¯t ask for much better than a princess and a high noble. The peach issue, I¡¯d work on. As for the others, I was mostly out of luck for now. I agreed that it was still lacking something, but I needed more to work with. A goat cheese in particular would have been nice, but so far, there was no dairy to be seen in the dungeon. Dressings were more reasonable, but I hadn¡¯t managed to make any oil yet, let alone vinegar for vinaigrettes. Still, they weren¡¯t off the table. Maybe a lemon poppy vibe? It bore some serious thought. Arbor has to know what a lemon is, right? Will all the gravity the situation deserved, I nodded to my taste testers. ¡°Good feedback. I¡¯ll make it better for next time.¡± At the very least, I had plenty of new plants to bug Arbor for now.
Just a little more to the left. Floating high in the air, I panned my bow to the side by a single hair¡¯s width. Thankfully, my target was stationary, as from this distance, even the slightest movement could be enough to make me miss. Far, far below me, the bulky figure of a sleeping gryphon was no more than a pinprick in my vision. All right. Keep it steady. And charge. Locking my muscles into a perfect stillness, I began slowly feeding air mana to my nocked arrow. As it sucked up more and more power, it began to vibrate, and it took every ounce of my concentration to maintain my aim. Knowing I wouldn¡¯t stand a chance if I charged the attack any more than I had, I counted down from three, and I fired. The air in front of me completely vanished in the wake of the projectile, letting off a sharp pop as the surrounding air rushed to fill in the void. Less than a second later, the noise was joined by an indignant squawk as the arrow connected with its intended target. Archery has reached level 18! Even with my skill leveling up, I grimaced as I read the corresponding battle notification. You have struck a Stonehide Gryphon for 12 damage! Bad hit. The system must have been rewarding me for making the shot at all, considering the distance. Still, it was clear I¡¯d barely nicked it. That, or the arrow just wasn¡¯t enough to pierce its tough exterior. Well, not like I won¡¯t get more chances. Gryphons were half eagle, after all, and even at this distance, their eagle eyes were more than up to the task of spotting me. Intent on punishing me for interrupting its nap, the winged lion leapt into the sky, furiously flapping in my direction. Seeming to have some semblance of bestial intelligence, the creature zigged and zagged about, not willing to offer me a clean shot. Line it up, and¡­ there. Another arrow flew forth only to veer off to the side as I failed to account for its erratic movements. Both my third and forth arrow shared the same fate. Which was embarrassing, in a way. It would have been more understandable if this was my first attempt, but this was my fourth outing of this sort since returning from the forest. As I slowly floated through the air with Featherfoot, I likewise channeled air mana to my armor, eyes, and gloves, maximizing my mana usage as best I could. My somewhat lackluster results really hammered it home that I could use more archery practice. I¡¯d used the bow to great effect in many of my previous fights, but I¡¯d been lucky. Giant monsters, like the Warforged Titan, had made it all but impossible for me to miss a decently aimed shot. The best training I¡¯d received was probably shooting down bats and fairies in my Arcane Armament and Bind Weapon class trials, but it was clear I¡¯d been growing rusty since completing them. Then again, as much as it was a nice bonus, the point of these fights wasn¡¯t to level my Archery skill. Having closed half the initial distance between us, the gryphon was now a much easier target, even with its evasive maneuvers in play. I traced its motions with the tip of my fifth arrow as I charged up, not willing to release the bowstring until I was sure the gryphon wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge. Now. The arrow tore through the air, and this time around, I was greeted with a much more satisfying result. You have struck a Stonehide Gryphon for 81 damage! Furiously screeching, the stony lion began to fall from the air, spiraling downwards as it tried to control its descent. Centered around a thin puncture wound in its left wing, a giant rent had formed, fouling its flight. I mean, I was aiming for the head, but all¡¯s well that ends well? Under normal circumstances, I would have fired off a few more shots as it fell, but this time around, I didn¡¯t bother. After all, why would I? Directly after the battle notification was the exact message I¡¯d been waiting for. Air Magic has reached level 20! Congratulations! You have reached the Apprentice rank in Air Magic! I scanned my new augment, discovering that my air magic was now strengthened whenever I used it to clean things. Apparently, that included fighting against a host of opposing magic types as well, including mud magic. It wasn¡¯t what I¡¯d expected, but in retrospect, it wasn¡¯t that surprising. Half my levels had been from using the Initiate-ranked Dry spell, while my biggest combat usage had been firing wind arrows at Din¡¯Ket. Regardless of why I¡¯d gained the augment, I couldn¡¯t help but think that Suds would be proud. More important was the standard notification, though. Class quest completed¡­ With two more class points stored away, it was only a matter of time before I hit my goal.
¡°All right, Chef Tess. What are we working with today?¡± Cal sat on the far side of the table, side by side with Verin. With the two of them facing me together, I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that I was on some cooking show, presenting my dish to the judges. For the most part, I was confident I¡¯d get a good score today. Summoned directly from my storage, two stone bowls soon graced the table, a heady scent and thick steam wafting off from them. Stone silverware soon followed, making the simple act of setting the table feel like a magic trick. Which it actually was, I supposed. ¡°Old recipes, spiced up with new ingredients.¡± Or, at least that was sort of true. I¡¯d asked myself how I could reimagine the somewhat boring scorpion soup I¡¯d often served in the past. While I thought I¡¯d largely succeeded, I wasn¡¯t sure if the new creation technically counted as a soup anymore. Instead, it was more of a wet noodle dish. ¡°Whole wheat noodles in an upgraded scorpion broth. We don¡¯t have eggs. Or salt. But I wanted to see if we could work with pasta at all. Nothing too fancy to begin with.¡± With my Dexterity, I was fairly certain I could eventually contort the dough into all sorts of strange shapes, but today was for proof of concept. I¡¯d settled for a long, flat noodle, that I was pretty sure counted as fettuccine. ¡°The broth is a scorpion stock, but a bit more subtle than usual. I used the lower-fat areas of the monster to shoot for a clearer broth and simmered with onions, carrots, and a number of herbs before straining all the solids out.¡± What had possessed me to ask for carrots before garlic or peppercorns, I wasn¡¯t sure. In my defense, I hadn¡¯t realized my time would be so limited. ¡°I made a couple variants before settling on this one. In some, I thickened the broth with flour until it turned more into a sauce. In others, I added more broth and a bit of meat to make a proper noodle soup. This ended up being my favorite, though.¡± I didn¡¯t dwell too much on my pre-Protagonist days, but I recalled living a few blocks away from a really tiny Japanese spot while I¡¯d been studying for my Master¡¯s. They were big on cold soba noodles, and had a few different varieties, which was something I hadn¡¯t seen before. Honestly, I¡¯d never been a huge fan, but I remembered how they paired the thin, buckwheat noodles with a dipping sauce. My dish was different in a number of ways, but I was hoping to capture that feeling of using the broth as a dip rather than a soup base or a sauce. Having said my piece, I took a seat and summoned a third bowl for myself, gesturing for the others to eat. Both tucked in with gusto. ¡°I will admit, I have long been awaiting the return of carbs and starches to my diet. Thank you, Lady Tess.¡± Verin withheld any further words until more of her plate had been emptied, while Cal gave notes in between comically slurping up the long noodles. This time around, there were plenty of feedback points. With only whole wheat and water, I hadn¡¯t been able to create the best noodles, and the broth could have used a few more notes as well. Still, the main complaint was that I hadn¡¯t given them anything to sop up the broth after finishing the noodles. I threw out a few crackers to help, but I could tell it wasn¡¯t what they were after. No, if I served the dish again, it would only be after I figured out how to bake us some bread.
CRACK. A small crater formed on the back of the scorpion¡¯s shell, fissures radiating out from its center. As I backed off, sand streamed up from the ground, quickly filling in the newly formed breaches. For once, that was exactly what I wanted. After all, it gave me more time to train before I had to find a new target. With a horrid screech, the oversized arachnid whipped its body about, but it was far too slow. Spatial Step repositioned me to its far side, and I summoned a spear, coating it as much earth mana as I could. Generally a bad choice for the weapon, as the coating of earth blunted the normally sharp tip. Indeed, my hammer would have been a better choice if I were trying to end this faster. CRACK. Leveraging my considerable strength, I slammed the spear into a virgin section of carapace, shattering it. While I sometimes fell into the trap of forgetting about my weapon skills, they were still a major part of my class. While not nearly as flashy as my various spell schools, they were just as good for earning me class points. With Spears sitting at level 19, I¡¯d been challenging the scorpions for weeks now, hoping to grab the last level of Earth Magic at the same time. As per usual, I was using as much earth mana as possible, channeling it into my armor, gloves, eyes, and feet on top of my weapon. In between strikes, I also cast Encumber, sometimes on my weapon, sometimes on the scorpion itself. With all the extra avenues to level the skill, perhaps it was no surprise that it hit the next rank first. After a particularly brutal Encumber-boosted spear nearly tore an entire leg off, I finally got what I was after. Earth Magic has reached level 20! It would have felt much more momentous if Spears had leveled at the exact same time, but of course, that would have been too much of a coincidence. Still, the eventual level was far closer than I would have guessed. Only a few scorpions later, I executed a somewhat overzealous strike, ramming my spear halfway through the creature¡¯s head. As its health bottomed out and it stilled, I received the twin to my earlier notification. Spears has reached level 20! This time around, I barely even skimmed my two new augments -- weight spells became more effective for earth, and mana enhancements gained a boost for spears -- instead eyeing the two identical lines I¡¯d been waiting for. +2 Class Points +2 Class Points Finally. Not even waiting until I got back home, I slipped into my class space and bolted to the appropriate pedestal. Sitting there, waiting for me, was the final puzzle piece I needed before I was ready to challenge the toxic jungle. Would you like to buy Arcane Choker for 10 class points? B4 C49: Chokers and Cephalopods As soon as I bought Arcane Choker, I wasted no time in testing it out. While a fragment of my attention was still fixed to my surroundings, steering me clear of any more fights, the rest of me was fully focused on the class skill. Arcane Augmenter skills tended to be my favorite of the bunch, and that was doubly true for my skills that had different variants for every mana type. But first, the standard variant. Activating the choker with unaspected mana brought forth the original skill description. Arcane Choker Enhances the wearer¡¯s breath control, increasing stamina regeneration. While this skill is active, the user is immune to choking effects. Additionally, cures all coughs and sore throats while also preventing food from going down the wrong pipe or sharp foods from scraping the wearer¡¯s throat. Aids in digestion. While fun, most of the secondary effects weren¡¯t overly pertinent to my day-to-day life. My diet, even before getting stuck in the dungeon, didn¡¯t involve many doritos or otherwise-sharp foods, and my Constitution kept me from getting a basic cold. On the flip side, I¡¯d severely underestimated the strength of the primary benefit. I¡¯d have to do tests to see how much my stamina regeneration was boosted, but just the feel of the skill was incredible. It was as if I¡¯d just had my swollen adenoids removed, a deviated septum fixed, and a third lung implanted. For the first time in my life, I took a real, full breath in. Oh man, I¡¯m not going to want to turn this one off, am I? Still, that wasn¡¯t the reason I¡¯d bought the skill in the first place. Rushing down the side of a tall sand dune, I swapped to the variant that I assumed would fix my poison problem. Even before I opened my mouth, my lungs inflated with air. The sensation was disconcerting at first, but not at all uncomfortable like I would have expected. Internal Breeze Directly supplies the wearer¡¯s lungs with clean air, removing their need to physically breathe in. Additionally, purifies the air around the wearer¡¯s head, eliminating any aerial toxins, pathogens, pollutants, or other offensive airborne effects. On activation, clear the wearer¡¯s throat and lungs of existing irritants. Exactly what I¡¯d been hoping for and more. My Dexterity seemed to make me naturally resistant to knots and kinks in my muscles, but I felt all sorts of tension suddenly melt away. I hadn¡¯t exactly become immune to dying from being buried alive. Eventually, I would have to sleep, and then my active skills would shut off. Up until that moment, though, I couldn¡¯t die from sinking into the sand or being pulled deep into the sea. It was a very welcome change for the better, especially with how long I could go without sleeping. What next? Deciding to work through the rest of my elemental options first, I shifted to fire mana. Fire Mouth Protects the wearer¡¯s respiratory tract from superheated air. Prevents hot liquids and foods from scalding the wearer¡¯s mouth. Greatly increases the wearer¡¯s spice tolerance. A part of me had been hoping for a fire breath attack, less for practicality¡¯s sake and more to run around pretending to be a dragon. If less flashy, though, the actual skill effects weren¡¯t too shabby. My armor was great for resisting all manner of external fire attacks, but it would do nothing if the air got so hot that it started cooking me from within. Plus, I was officially safe from burning the roof of my mouth while eating pizza. Of course, I¡¯d have to get my hands on some pizza for that to matter, but assuming Arbor knew what tomatoes were, all I still needed was cheese. What biome would be the most likely to have milk in it? Nothing came to mind, but I was cautiously optimistic. It had to be somewhere, right? Frost was next, and as was often the case, its effects mirrored its fiery counterpart. Frost Mouth Protects the wearer¡¯s respiratory tract from excessively cold air. Increases the mouth and teeth¡¯s resistance to cold. Prevents brain freeze. While active, the wearer can lick metal poles without getting their tongue stuck. Likewise useful in exceptionally specific circumstances. I wanted to say I¡¯d never end up needing it, but there was presumably a frost region hiding around here somewhere. Air cold enough to freeze my lungs was, unfortunately, not completely off the table. And as a bonus, it sounds like I can bite into ice cream with impunity now. For a quick test, I summoned some water into a cup, casting Chill Liquid on it until it froze. Breaking off a chunk of ice, I threw it into my mouth, merrily crunching away. Trippy. It still felt cold, but I was detached from the sensation, somehow. Before the ice could fully melt, I swallowed, the many shards of ice heading down without causing complaint. Earth was harder to predict, and I spent a while trying to make a good guess before ultimately giving in and checking. Stone Innards Coats the wearer¡¯s respiratory and digestive tract with internal armor, providing additional defense against puncturing the throat, lung, and stomach, both from within and without. Additionally, increases the hardness and durability of the wearer¡¯s teeth. On the one hand, this was one of the more practical variants I¡¯d come across. If I had to pick my top ten least favorite places to get stabbed, the throat, lungs, and stomach would all make an appearance on the list. On the other, it felt downright strange. I doubted that the skill was actually summoning real rock inside of my body, but it certainly felt that way. More than that, I became aware of my stomach and lungs in a way I usually wasn¡¯t, now able to sense exactly where they rigidly bumped up against the rest of my organs. There was a reason that nerves weren¡¯t set up to relay that information normally, and I dismissed the skill after only a few seconds. In terms of my elemental mana types, that only left one more, and I wasted no time shifting to water mana. Aqua Lung Allows the wearer to breathe underwater or with liquid in their lungs. On canceling this effect, all water will be expelled from the wearer¡¯s respiratory tract. Additionally, moisturizes the wearer¡¯s throat and mouth. This skill passively conjures water into the wearer¡¯s stomach, keeping them perpetually well hydrated. Now that was something I could use. The air variant theoretically already let me breathe underwater as long as I held my breath, and I wasn¡¯t overly prone to cotton mouth. Since arriving here, however, we¡¯d all been locked out of our spatial bags, which meant I no longer had access to my old Cleansing Shower Gem Pendant. While the necklace had the primary function of getting me out of movement-impairing effects, it had also thoroughly cleansed me and hydrated my body. Even as someone who could magically conjure fresh water, I¡¯d been sorely missing that hydration. Along with Impairment Resistance, though, now I can mimic 2/3 of what the pendant does. How long would it take before I got a spell that cleaned me, letting me do away with the necklace for good? Maybe next time we woke the grand magus, I¡¯d see if he could teach me one. A full body clean felt like something an Apprentice water and air mage should be able to manage. Maybe more importantly, though, I no longer have to be afraid of swimming. Even if I messed up with Internal Breeze and accidentally inhaled a ton of water, it wouldn¡¯t matter anymore. It was a realization that at once meant nothing and everything to me. The others didn¡¯t have great power sets for underwater adventures -- although maybe Verin could still manage if I put her in backpack mode -- so it wasn¡¯t as though we¡¯d immediately set off into the water region. At the same time¡­ It¡¯s possible. My eyes lit up and my heart quickened. Almost of their own accord, my feet shifted, charting a new course. The cabin wasn¡¯t going anywhere. I had to test this now.
In record time, the sprawling sands of the desert and the grand grassy fields of the prairie were both at my back as I approached a new territory. Despite its proximity to our home, the region was one I¡¯d yet to visit personally. Stretching out into the distance was an endless expanse of blue. For the first time, I was checking out the water mana biome. I¡¯d entered through the prairie, although the desert was still in sight far to my side. From what I could tell, the shore took on the properties of the region it abutted, sandy for the desert, and full of beach grass by me. If I had to take a guess, I would bet the shore was equally rocky where the water met the mountains, but I had little desire to trek that far just to check. Without any moon or tides to speak of, there shouldn¡¯t have been any waves, which naturally did not stop the dungeon at all. Water gently lapped at the gritty soil as small waves broke against the shore. When one considered the chaotic, patchwork sky above, it was altogether a strangely serene sight -- the kind that could easily make one forget that this was a dungeon at all. I took a moment to just let the view soak in, but at the end of the day, I hadn¡¯t come here for sightseeing. After all, I had something rather important on my mind. While I couldn¡¯t spot anything hostile from here, out of an abundance of caution, I kept my plate armor on and enhanced. On the off chance that something would pull me into the water, I toggled on Internal Breeze as well. As prepared as I possibly could be, I approached the shore.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. From there, I bent down, cupped a bit of water in my hands, and brought it up to my lips. My nose already knew the answer, but only my tongue could tell me for sure. A brief sip. I spat the water out. It was vile. And exactly what I¡¯d been looking for. Salt. I beamed, not having felt this thrilled since meeting Arbor weeks prior. Salt! Admittedly, gross seawater salt, mixed in with all sorts of nastiness that I would never dare put into my cooking, but still salt all the same! I unfortunately wasn¡¯t 100% clear on how to isolate the seasoning from the rest of the dissolved sea debris and microorganisms, but that was nothing that some trial and error couldn¡¯t solve. I imagined it would involve lots of boiling, and maybe some straining. All of that, I would do back in my mountain cave, where I tended to leave a lot of my alchemy equipment I didn¡¯t want filling up my storage. As for transporting all the water I would need¡­ Would you like to bind Conjure Liquid to sea water? Note, based on the rarity of the substance in question, you would be able to conjure sea water 25 times a day. The spell variant continued to be the best rank-up bonus I¡¯d ever gotten, especially as it was also responsible for all the moonshine we¡¯d drank over the months. On that note, I was more than a bit afraid to unbind the spell from the moonshine in question, but I had a huge reserve tucked away in my storage. If we ever needed more, I could just use some to rebind Conjure Liquid back to moonshine later. With that in mind, I accepted the prompt, now the owner of an infinite salt-producing spell. We¡¯d have to see how much salt I could make from 25 casts a day, but I was betting the answer was a lot. ¡°Huh. That took a lot less effort than expected.¡± With how vulnerable I was to drowning up until today, I¡¯d made sure to steer clear of this entire area. Still, I probably could have done this ages ago, could I have? Or failing that, I could have made Cal carry back a bucket of water at some point. I decided not to mention any of that to the others. It was best that they enjoyed what we had rather than cursing themselves for what we¡¯d missed out on. That was especially true if we¡¯d missed out on it by me being stupid. Still. Kind of a shame to come this far and not even test out my new breathing skills. And who knew? Maybe the region was filled with a new type of monster that I could train against. Cal tended to kill most of the gryphons whenever they respawned, and the same was true of Verin and the scorpions. If I had a good reason, I could steal the regions from them for a while, but not long term. That largely left me the forest for myself, but I¡¯d seen neither hide nor hair of the panthers since we¡¯d been granted safe passage, which left me sorely needing a new hunting ground. Ideally, I wouldn¡¯t explore without everyone present after Cal had scouted ahead, but that wouldn¡¯t be happening here. And more than that, the other three regions immediately surrounding the prairie had long stopped being threatening to me. I was hopeful that the same would hold true here. Even then, I vowed not to go too far. All right. I¡¯m convinced. A brief foray into the water, and then I¡¯d test out the last few Arcane Choker variations. Without further ado, I began to walk directly into the waves. Soon, the water covered both mouth and nose, and yet still my lungs continued to inflate and deflate under the power of my new skill. Heavy Step. Not having a strong desire to swim around, I weighed myself down, walking along the ocean floor. Sending mana to my eyes, I also activated Arcane Vision. When I opened my eyes, I was relieved to find that the layer of mana kept the salt water from stinging them. Basically have my own set of scuba gear now. Who knew a class called ¡°Arcane Arsenal¡± would ever let me do something like this? In the end, it took considerably longer than I expected before I ended up seeing anything. When I actually did, however, I was left regretting my choice to come here alone. Not because I needed Verin¡¯s or Cal¡¯s powers. I just felt guilty for being the only one who could see all of this. A coral reef. I¡¯d seen pictures before, but I¡¯d never been in person. Probably for the best -- I doubted the mundane version could hold a candle to what lay before me. Directly before me, the seafloor dropped off, a sharp cliff revealing a trench below. As if trying to reflect the sky above them, thousands of different varieties of coral dotted the seafloor, all of them subtly glowing with their own internal mana. The embedded magic intensified their already vibrant colorings, though in different ways in different sections. Parts of the scenery blended together with a subtle ethereal glow, as if painted with pastels. Others looked far more like an outlet-mall laser-tag arena, haphazardly slapped together with clashing neon paints. Belatedly, I realized that the sea had grown darker as I descended, shutting off its usually omnipresent lighting. It didn¡¯t matter one way or another to my Illuminated Sight, but the glow of the coral took on new meaning, dimly lighting up the seafloor. If there are mirror gems, someone has to have invented camera gems, right? I made it a priority to buy a few if we ever actually escaped this dungeon. That aside, should I take some samples back? Try to see what monsters are around? As pretty as the reef was, I would leave fully mapping it out for another day. A brief reconnaissance mission, though, felt perfectly fair. Taking the plunge, I stepped off the side of the cliff, letting myself slowly sink to the bottom of the trench. Small fish came into view as I descended, none of them knowing how close they were to being cooked for dinner. Fishing could wait for now, though. I hit the bottom of the trench with a thud, small plumes of silty sand kicked up from the impact. Everywhere the eye could see, there was coral. So? What do I even go looking for here? Already using Arcane Vision, I scanned every inch of my surroundings, my Intelligence working overtime to handle the sheer sensory overload from all the colors. Nothing immediately stuck out to me, but the more I looked, the more I felt something subtly wrong. Is it a shape thing? Why do some patches of coral feel ever so slightly off? I flicked through the rest of my vision variants, a few of them only solidifying my existing suspicions. Vitality Sight and Heat Sight in particular seemed to light up certain corals, both hotter and more full of life than their surroundings. To my discredit, I still didn¡¯t understand what I was seeing until I finally hit one of the odd patches with God¡¯s Eye. Adaptive Reef Squid: Level 21, 800/800hp Blessed with exceptional camouflage abilities, the adaptive reef squid is able to take on properties from the substance it disguises itself as. Rather than hiding from prey, the squids use these skills to serve as ideal ambush predators. Oh. I warily counted out the squids now surrounding me, deciding to stop once I reached ¡°too many.¡± No thank you. As subtly as I could, I dismissed Heavy Step and replaced my plate armor with fully conjured mana armor instead. Slowly, slowly, I began to float upwards, doing my best to evade detection. A small twitch caught my attention, and without thinking, I whipped my head towards the motion. Caught out, the squid in question froze. And then, seeming to realize the jig was up, it surged forth all at once. Not wanting to be left out, its many hidden companions soon followed. With a curse that was lost to surrounding waters, I resummoned my plate and activated Heavy Step once more. Outrunning a squid in water was a losing proposition, and having firm ground beneath my feet would do me some good. As the first of the many arms and tentacles wrapped around me, I had only a single moment to reflect before the fight broke out in earnest. Huh. Maybe this wasn¡¯t such a good idea.
Far from the ocean, back in the very center of the prairie, Lady Verin¡¯Sylus knelt in the dirt. With a calm gaze, she took in the state of the many plants that made up their garden. While she couldn¡¯t deny the diminutive fields were mostly Tess¡¯s labor of love, Verin occasionally checked the garden¡¯s progress as well. After all, she¡¯d been present for its inception, and she¡¯d even earned the Herbalism and Gardening skills as well. A touch dry. It must have been some time since last Tess watered everything. A simple enough task, and one Verin was happy to tend to. Gardening has reached level 4! Her time at the garden was generally a quiet, solitary affair, free from monsters and companions alike. It was particularly peculiar, then, when she spotted one of said companions in the distance. Trudging along from the south came the fully armored form of the Lady Tess. Instantly, Verin knew something strange was afoot. Was she not set to fight in the desert today? She¡¯s returning from the wrong direction. More than that, Verin had expected her outing to end a good many hours ago. As Tess neared, Verin¡¯s convictions only grew stronger. Given Tess¡¯s stamina and healing spells, there was no reason for her to be at anything but peak performance after the long walk back to the cabin. As such, her slow, plodding movements and distant stare could only point to something mental. While Verin had long ago surmised that Tess wasn¡¯t fully healed from her mental break, it had been some time since she¡¯d last seen her friend quite so visibly exhausted. ¡°Lady Tess! Welcome back.¡± Verin called out, stifling a wince as she received only a dull grunt in return. Worse than usual then. Though Tess had grown somewhat taciturn, she could usually be relied upon to return a greeting. Is there a way to get her talking again? On closer inspection, it appeared that Tess was now sporting some form of strange, criss-crossed necklace, tightly hugging her neck. An item found in the dungeon? Or no, that couldn¡¯t be it. She was supposed to learn a new breathing skill for the jungle. Had she finally succeeded? Do I ask about the skill? Or talk about the garden? Mmm. Perhaps. Then again, there was something far more tried and true that got Tess talking up a storm. A nudge from her Conversation skill pushed her in the right direction. ¡°Lady Tess, would you like me to handle dinner tonight? You look as though you¡¯ve trained hard today. We can fend for ourselves should you require some small respite.¡± Not actually true, of course, but Tess had left some leftovers in the freezer for situations like this. Never mind that Verin struggled to heat them up evenly -- they were perfectly edible in a pinch. Tess pulled up short, the words seeming to break her from her stupor. ¡°No. I¡¯ll cook.¡± ¡°Delightful. Might I inquire as to what we¡¯ll be eating tonight, then?¡± In truth, Verin somewhat enjoyed having each night be a surprise, but anything to keep her friend distracted. In this, however, it seemed that Verin had made something of a mistake. A brief flash of anger graced her companion¡¯s face, the expression almost entirely foreign coming from her. As fast as it arrived, it was gone, Tess lacking the requisite energy to fuel the emotion. Still, when next Tess spoke, her words came out firm and clear. ¡°You can, as a matter of fact.¡± Tess held her hand out, and a thick tentacle appeared, summoned directly from her storage ability. Bright orange and sporting a row of suction cups, it looked like the very last thing Verin wanted to eat. Tess, sadly, was of a different mind. ¡°Tonight, we¡¯ll be having calamari.¡± B4 C50: Victory It took me a few days to fully get over my ill-fated ocean exploration. While the fight had felt endless at the time, in retrospect, I realized I¡¯d never been in any real danger. The squids had a strange hodgepodge of skills and spells, but it was clear that their most advanced skill was their camouflage. Not that I¡¯d enjoyed getting dogpiled by tentacles, but very few of them had been able to damage me through my armor. And how could I stay mad at them? I had a new ingredient to work with now. Somehow, that fact didn¡¯t seem to thrill Cal or Verin, but I chalked that up mostly to my unfamiliarity with cooking squid. I knew it could make for some really good eating, but it was far trickier than your standard meat. Even if you cooked it just a bit off, it would have an unpleasant, spongy texture -- or in other cases, a rubbery chewiness -- and I hadn¡¯t figured out how to fully strip it of its fishy taste, either. Well, no matter. I¡¯d get it eventually. In any case, after a long nap and a lot of revenge cooking, I was back to normal, whatever normal meant these days. A small part of me was even looking forward to returning to the sea now that I knew what to expect. More than any of the other regions, it was excellent sword training, which I sorely needed. I¡¯d long since reached the Initiate rank with spears, axes, bows, daggers, and hammers, but swords still lagged behind at level six. Cephalopods and other sea creatures aside, I was presently en route to secure us an entirely different set of new ingredients. A month had finally passed, and it was time to visit Arbor again. As the one with the strongest opinions on what I wanted him to grow, I¡¯d opted to go by myself, enjoying a relaxing stroll through the woods. By now, I¡¯d tested out all ten variants of Arcane Choker, but I swapped through them as I walked nonetheless. Partly, I was hoping to grow more familiar with each of them, but I was also trying to see if there was anything I¡¯d missed. For example, I¡¯d tried overloading the skill by sending it more mana, and it had worked! Sort of. The additional mana didn¡¯t actually improve the effects of the skill, but it did manifest in my breath. Adding extra mana to the fire variant, for instance, made my breath extra warm and released some fire mana as I exhaled. It even carried a slight scent element, making it smell as though I¡¯d just brushed my teeth with cinnamon toothpaste. The effect was considerably stranger with the less conventional mana types, as overloading my choker with light mana caused me to release a luminescent cloud with each breath. A novel new way to light up a room, but one I doubted I¡¯d use much. Maybe something I could use with dark mana if I ever needed to scare someone, as I had to imagine breathing out black fog could be intimidating, but that was about it. Speaking of the dark choker, I switched to it now. It held skills that were far better suited to Cal¡¯s old class, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. Veiled Lips Allows the wearer to muffle all sounds leaving their mouth. Alternatively, the wearer can use the choker to obfuscate their voice by pitching it downwards. Aids in late night digestion. ¡°Testing. Testing. Testing.¡± I¡¯d already had a field day playing around with the modulation aspect, finding it both intuitive and highly responsive. The skill let me modify more than just my pitch, too, altering my timbre and a host of other vocal qualities that I was sure singers had fancy words for. With a bit of tweaking, I could switch from the husky voice of a woman with a smoking addiction, all the way to the deeper bass of a broad and burly man. If I instead wanted to go in the opposite direction, the light variant came to the rescue. Dazzling Tongue Allows the wearer to obfuscate their voice by pitching it upwards. Passively brightens the user¡¯s teeth. Grants a slight Charisma boost while speaking. Honestly, I was pretty happy with my voice, but I couldn¡¯t deny that it was fun playing with the two skills. Maybe if I ever got bored with the whole ¡°Protagonist¡± business, I could try my hand at voice acting for a while. If anyone had managed to invent some sort of recording crystal, audiobooks had to be a thing, right? Death mana was the second to last, and I had to admit I wouldn¡¯t be using it much. Hopefully. The secondary effects weren¡¯t bad, but if I had to use the primary effect, then I was probably having a pretty bad day. Nocuous Fangs Fills the wearer¡¯s teeth with death mana. When biting an enemy, necrosis spreads from any bite wounds. Additionally, sterilizes the inside of the wearer¡¯s mouth, killing off any harmful parasites or microorganisms present in their food and cleaning their teeth. Admittedly, the skill opened up a lot of new culinary options for me. Even with our high Constitutions, I¡¯d been afraid of trying out any sort of carpaccio or tartare or sushi, not willing to risk food poisoning. I still wouldn¡¯t be serving any of those to Cal or Verin, but I was free to try them out for myself, at least. While cooking had fast become one of my favorite pastimes in the dungeon, if I did want to get lazy and forgo it, I now had that option, too. The life mana version of Arcane Choker saw to that. Satiated Stomach Passively feeds the wearer, filling their stomach with the optimal balance of calories and nutrients to sustain them. Heals all respiratory and digestive wounds, including ulcers, canker sores, and cavities. Greatly aids digestion of all organic materials. This, too, was one more avenue of dying blocked off. Along with Conjure Water, Satiated Stomach assured that I could no longer die from thirst or starvation. With Cal having some means of surviving without food as well, that left Verin as the sole member of our expedition who needed to eat. I wonder if Cal has a skill like this. Not that I¡¯d tried particularly hard to extract her secrets, but she¡¯d been dodgy whenever confronted about her immunity to hunger or sleep deprivation. Regardless, along with Internal Breeze, the life variant of Arcane Choker was likely the one I¡¯d be using the most. I was painfully aware that none of us were getting the proper nutrients we needed, and I could only thank our stats for staving off scurvy or any other number of diseases. Although, maybe I¡¯ll ask for lemons and limes from Arbor, just in case. I wouldn¡¯t need to wait long, either. With the forest¡¯s strange distortion magic no longer affecting me, I was able to walk directly to the center of the woods. Just as before, the many sentry golems surrounded the moat leading up to the massive central tree. Unlike before, none of them tried to kill me as I strolled past them and over the bridge. Even without my blessing from the life nymph, the thick bark of the heart tree parted to admit me, and soon, I stood beneath the wooden heart once again. ¡°Hi. Wake up please.¡± When standard words failed, I repeated my earlier trick of connecting with the king¡¯s mind, and in short order, his wooden avatar formed before me. ¡°Hello. Has it already been a month? It feels like I just fell asleep¡­ Well, no matter. You saw the quest I issued, yes? I¡¯m looking for some stories to trade for my powers. Have you decided what story to tell me and what you¡¯d like to ask for?¡± The deceptively lifelike elf rubbed at his bleary eyes, despite the fact that those eyes were entirely wooden. ¡°I know what I want. I have a list of plants we need, and I hit level 20 in Life Magic. I could use new spells.¡± I had, after all, had an entire month to plan. As for what I could give to him, I was less certain. What sort of stories did a tree want to hear? The answer took a good deal of interrogation and back and forth, but eventually we came to an understanding: The king mostly wanted stories that were true. Confined to his forest, he had a desire to better understand the outside world. At the same time, he wasn¡¯t looking for legal treatises or history lessons. He wanted action. Romance. Intrigue. While I couldn¡¯t offer all of those, I certainly could check some of his boxes. ¡°All right. What about this? I have a story about a woman from another world, dragged here after being chosen by a god. Good enough?¡± From the ground, a chair of roots quickly grew, upon which Arbor sat himself. Flicking a twiggy digit my way, the forest royal hummed out a response. ¡°Go on.¡±
When Arbor finally stopped me, informing me that I¡¯d said enough to earn my reward, I¡¯d only told him of my time up to meeting Elphaea. Clearly, I would be able to milk my autobiography for many more harvests to come.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Just as planned, the first thing I had him do was teach me new magic. By now, I¡¯d directly learned spells from Elphaea, Xander¡¯Callis, and Sett, making the process entirely commonplace. Arbor placed his hand on my head, his skin impossibly soft considering its wooden makeup, and information pushed its way into my mind and soul all at once. You have learned a new spell! ¡­ You have learned a new spell! Huh. He didn¡¯t tell me he was teaching me two. A nice bonus, but also not the most important thing I¡¯d come for. ¡°Thank you. Now on to the plants. I¡¯m thinking olives are really a must, and then I was hoping for some citrus fruits and maybe some tomatoes to start, and then-¡± Showing no signs of even hearing my grocery list, the king of the forest swayed in his chair, his eyes losing focus. ¡°Apologies. I¡¯m finding that teaching two spells at once is a touch more draining than expected. Maybe¡­ next¡­ ti-¡± The king¡¯s perfect form began to quiver as its constituent roots lost their cohesion. ¡°NO! ARBOR, NO!¡± I ran up to his makeshift throne, grabbing his writhing shoulders before thrashing him back and forth. ¡°THE OLIVES, ARBOR!¡± Heedless of my pleas, both elf and throne alike fell apart, receding back into the ground. A full hour later, I dragged my dejected, defeated carcass back to the cabin, the sting of betrayal not having dulled in the least bit. Verin had definitely noticed my mood the other day when I¡¯d come back from the sea, and I could tell I¡¯d worried both of the others. Trying to avoid a repeat, I did my very best to school my expression when I returned. It mostly seemed to work, too. When I stepped into the Cabin, Cal was lounging within, flopped out onto one of the cushioned couches I¡¯d built. Given that she did not immediately wince when she saw me, I was clearly doing something right. ¡°Hey! Tess! Welcome back from the tree guy.¡± Not bothering to get up, Cal awkwardly twisted her neck and torso to address me. ¡°I know you were trying to get a bunch of stuff, so I can¡¯t really guess what you¡¯re going to make next. What are you thinking of making for tonight?¡± At the brutal reminder of my crushing defeat, I couldn¡¯t help it anymore. My mask slipped, and a single, soul-crushing word escaped my lips, devoid of any warmth or joy. ¡°Leftovers.¡±
Despite the colossal setback fouling my mood for the next few days, life -- as life tended to -- went on. Whenever I felt pain on the culinary front, I reminded myself that I¡¯d yet to boil down the saltwater I¡¯d collected. Perhaps Arbor¡¯s swift slumber was a harsh reminder from the gods, urging me to master the art of salt before getting ahead of myself. It helped that I¡¯d yet to inform the others of anything salt related. It was hoping to do a big reveal at some point. I just needed to figure out what dish to do it with. And as much as I liked to pretend otherwise these days, cooking wasn¡¯t the only thing I had going on. Whenever thoughts of Arbor threatened to leave a scowl on my face, I recalled that I had not walked away from him empty handed. In fact, if one was being exceptionally, incredibly generous, they could argue that what he¡¯d given me was even more valuable than a month of groceries. After ages of being a third-rate healer with a single weak cantrip, I finally had two new additions to my spell repertoire. The first was entirely standard, a straight upgrade to my cantrip. I cast in on myself as I brought its description up, enjoying the rejuvenating wave of vitality that swept through me. Heal (Renamed from The Young Sapling¡¯s Surge of Vitality) Heal a target within 30 meters for 20 + 2* + hit points, up to a max of 150hp. Grants +3 Constitution and Endurance for 30 seconds. (Note, this effect does not stack with itself.) For additional mana, this spell can partially treat a wide variety of ailments, including burns, blood loss, necrosis, and more. Especially with Cal¡¯s old fake-priestess class no longer boosting her healing, I was glad to have a spell that packed a bit more oomph. Admittedly, I was worried about the ridiculously long, unwieldy name at first, but the system seemed to pick up on my distaste, offering me a prompt to rename the spell. Heal was probably a bit reductive, especially for a Rare spell, but it would do just fine for my tastes. It was a massive step up from Minor Healing anyway I swung it. Currently, I had a full 38 Intelligence, which meant I could heal for 97hp in a single cast. If Minor Healing was also at level one, it would only manage a comparably pitiful 39hp. That was to say nothing of the increased range and secondary effects. As much as I appreciated my newly strengthened healing prowess, Heal turned out to be the lesser of the two gifts Arbor had granted me. I wasn¡¯t sure if the great tree had somehow learned of our impending trip to the jungle, or if it was plain dumb luck, but I¡¯d take either way. I cast the second spell on myself as well, feeling as it sank into me to no effect. Cure (Renamed from A Cleansing Gust of Rich Forest Air) Attempts to remove negative biological debuffs from the target, with a focus on poisons and diseases. Depending on the number and strength of the debuffs, this spell may only partially cure the target, or may be resisted entirely, with effects scaling with the caster¡¯s Intelligence, Life Magic level, and spell level. It was hard to imagine a spell that could be more ideal for combatting a poisonous jungle, and after a bit of testing, I¡¯d determined the spell was the real deal, too. I¡¯d heavily ramped up my alchemy after learning it, feeling more comfortable brewing and imbibing stronger poisons with the spell in my pocket. In general, a single cast was able to fully remove most of the weaker poisons I created from my system, although anything more than that needed multiple casts. I¡¯d yet to encounter a toxin that fully resisted the spell, but then again, I wasn¡¯t working with anything that serious. I was entirely confident that wouldn¡¯t be the case once we returned to the jungle, so I made leveling the spell a priority. I doubted I¡¯d be able to get it all the way to the Initiate rank by the time we set off, but then again, I wasn¡¯t actually sure how long we had. Now that I¡¯d earned enough points for Arcane Choker, we were waiting on Cal to level, and over dinner, she continued to express frustration over her slow progress. Which was ridiculous, by most standards. She¡¯d last leveled in the fight with Din¡¯Ket, which was under three months ago. Levels weren¡¯t supposed to come that fast, and anyone back in Sylum would go green with envy if they heard about our leveling speed. Admittedly, they probably wouldn¡¯t want to trade places with us, all things considered, but still. Even so, I could tell it grated on Cal that she was keeping us from setting off. Whether that was from pride or wanderlust, I wasn¡¯t sure, but the end effect was the same. Each day, she stayed out longer and longer, on rare occasions even committing the cardinal sin of missing dinner. What she was even doing for all that time, I couldn¡¯t say. After all, the gryphons took a few days to respawn in any case. And then one day, she just didn¡¯t come back. Not too concerning in and of itself. She¡¯d gone on multi-day trips plenty of times, although usually she warned us beforehand. But all in all, I wasn¡¯t overly worried. Cal was a big girl. By and large, she could handle herself. Hell, even if I had a few years on her, she probably had her head screwed on tighter than I did. She¡¯d be fine. I continued to believe that even through the second day, and then the third after that. Maybe she went exploring or scouting. It¡¯s fine. She doesn¡¯t need to eat, and she can Apex Shroud out of pretty much any attack. She¡¯ll probably return without a scratch or a care in the world and get an earful from Verin about it. That steadfastly held sentiment only made things all the more shocking when it happened. It was already an unusual day for me, as I was posted up outside the cabin. While I tended to work in the mountains, my current project required a great deal of wood, which meant I¡¯d dragged a full tree trunk over from the woods. The open space was ideal for processing the giant log into smaller pieces. The goal was a filter. It was the one contraption I was missing, both to further refine my sugar beet molasses and to remove the worst of the smaller debris from my seawater. Without a blueprint to go off of, I was trying all sorts of random designs, hoping to find one that would work best. Already, I¡¯d made a few samples by weaving small flexible strips of wood into a grid pattern. Presently, I was working on a more robust version, which I was finding difficult without superglue or anything better than stone nails. It was about halfway through my prototype that I spotted movement from the corner of my eye. Given the lack of monsters in the prairie, it came as no surprise when it turned out to be Cal. What was a surprise was the state of her. Everywhere the eye could see, wounds dotted her body, no two exactly alike. Where some of them were only bruises, and others had scabbed over, just as many were still open, actively leaking blood. Gashes and gouges had been torn from leather, cloth, and flesh alike, turning the regal princess into a tattered mound of dirt and dried blood. I was at her side in a flash, all thoughts of woodwork completely abandoned. Even before I reached her, threads of mana erupted from my core, spinning into the proper shape. You have cast Heal on Calilah! Heal has been partially resisted! Secondary effects negated. You have healed Calilah for 2hp. When the hell has my healing ever been resisted? Frantically, I started casting again, determined to undo all the damage she¡¯d suffered, two points at a time if I had to. Before I could finish the spell, Cal waved me away, making me wonder if she¡¯d damaged her brain as well. ¡°Stop. Stop. Don¡¯t heal. Need to train. Recovery. And resistances.¡± Each syllable seemed to take a year off her life, and now that she¡¯d stopped, she swayed on her feet, the last of her steam abandoning her. This goes past resistance training! I hastily identified her to check her health. Calilah: Level 18 Indefatigable Onslaught, 42/350hp, 1067 Prestige Still some time, then. I continued to activate God¡¯s Eye over and over again to try to get a handle on how quickly she was bleeding out. It was with mounting disbelief, then, when I saw her health change a few seconds later. Calilah¡­ 43/350hp Somehow, through all the bleeding, through the myriad of wounds on every inch of her, Cal was actively healing. And that wasn¡¯t the only item of note in her status, either. Wasn¡¯t she level 17 yesterday? The detail felt insignificant in light of her current state, but I caught myself mumbling it out nonetheless. ¡°You leveled?¡± My words brought on a wet, choking laugh, and Cal summoned the last of her strength to thrust a single fist into the sky. ¡°Victory!¡± Having said her piece, Cal collapsed into my arms, promptly passing out. B4 C51: Hardiness Needless to say, Cal¡¯s less-than-optimal reappearance caused something of a stir in our tiny household of three. More than that, if I thought my reaction was bad, Verin¡¯s was several times worse. She¡¯d been out hunting in the desert when it all went down, and by the time she returned, I¡¯d long since moved Cal to her bed. The very moment Verin was brought into the loop, she started flitting about, moving with a sort of nervous alacrity that I¡¯d never seen from the noble before. ¡°Where would she even acquire such a wide range of different injuries? The gryphons? No. If she were hit by them, the wounds would be much deeper, and that would not explain the thinner cuts or bruising. Furthermore, they lack any form of skill to inhibit healing. Another region, then? Did she truly enter another region without breathing so much as a word to us? Foolish, foolish, foolish girl.¡± Verin flung Cal¡¯s blanket off, taking in the slumbering form of the princess beneath. Showing no care for modesty or propriety, Verin summoned a blade of ice before hacking away at the scraps of cloth and armor that had survived Cal¡¯s ordeal. In some spots, the blood-soaked clothes had dried against her skin, necessitating greater care lest Verin end up ripping off more skin than was already missing. ¡°Lady Tess. If this thoughtless, half-witted, poor excuse for a princess wishes to recover without healing magic, then she can for all I care. But we will not be leaving her with open wounds to spill blood all over the floor and leave her at the mercy of rot and infection and whatever else this accursed place might have in store for her. Fetch the bandages. And a basin of water, while you¡¯re at it. Trailing dirt all over our home... Some people¡­¡± Already, I had a massive surplus of the necrolord¡¯s bandages we¡¯d looted from the desert crypt, and I removed them all, throwing them on Cal¡¯s bedside table. Having kept my cauldron in the mountains, I was without anything that could be properly considered a ¡°basin,¡± but I took out the largest of my stone bowls and filled it with Conjure Water. ¡°Good. Thank you.¡± Using a scrap of bandage as a rag, she began washing out any wound she could find. At a speed entirely at odds with her diminutive Dexterity, she then began tightly wrapping whatever portions of Cal¡¯s body she¡¯d thus far managed to expose. Entirely out for the count, Cal didn¡¯t even wince a single time. ¡°Truly, what was she thinking? Was she that desperate to shave a few measly weeks off of our time here? How much longer does she think it will take to escape if she loses an arm or a leg or, gods forbid, her life? If she suddenly takes a turn for the worse and dies from this, do not expect any tears from me, do you understand? Come. Help me turn her over.¡± As gently as we could, the two of us flipped Cal¡¯s prone form. The moment Verin took in the state of Cal¡¯s back, she sucked in a sibilant hiss of breath. ¡°Curses,¡± she spat out. I expected her to elaborate on exactly what had gotten her so out of sorts, but she only continued to stare with an icy scowl. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Exactly as I said.¡± Gesturing to a few purple marks that I¡¯d taken for oddly circular bruises, Verin repeated her earlier assertion. ¡°Curses. The damned fool must have found a region made from curse mana. No wonder she resists your healing.¡± Curses? Those were a thing? Scratch that -- I distantly recalled Verin mentioning them after my birthday incident from learning the Stygian Citadel. Still, I hadn¡¯t ever encountered any, and I certainly hadn¡¯t known it was its own school of mana. What combination was that? As if sensing the unspoken question, Verin came to the rescue. ¡°A heavily intent-altered composite of death and dark mana. Hard to acquire, but infamous nonetheless. While often limited in scope at the lower levels, curses are notoriously hard to counter without specialized resistances or equipment.¡± Not letting this newest revelation keep her from her task, Verin resumed her hasty treatment, soon wrapping up all of the most concerning injuries. Even having been half-transformed into a mummy, Cal never stirred. ¡°What now?¡± Was there some curse-breaking ritual they taught to nobles? Entirely at odds with her earlier nervous energy, Verin simply shrugged. ¡°Now, we wait. If she were under a curse of sleep, then perhaps we would require some greater plan, but the fact that she walked here on her own implies that she was not cursed into unconsciousness. She should wake. Eventually. Not that such a thing is my problem to begin with, yes?¡± Thus said, Verin took one last contemptuous glare at her patient before briskly departing the room. Where she was off to, I wasn¡¯t sure, and I had a feeling she didn¡¯t know either. Not quite as mortally offended by whatever Cal had done to warrant this state, I stayed behind. Flipping her back over and adjusting her as best I could, I covered her with her blanket once again. It was strange, honestly. As best I could tell, this was the first time Cal had fallen asleep since arriving in the dungeon. Thinking back, it was only the second time I¡¯d seen her unconscious at all. The first had been when she¡¯d almost bled out to become a ritual sacrifice for Ephesis. I wouldn¡¯t have even known she could pass out if not for that, but evidently, severe blood loss was enough to take her out. Knowing Cal, I would have assumed her resting form would look different, somehow. That she would toss and turn, or start sleepwalking, or at least begin to snore. In reality, she wore an entirely calm, at-peace expression, barely moving a muscle save for the long, deep breaths she took. Though she often projected a sort of larger-than-life persona, she looked shockingly vulnerable and small in that moment. Which was, of course, fine. The two of us would watch over her, and in no time, I was sure she¡¯d be back to shouting and sneaking around once more. Not feeling entirely comfortable leaving her alone, I dragged a chair to the foot of her bed, popping a squat and leaning against the wall. If she woke up needing anything, I¡¯d be there. Sleep tight, pal.
God¡¯s Eye has reached level 13! I spent a full day staying with Cal, periodically identifying her to check on her health. Not once did it ever go down, instead continuing to slowly trickle upwards. When she failed to wake after day one, all I could do was shrug. Cal had seemed to believe that she would recover on her own, and, her questionable choices aside, I generally trusted her. Sitting there fretting wasn¡¯t going to accomplish anything, and I soon returned to my usual activities, making sure to check in on Cal here and there. Despite her earlier fuss, Verin ended up spending more time with Cal than I did. On multiple occasions, I found her adjusting the room¡¯s temperature with her frost magic, and once, I¡¯d caught her asleep by Cal¡¯s bedside. Tactfully, I chose not to comment. And just like that, another two weeks passed. With all my fiddling about with poisons, Alchemy hit the Initiate rank at last. Perhaps to be expected, my augment granted me a slight boost to the strength of my poisons. More excitingly, I finally managed to bring Death Magic to the Apprentice rank, the last of my basic mana types to cross that hurdle. With how far away the Journeyman tier felt, it also marked the end of any easy class points and experience for me. Archery, Hammers, and Swords would eventually net me a few more, but nothing like the full 18-point windfall that my Apprentice-tier spell schools had given me. Mental Magic and Spatial Magic were contenders, especially with the prior being at level 19, but that final level was proving to be insurmountable. Unlike all of my other spell schools, I didn¡¯t have an Initiate-rank mental spell, forcing me to rely on Sense Minds instead. I had a sneaking suspicion that the cantrip was effectively offering me nothing at this point. The leveling speed was so horrifically slow that Spatial Magic was threatening to catch up, months of steady Mold Space and Spatial Step usage bringing the skill up to level 17. After that, I¡¯d be fully tapped out, which meant that I needed to be strategic with how I used my class points. Entering my class space, I surveyed all of my options. Two skills were ¡°new-ish,¡± in the sense that they¡¯d been around for a while, but I¡¯d only given them a cursory glance after unlocking them. The first was on the 7th tier in the Armorist room, which I¡¯d gained access to after buying Reactive Armor. The armor rack in question was one of the stranger sets, as all the armor was hazy and translucent, as if not entirely there. Perpetual Armor (0/5) When not wearing existing armor, Arcane Armor now considers your skin a valid armor target. All class skills that require you to be wearing or empowering your bound or conjured armor will work at 20% efficiency even if you do not otherwise have any armor equipped.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Current skills this would affect: Arcane Armory Resist Magic Mana Sink Force Dispersal Enhanced Physical Hardiness Status Resistance Much like its predecessor, the skill seemed to be geared towards helping me out in situations where I wasn¡¯t wearing my armor. I was a fan in theory, as I already had a good deal of class skills it would work on. Or, reframed, I currently had a bunch of vital defenses that just flat-out wouldn¡¯t work if my armor was off. Plus, if I was reading the description correctly, it sounded like the defensive portion of Arcane Armory would work passively as well. Effectively, that meant my skin would provide me with as much defense as plate armor, 24/7. Incredibly powerful in one sense, but overly situational in another. I already had Reactive Armor to summon my armor in the case of sneak attacks. As such, it was hard to imagine a case where I¡¯d be attacked or in the midst of battle and not already wearing my armor in the first place. Admittedly, it would have helped when Warram captured me and kept me from summoning my armor, but I was really, really hoping that wasn¡¯t going to be a recurring scenario. Ultimately, I was sure I¡¯d grab the skill eventually, but if my goal was making it out of the dungeon in one piece, there were better options for now. The other newcomer was more recent, a fifth tier offering that had appeared after I bought Mana Sink in my fight with the boss of the darkness region. Of all the armor sets in the room, it was perhaps the showiest, different sections of the metal glowing in an uncountable number of different colors. Arcane Supremacy (0/1) Enhances the effects of Resist Magic against spells from schools of magic you have learned. This skill scales based on the differential between the caster¡¯s magic level and yours. If hit with a spell from a composite or intent-altered mana school, you may partially defend against it using your level in the constituent mana types or sufficiently similar schools of magic. While the description painted the skill as considerably more complicated than most of my others, it was fairly simple in the end. If my enemy was level 20 in Death Magic and I was level 50 in Death Magic, I would resist their spells even more than usual, essentially pitting our spell masteries against one another. If they instead hit me with Mud Magic, it was best if I had Mud Magic too, but I could also partially resist the spell if my Water Magic and Earth Magic was high enough. Or even more simply, the higher my magic skills, the more magic damage I could resist. This, too, felt like a must-purchase in the long run. If I could train up all my magic schools to absurd levels, then I could be immune to all sorts of magic attacks. With all of my magic skills sitting at around level 20, though, it wouldn¡¯t do me much good yet. That feeling was only further compounded when I checked the price, discovering that it cost a whopping ten points to purchase. I had a feeling it was considered a cornerstone skill for Arcane Arsenals, but it was well outside my price range for now. As no new skill had appeared after I¡¯d bought Arcane Choker, I was thus left with the usual suspects to spend my remaining points on. I mentally listed out my options, sorely wishing that I still had Advisor Flithus to guide me. Arcane Arsenal Skill Options Spellsword/Swordspell - 3/5 Enhanced Weapon Skills - 0/5 Armor Penetration - 2/5 Weapon to Wand - 0/1 (Costs 3) Magic Penetration - 0/5 Resist Magic - 4/5 Mana Sink - 1/5 Enhanced Physical Hardiness - 1/5 Force Dispersal - 2/5 Overload Resistances - 0/1 (Costs 3) Perpetual Armor - 0/5 Arcane Supremacy - 0/1 (Costs 10) Largely, I was leaning towards more defense. After upgrading Overload Weapon all the way, I hadn¡¯t come across anything that I wasn¡¯t able to damage. More than that, none of the Weaponmaster options felt that game-changing to me. If I went that route, I¡¯d probably just dump more into spellsword or grab a single point of Magic Penetration just to see if it opened up anything new. The choice became trickier when I examined my defensive options. If I wanted to keep using Overload Armor at full blast, then upgrading Mana Sink was a priority. Alternatively, Mana Sink scaled with how much damage I resisted via Resist Magic, so it was possibly time to finally max my resistance out. In an entirely different direction, Force Dispersal was an obvious choice if I expected to keep running into ridiculously large hard-hitting bosses. Unfortunately, none of those would help much with poison. Overload Resistances would, but it scaled off of Enhanced Physical Hardiness, which was languishing at rank one. It also cost a full 3 points, which would bankrupt me again. ¡°I guess we¡¯re doing hardiness then.¡± In the short term, it would boost my Poison Resistance, and in the long term, it synergized well with Overload Resistances and Perpetual Armor, making me feel like I wasn¡¯t shooting myself in the foot or wasting points. I debated throwing one point into a different skill, but ended up going all out. If my initial experience in the jungle was anything to go off of, my Poison Resistance was not nearly high enough. Enhanced Physical Hardiness has reached rank 4/5! While wearing armor conjured or enhanced by Arcane Armory, all physical resistance skills are amplified by (20 + /2)%. Current bonus: 39% Currently affected skills: Bleed Resistance Pain Resistance Heat Resistance Cold Resistance Poison Resistance On top of my class skill, I¡¯d also gotten a resistance percentage multiplier of half my constitution from reaching the first Constitution threshold. The bonus stacked with my class skill additively, so with a Constitution of 36, I had an extra 18% bonus, totalling up to 57%. Skill levels weren¡¯t entirely linear, but that bonus effectively took my existing 19 levels of Poison Resistance and shot them all the way up to 30. With the extra resistance and my new Cure spell, I was considerably more comfortable brewing and guzzling down all manner of poisons, too. I even swapped Conjure Liquid to one of my better batches of poison after storing enough seawater, sipping on the concoction throughout my days. It was from one such sip that I at last hit my target. Poison Resistance has reached level 20! Congratulations! You have reached the Apprentice rank in Poison Resistance! Based on your skill usage, you have been granted a skill augment for reaching a new skill rank. Augment of the Brewer Take less damage from poisons that are identical or similar to those you have brewed in the past. Scales based on how many times you have created the poison in question. Actually pretty handy, considering everything I¡¯m making is from dungeon ingredients these days. In a weird way, the augment was sort of the alchemist version of mithridatism. With the new skill level, though, I highly doubted I¡¯d be raising the resistance any higher before we returned to the jungle. My Conjure Liquid trick might help a little, but I was long since out of the samples I¡¯d gathered on our very brief first trip, and the poisons I¡¯d found in the wandering woods were nothing in comparison. To that end, I was spending more time in the toxic section of my gardens lately, trying to reduce my reliance on foraging. After washing off any possible poison residue, presently, I was returning from one such trip to make dinner. Well before I arrived, a booming shout swept through the air. ¡°VICTORY!¡± Cal. Dropping any thoughts of cooking, I chained spatial steps together to rush through the prairie. Even so, I was still on my way by the time she spoke next, only my heightened Perception allowing me to hear her this far out. ¡°Hey! Who wrapped me up like this? I could have had another level of Bleed Resistance from all this! Booo. Are either of you home? You guys are no fun.¡± After only a second¡¯s pause, she started up again. ¡°Oh, hi Veri- Ow. OW! Hey, OW!¡± A new voice joined the first, radiating an icy calm. ¡°Is something the matter, Lady Calilah? I am merely helping you level your Bleed Resistance, as requested. Hush now. There is no need to thank me. In fact, this is rather ideal. I have prepared a number of choice words for you. To begin-¡± It was impressive, in a way. All the way back when I became a Protagonist, I¡¯d had the entirety of the Common language beamed directly into my head. That included curse words and a good number of insults, too. Even so, the ever-proper Verin¡¯Sylus managed to teach me a whole slew of new thinly-veiled jabs. Interspersed with her scathing words was the start of a much more proper yet equally withering lecture. ¡°And do you know how long you¡¯ve been out for? How long we have been watching over you? And yet the first thing you do when you wake up is complain about your bandages, of all things? Lady Calilah, with all due deference to the royal family of Ftheran and without the intent to cast aspersions on your royal lineage, might I kindly suggest that your parents were-¡± Having finally reached the cabin, I burst into Cal¡¯s room to find the warrior liberally coated in ice chips. One Verin¡¯Sylus was hunched over the bed with an icicle in her hand. ¡°Tess, save me! Verin missed me so much she¡¯s gone mad! I mean, entirely understandable, and yet-¡± A small ball of hail to the forehead cut off whatever else Cal was about to say as Verin straightened herself out. She immediately appeared reluctant to continue her earlier speech, but her icy glare made it clear that she still had some choice words saved up for the future. For now, though, all of that could wait. ¡°Hi Cal. Glad you¡¯re awake. What happened?¡± At this, the rogue-turned-warrior beamed. ¡°Hi Tess! And thank you so much for asking. Come on, come on. Take a seat and I¡¯ll tell you everything.¡± Once we were arrayed to her liking, Cal then sat up in her bed with a gleam in her eyes. ¡°As it so happens, I cleared a new region. Here¡¯s how it went down¡­¡± B4 C52: Transgressor Overall, Cal was a fan of her new class. Sure, there were some hiccups along the way. Gods only knew how much she missed her old Dexterity. She was confident that she¡¯d eventually be sundering the class if they ever escaped the dungeon, too. For all that was true, there was something to be said for simply walking up to an enemy and cleaving it in two. While it had never been her intention to take a pure combat class, more and more, she could understand the appeal. Cal was also fairly certain that she¡¯d made the right choice of class, with her new skills being ideal for most of the enemies she¡¯d faced so far. Unfortunately, for all that she was enjoying moonlighting as a battle-hardened warrior, there was one glaring con to the Indefatigable Onslaught class. Opening up her class quests, Cal scrolled through them with a scowl. Naturally recover 1000hp in a single battle. + 2 Class Points +5000xp ¡­ Slay 100 worthy foes in a single, uninterrupted fight + 2 Class Points +5000xp ¡­ Fight uninterrupted for over an hour + 2 Class Points +5000xp Altogether, they weren¡¯t that bad! They weren¡¯t. Cal had the Endurance for a long, protracted battle, and with her class skills, her recovery was even more impressive. An hour of straight fighting wasn¡¯t exactly her idea of a good time, but provided she was doing the ass kicking instead of getting her ass kicked, she didn¡¯t really mind. So why aren¡¯t there any places for me to actually fight that long! She¡¯d tried. She had! But this gods-forsaken dungeon flat-out refused to help her out! No matter how many scorpions Cal collected, no matter how many gryphons she taunted, the battles were always over far too quickly. The only fight she could recall that could have actually helped out was the unending army of undead in the desert crypt. Regrettably, that had been before she changed classes, and as best they could tell, it was a one time deal. In the end, the answer was as simple as it was bothersome. Cal needed a new region. Certainly, in a dungeon this big, there had to be at least one area with a swarm-type enemy, right? There had to be! All she had to do was hunt it down, a task to which she was ideally suited. Unfortunately, the dungeon wasn¡¯t making it easy for her. Already, she¡¯d scouted out a good deal of the surrounding regions they hadn¡¯t hit, aided by the far-reaching views from the peaks of the mountain region. Not having found anything so far, Cal was beginning to accept she¡¯d have to start ranging farther out. And so, that was today¡¯s goal. Rather than slogging away and fighting a horde of gryphons again, Cal had decided to find something new. Venturing in one of the few directions she¡¯d yet to really check out, she was leisurely strolling along the shore, where the ocean met the mountains. And if there¡¯s nothing exciting after these regions end, then I can just keep going. Even without her Apex Shroud, it wasn¡¯t as if there was much danger if she kept to a biome¡¯s periphery, right? Pretty much none of the regions she¡¯d been to had any sort of dangers on the far outskirts. In fact, if I level up enough, maybe I can just cheat and get us out of here in a few weeks. Why bother slowly cutting through endless monster-infested death traps? If she stuck to the edges of each region and refused to enter any of them, she could hopefully walk right up to the four mana collection sites and free Sett all by herself! ¡°Easy. And then the other two will owe me so much that I¡¯ll hire Tess as a personal chef for a few years, and Verin¡­ Well, I don¡¯t know what I¡¯d make Verin do.¡± She was supposed to be some incredible artist, but she¡¯d barely drawn a single thing in all the time that Cal had known her. ¡°Bears some thought. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s something she¡¯s good for.¡± But yes! As soon as Cal perfected her cheating strategy, they would all be out of here in a heartbeat. It was right then when the world around her shifted. One moment, all she could see was the endless shoreline and towering mountains. The very next, the ground grew barren, an empty expanse of cracked and desiccated earth. ¡°Um. That¡¯s a new one for me.¡± Had she stumbled upon an illusion region? Somehow, that didn¡¯t feel correct. Twisting about, she sighed in relief as she spotted the same shore she¡¯d been traveling down. Even if the environment had taken a complete 180, it wasn¡¯t as if she¡¯d actually been teleported somewhere far away. Still, there was definitely some sort of spatial shenanigans going on. To her left, the new region cleanly bisected large rocks, and to the right, it extended into the water, the dusty earth seeming to float atop the ocean. It was as if two entirely separate places were occupying the same location at once, a fairly trippy experience even for her. ¡°Sort of cool. If it is an illusion, maybe something I should snag Tess for.¡± Cal did want to scout out any new regions, but this one was already weird enough for her to call in the cavalry. ¡°Bye, new region! See you tomorrow, hopefully.¡± Thus said, Cal confidently took a step out of the wastelands. Only to slam her head against an invisible barrier. ¡°Ow. What gives?¡± Reaching out, Cal probed at the space before her, finding that it entirely rebuffed her, even when she fully activated her Apex Shroud. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ less than good. System, you have anything to say about this, or am I supposed to figure it out on my own?¡± As if waiting for her to ask, a notification popped up, eliciting a curse from Cal. You have been inflicted with the Curse of Confinement! Until the curse is lifted, you are unable to leave your current location. You have received a quest! Transgressor You have attempted to cut through the dungeon, avoiding its challenges by refusing to properly venture into any of its regions. Please be aware that there are no paths forward without a challenge. While you may sneak directly through a region or exit a region without defeating its boss, further attempts to entirely bypass an uncleared region via burrowing, flying, or skirting its perimeter, will result in escalating punishments. Requirements: Lift your curse and escape the region. Rewards: +1000xp You get to live. Even before she was done reading, Cal raised her hands to the sky with a shout. ¡°Are we serious? How was I supposed to know? Let me off with a warning and stop being a dick about it!¡± When her words were met with nothing but silence, Cal sadly had to conclude that no help was forthcoming. Taking stock of her situation, she scowled at the notification preceding her new quest. A curse? Seriously? With her Apex Shroud, Cal could ignore a wide array of impediments and attacks, but the skill couldn¡¯t generally remove existing debuffs from her. A curse was just about the worst case scenario. ¡°Well, whatever. Something has to be fueling it, right?¡± While Cal didn¡¯t like to bring it up every five seconds like a particular high noble she knew, she was a princess. With how frequently royals and nobility tended to run afoul of curse magic, her royal tutors had drilled the basics of curses into her at a young age. At the lower levels, most curses without set durations had to be actively maintained by a caster or a cursed object. Ergo, all she needed to do was find said caster or object and smash it to bits. Taking in her surroundings once more, Cal noted just how similar her environs were to the deadlands surrounding Tess¡¯s settlement. Not an overly pleasant place, but thankfully, her version was much smaller, and if she strained her vision, Cal thought she could see the end in the distance. As for spotting anything else¡­ No luck. ¡°Probably in the middle. That feels right, right?¡± Thus said, Cal ventured forth. Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t make it very far. No sooner had she taken a single step than the ground around her shuddered. Readying herself for battle, Cal immediately channeled her mana into the ring Tal¡¯ket had rewarded her with. A massive feather materialized in her hands, its mottled white and jade-green coloring making it as stunning to behold as it was deadly. Chicken Scratch Boost the effects of all mana enhancement abilities. Mana channeled into this sword will increase its sharpness, adding cutting winds and air damage to all attacks.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Armed and ready, Cal went entirely invisible and dashed to the side as she surveyed the ground from a distance. What¡¯s it going to be? Worms? Moles? Uh, some other burrowing monster I can¡¯t think of right now? As it turned out, the answer was something far stranger. Seemingly immune from the omnipresent lighting of the dungeon, the deep cracks and furrows in the earth were filled with dark shadows. As Cal watched, those shadows began to writhe and quiver. The darkness took on an almost liquid quality, turning the jagged divots into rivers as it flowed along them. From these ominous waterways, small, inky orbs ascended into the air. As if molded by some invisible sculptor, the orbs began to shift, growing and growing while sprouting legs and tails and mangy heads. By the time the transformation was complete, five, fully formed hyenas stood where once she¡¯d been. Not entirely solid, they had a particular ethereal quality to them, skirting the line between translucency and opacity. Patches of gray and purple dotted their skin in a manner that made them look diseased, and where their oily spittle hit the ground, it hissed and sizzled. With her own Identify skill hobbled from changing classes, all Cal got when she looked at them was a name: Cursed Hyena. I mean. Seems about right. The real question was, fight or flee? With a few more levels under her belt, Cal probably would have chosen the latter. Unable to keep Apex Shroud fully active at all times, however, she was wary of running away. If she did have to fight them off eventually, she¡¯d rather get their measure now before the dungeon decided to do something vindictive like summon a million of them. A few steps. A healthy dose of Empowered Strike. And that was all it took. She flashed back into existence as her feather sliced through the air, and by the time she was done, one hyena head fell to the ground. If there was one small mercy, it was that the beasts weren¡¯t truly living, biological creatures. The severed neck contained no manner of blood or bone, only more discolored darkness. This did not, however, seem to allow the creature to live without its head, making her job much easier. You have slain a Cursed Hyena! You have gained a stack of Rising Tenacity. Stamina recovery enhanced. You have gained a stack of Wellspring¡¯s Renewal. Mana recovery enhanced. You have gained a stack of Surging Vitality. Health recovery enhanced. All three buffs had been fairly early class skills, low enough on her skill trees that she¡¯d essentially been forced to take them. She hadn¡¯t maxed any of them out, but they would boost her recovery whenever she killed something, or to a much smaller degree, whenever she landed a hit or got hit herself. She could truly become a monster at high enough stacks, provided a battle actually lasted long enough. Not at all concerned with Cal¡¯s skill notifications, the remaining four hyenas homed in on her as one. Letting out scratchy, yipping barks, they pounced to avenge their fallen sibling. Sadly for them, they were entirely out of luck. By the time they landed, Cal was long gone, having gone fully invisible once more. A high-pitched swish was the only warning they got before another head hit the ground. And then another. And another. In short order, Cal popped in and out of existence, dispatching each of the hyenas with a single strike. Nice! So they¡¯re horribly weak defensively, and they don¡¯t have any special way of tracking me through my shroud. Simple enough. Left unsaid was that she did not want to discover what would happen to her if she actually got hit. Something told her that her Curse of Confinement would be the least of her worries if any of them took a proper bite out of her. Well, no biggy there. Guess I just have to make sure that doesn¡¯t happen. With none of the hyenas dropping any sort of loot, Cal played around with Apex Shroud until she found a relatively low-cost setting that seemed to prevent the region from detecting her. Prepared as she could be, Cal set off to break her curse.
It only took an hour before she spotted it, or, put another way, Cal was forced to walk for an hour over the barren earth before anything changed. In a slight recess, hiding it from casual view, a single slab of stone sat undisturbed. Despite its nondescript appearance, the flat, rectangular rock had a clear purpose. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s definitely an altar. Honestly kind of glad I can¡¯t see mana, because I¡¯m almost entirely sure that thing¡¯s covered in creepy curse magic.¡± With no other items of note in sight, Cal was forced to conclude that the altar was the cursed object keeping her confined. Not that she wanted to mess with a cursed altar, but that seemed to be the way things were headed. Still hoping to get home in time for dinner, Cal didn¡¯t second guess herself. Filling her feather sword with as much mana as it could hold, she slashed down, dropping her invisibility right as the blade connected with the stone. The force of the impact reverberated up the quill of the feather, rattling her bones. Other than that, though, her strike did a whole lot of nothing. No dramatic, eerie noises. No offended bosses trying to kill her. And certainly no lifted curses. After all, the altar didn¡¯t have a single scuff mark on it, let alone a crack. ¡°All right, can¡¯t say I¡¯m a fan of that one. So breaking the altar is a no-go.¡± Or, at least it was with her power level. A fully empowered strike was the best she had, so if the altar could withstand that, she was out of luck. ¡°What else?¡± Intent on answering just that, the dungeon finally reacted. Whether from her momentary reappearance, or from her attack on the altar, the surrounding earth took note. Once again, the darkness that had seeped into the soil rose up, spawning a horde of hyenas. No longer confined to the small space on the edge of the wastelands, the foul creatures rose in droves, until a solid dozen of them ringed the altar. Not seeing any other path forward, Cal repeated her earlier stint, rushing from scavenger to scavenger, lopping off their heads. The entire fight would have been a perfect repeat of the first if not for one key difference. ¡°Damn. Respawning.¡± Before she could get even halfway through her new foes, more orbs plucked themselves from the darkness, replacing the downed hyenas. Only just now realizing what she¡¯d just said, Cal pulled up short. ¡°Wait! Not-damn! Respawning!¡± At last! Cal had finally found her swarm enemy! She killed a few more just to verify that the dungeon would truly keep creating new enemies to replace the old, and only once she was satisfied did she fully cloak herself in Apex Shroud and take a step back. Okay. I don¡¯t need to eat or sleep, so I don¡¯t technically have a time limit here. Verin and Tess might get worried if I take too long, but this could be the chance I¡¯ve been looking for to clear out some of my class quests, right? Presumably, the region would disappear after she escaped, which meant that the altar could wait for now. Turning back to the hyenas, Cal was about to jump back into her own form of scavenger hunting. In the brief time it had taken her to consider her options, however, something had changed. Are they¡­ bigger? A handful of the hyenas had abruptly grown after she¡¯d taken her eyes off them. Initially, she worried they had some mechanic to passively empower them over time. When she spotted one of the corpses she¡¯d already defeated, however, things grew much clearer. Two hyenas stood around their defeated companion, actively tearing into its body with their wet maws. Chunks of dry, dark flesh disappeared down their gullets, and as Cal watched, they began to visibly grow. In a matter of seconds, all evidence of her earlier fight was gone, not a scrap of her original foes remaining. That¡¯s maybe a problem. A hundred regular hyenas? She¡¯d be fine. But if they kept getting stronger with every one she killed? As much as Cal liked to throw caution to the wind once in a while, even she wasn¡¯t willing to play those odds. With her luck, by the time she finished her class quests, the place would be filled with super hyenas as big as buildings. Do I have a choice, though? She could wander for another hour and hope she stumbled upon a different cursed object, but the chances of that felt vanishingly rare. There was an altar here, and there were enemies. Cal was at least 90% sure that removing her curse had something to do with those two things. Idly, she wondered what had happened to the corpses she¡¯d left at the very start of the region. Maybe if nothing eats them for long enough, they disappear? It was worth a shot, at least. In a flash, another hyena collapsed in two halves, with Cal vanishing in its wake. This time around, however, she didn¡¯t wait for it to get gobbled up. The closest of its companions greedily sprinted forth to enjoy the free meal, but well before it could start eating, Cal delivered another empowered strike, aiming for its front legs instead of its head. The feathery sword bit through the darkness with almost no resistance, and the cursed creature crashed to the ground with an angry growl. Before the others could arrive, Cal made fast work of its back legs, transforming it from hobbled to immobilized. Unfortunately, the rest of the hyenas wouldn¡¯t be such a simple matter, with a full ten of them descending in a pack. Please let this work. With giant warding strikes, meant more to deter than to damage, Cal met their charge. Her repeated disappearing and reappearing act drew startled yips which only grew louder as her blade scored shallow cuts across their bloodless bodies. And, despite the overwhelming difference in numbers, it was working! Sure, she struggled to disable them like she had before, but as long as she kept fighting, all the hyenas were focused on her. Each second she bought was another to test her hypothesis in hopes that the corpse would vanish on its own. For all her confidence and enthusiasm, though, Cal had her limits. Her Perception, stuck at the baseline after her class change, wasn¡¯t up to keeping track of so many enemies, and her Dexterity wasn¡¯t high enough for any fancy footwork or dodging. Dropping the physical portion of her Apex Shroud, she lunged forward, stabbing one of the beasts in its thigh. Even as the hyena cried out, so too did Cal, as for the first time in the fight, she felt pain. Cursed Hyena has attacked you for 10 damage! Right from her blind spot, a hyena she thought she¡¯d disabled had managed to move just enough to jerk its neck forward, sinking its teeth into her calf. Leather and bandages absorbed the brunt of the attack, but the very tips of its teeth still managed to puncture through, digging into the leg below. Unfortunately, the initial damage wasn¡¯t the worst of it. You have been cursed! ¡°Gah! Shit.¡± Too occupied to read, Cal sliced her sword through the hyena¡¯s snout, dislodging it from her leg. ¡°Fetch!¡± While she needed a moment to heal up and understand her curse, Cal had no desire to waste all of her hard work. With one firm punt boosted by her considerable Strength, she booted the original corpse away before fully activating Apex Shroud once more and taking in her new curse. Slumbering Curse (Minor, Stacking) Enhances your body¡¯s natural need for sleep, gradually making you grow more and more tired. She had to read through the notification three times before it fully sank in. My natural need to¡­ But I don¡¯t need to sleep! And indeed, as best she could tell, Cal didn¡¯t feel remotely different than she did before. ¡°Hells yeah! I¡¯m immune! I love this region!¡± Having confirmed that she wasn¡¯t about to turn to stone or leak blood from her eyes, Cal tracked down where her kicked corpse had landed. When she did, however, Cal was met with a rather odd sight. Having punted the hyena inwards, she¡¯d inadvertently relocated it to the sloping pit of the altar. A quick glance confirmed that it had tumbled down, now lying directly atop the slab of stone. All at once, its body lost its cohesion, returning to the liquid state it had formed from. The inky substance then sank into the stone, vanishing without a trace. ¡°Oh. Man. Actually, in retrospect, maybe should have guessed that. Cursed altar. Cursed sacrifices.¡± Well, whatever. You live and you learn. At the very least, that confirmed that there was a way to kill her enemies without them growing stronger. Now Cal just had to decide which was worse -- making sacrifices to a cursed altar, or fighting an endless wave of hyenas that continually got stronger. ¡°Yeah, hate to say it, but I think the sacrifices are the right move.¡± Maybe if she sacrificed enough, her heartfelt devotion would lift her curses? A girl could hope, right? More than that, it was the only real path forward she could see. Having made her decision, the elegant, regal princess eyed the remaining carrion feeders with a renewed bloodlust. ¡°All right! Let¡¯s see how many sacrifices it takes before I get to go home.¡± Keeping an eye on her class quests, Cal could only hope the answer was a lot. B4 C53: The Broken Altar One could be forgiven for thinking a long, protracted battle would come with all sorts of visible signs. As Cal neared a full half hour of fighting, however, nothing could be farther from the truth. It was a mercy, she knew. In a region specifically designed to be a punishment, the bizarre cleanliness of it all was undeniably a boon. A dozen heads fell, and then a dozen more, the many bloodless bodies leaving not a single stain upon the earth. Whenever Cal managed to hastily kick the corpses towards the altar, their shadowy flesh disappeared without a trace. And even when she failed, the remaining hyenas were just as thorough at cleaning up the mess. For the most part, Cal, too, was unchanged since the start of her fight. More than anything else, the battle so far had been an unending wave of three, repeated notifications. You have gained a stack of Rising Tenacity. Stamina recovery enhanced. You have gained a stack of Wellspring¡¯s Renewal. Mana recovery enhanced. You have gained a stack of Surging Vitality. Health recovery enhanced. With her recovery boosted far beyond its baseline, she was still in nearly perfect condition after all this time. Of course, there were minor changes, if one was truly looking for them. While the hyenas lacked any blood, they were very generous with their acidic spittle, and everywhere Cal fought, the ground was littered in tiny pits and grooves. As for Cal herself, while her stats might have been topped off, her gear had taken some cursory damage, teeth and claws impaling and cutting through whenever she hadn¡¯t been careful enough. The gashes in her armor offered windows to perfectly unblemished skin below, already fully healed. Small trickles of already-drying blood were the only proof that her skin had been pierced in the first place. That, and the curses. Had the average person gotten a chance to look at her status, they would have been appalled, with multiple stacks of different curses piling up. In addition to her initial slumbering curse, Cal had been afflicted with a few newcomers. Curse of Gluttony - Increases your body¡¯s natural metabolic rate, magnifying your caloric requirements. Curse of Lethargy - Increases the stamina cost of all actions and reduces stamina recovery rates, causing you to be easy to tire and slow to recover. Arcane Hatred - Increases the mana cost of all actions and reduces mana recovery rates. Hemophiliac¡¯s Curse - Your blood flows more freely. Each stack negates a level of Bleed Resistance. Additional stacks thin blood and the rate of bleeding from all external wounds. Curse of Paper Skin - Decreases your body¡¯s natural defenses. Bruises will appear more easily, and your skin will part with less resistance. Curse of Persistent Wounds - Increases your resistance to all healing magic. On paper, the assortment of maladies looked rather dire. In actuality, they were anything but. Much like her original slumbering curse, the gluttony curse had absolutely no effect on her, Cal¡¯s standard immunity from starvation saving her. If anything, she was hoping that curse lingered, as it might help her pack away more of Tess¡¯s cooking before her stomach filled up. Not that I have too much nice to say about her, but I suppose my mother did leave me with some positives. The other curses were nuisances, but with proper use of her Apex Shroud, Cal had managed to keep all their stacks fairly low, easily offset by her recovery and existing resistances. Better yet, none of them were permanent, either, stacks periodically falling off. With none of the effects tied to a cursed object and the original casters having died, the low-leveled curses didn¡¯t have the juice to maintain themselves. That was doubly true, courtesy of her newest skill. You have learned a new skill: Curse Resistance Makes it more difficult for curses to affect you, offering you a chance to outright resist them. For curses that do take hold, lowers their potency and lessens their duration. Prerequisites: 25 Constitution, 25 Endurance, 25 Wisdom Bolstered by the new resistance, Cal stormed across the battlefield, her feathered blade tearing through foe after foe. Each cut, backed by Empowered Strike, bit deep into the slavering beasts, separating them from their limbs. Their heavy panting and rancid breaths washed over her, along with the pervasive scent of dust and acid. Already having fought longer than she ever had before, Cal could barely control herself as a torrent of energy coursed through her. She pushed more and more of her strength into each blow, nothing she could do managing to make even the smallest dent in her stamina. Under normal circumstances, the ever unchanging battlefield might have been demoralizing, but as the notifications kept rolling in, Cal could only react with a manic grin. Swords has reached level 12! Bleed Resistance has reached level 5! Pain Resistance has reached level 3! Curse Resistance has reached level 2! Apex Shroud has reached level 7! ¡°Hells yeah! Keep ¡®em coming! I need the levels.¡± Her existing resistances were somewhat pitiful, given that she hadn¡¯t met the prerequisites for them until after changing her class. On top of that, Cal still almost never got hit in most of her fights, giving them little room to grow. For different reasons, the same was true of Apex Shroud, the Legendary skill leveling glacially even after months of constant use. On and on, she fought, for the first time, truly embodying her class. As the umpteenth hyena fell, she honestly felt like an onslaught, and there was no denying that she was indefatigable after all this time. Perhaps, then, it shouldn¡¯t have come as a surprise when the first class-related notification rolled in. Class Quest Completed: Slay 100 worthy foes in a single, uninterrupted fight. + 2 Class Points +5000xp ¡°Wait, already? One hundred more!¡± In that moment, Cal genuinely felt like she could fight a full thousand, if she was allowed to. As fortunate as it was unfortunate, the dungeon seemed to have its own attachment to the number 100. With how many hyenas Cal had failed to properly sacrifice, it still took another few minutes, but shortly after completing her quest, something changed. For the first time, the altar, which up till then had continued to absorb her tributes with nary a squeak, began to audibly rumble. Even the hyenas were taken aback by this development, a pregnant pause settling over the battlefield. The rumbling slowly intensified, until it extended well past the small crater containing the altar, first vibrating the ground directly beneath Cal¡¯s feet before expanding to shake the entire region. Just when she thought the sudden earthquake would rattle the very brains out the remaining hyenas¡¯ skulls, prematurely ending the fight, everything settled in a single second. Save for a thick layer of dust getting kicked up into the air, the quake left the region entirely unchanged, making Cal wonder if the worst of it was now over. CRACK. Just as she had that thought, a single, sharp sound exploded through the air. Already fearing what she would find, Cal turned to the altar, discovering that it was now split down the middle, her sacrifices having done what her sword could not. ¡°So. Cursed object broken. Is that¡­ is that it?¡± Somehow it really didn¡¯t feel like that was it. As if to mock her naive optimism, a foul, roiling, inky black smoke began to billow up from the sundered stone. Rather than disperse, it hung there, menacingly, coalescing and condensing. By this point, Cal had seen enough. ¡°All right, yes. I¡¯ve unleashed some horrible monstrosity by praying at its altar. We get it.¡± At the very least, she wasn¡¯t going to stand there with her mouth agape, waiting for it to fully form. Bidding farewell to her cursed companions, Cal dashed over to the altar under the cover of Apex Shroud, funneling as much mana and stamina into her weapon as it could take. In the end, she wasn¡¯t quite fast enough, but that was all for the better. Right before she swung her blade, the newly freed abomination took shape from the smoke, giving Cal a sense of what she was up against. A wizened, gray face hovered in the air, its features somehow locked into what was at once a pained rictus and a mask of gleeful menace. Black teeth filled her mouth, matching the thin, oily hair that sprouted from her head. As for the rest of her, thick leathery skin seamlessly faded into long, tattered gray robes, making it impossible to know where one started and the other ended. Par for the course by now, the entirety of her form was slightly see-through, marking her as some form of only partially physical entity. Cal managed to get off a single Identify as the crone let loose a blood-curdling shriek, letting her know what she was up against. Vengeful Hag And then, that same shriek was very abruptly cut off, as an Epic sword fueled by hundreds of points of mana and stamina ripped the hag in two. Fastest boss fight ever. Hells, she doubted even Tess could pull something like that off. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. It wasn¡¯t until a deluge of new debuffs slammed into her that Cal realized something had gone very, very wrong. You have dealt 453 damage to a Vengeful Hag! The aborted cry returned in full force as the hag materialized far in the distance, a brutal tear running through her torso, but otherwise none the worse for wear. Instinctively, Cal tried to fade away, slipping into the comforting safety of her perfect invisibility. For the first time, the skill refused to answer. With a panicked spike of dread, Cal read through the remainder of her notifications at a feverish pace. You have triggered a retaliatory curse! All existing curses intensified. You have been afflicted with a Skill Lock Curse! Your most used active skill in the past hour has been locked away until the curse expires. Locked Skill: Apex Shroud Before she could even process what she¡¯d read, her vision began to dim, shrouding her surroundings in darkness. Vengeful Hag has hit you with the Curse of Blindness (stacking). In that moment, Cal realized that without her Apex Shroud, she was no longer immune to targeted spells. From a distance, the hag was entirely free to rain down all manner of afflictions on her, and there was nothing Cal could do about it. Just as she was about to race out of the crater and dart after the hag, the region¡¯s other occupants made themselves known. With unbridled hunger, a dozen hyenas gazed down at her, ringing the pit where once the intact altar had stood. Staring up at them, riddled with curses and locked out of her most powerful skill, Cal had only two words to offer. ¡°Oh fuck.¡±
Cal had thought this region was a godsend for her. The hyenas were practically tailor-made to suit her skills! She would finish her class quests, head home, and give the dungeon an earnest thanks for the unexpected boon. How terribly stupid she¡¯d been. Of course the previous fight had been easy. It was nothing more than a tutorial. Panting like a dog and bleeding like a freshly slaughtered calf, Cal brought her sword down with all her might, hoping to disable the hyena that was even now trying to disembowel her. Rather than cleanly cutting through, the feathered blade sank halfway through the beast¡¯s haunches before getting lodged there. Cursing, Cal wasted precious moments attempting to rest the blade from the hyena¡¯s faux flesh. Cursed Hyena has clawed you for 20 damage! Holding back a cry and ignoring the fresh wave of curses applied to her, Cal had a single, bitter thought. I miss the altar. In the distance, the hag still hovered menacingly, but as Cal was slowly coming to understand, the boss was the least of her worries. Without a means to easily bypass the hyenas and lacking a place to sacrifice their corpses, the beleaguered warrior was caught between a rock and a hard place. With every body she dropped, the scavengers fed. Bit by bit, they grew stronger. And tougher. And larger. More and more, her attempts to hobble them proved ineffectual, their wounds healing just as fast as hers and their inky, ethereal hides too thick to casually pierce. Naturally, her steadily worsening blindness was not helping either. ¡°Go away! Aren¡¯t you supposed to be carrion feeders or something? Wait until I¡¯m dead!¡± With a perturbed grunt, Cal channeled some extra mana into her blade and plunged it into the beast¡¯s neck, the brutal blow nearly severing its head. She was gone before it even hit the floor, not waiting to see if she¡¯d killed it. Robbed of her invisibility, Cal was forced to truly embrace her new class for the first time. Every inch forward was hard won, and the only reason she was still on her feet was the massive recovery granted to her by her class skills. That, and a few healing spells -- though her Light Magic was no longer class aligned, that hardly stopped her from casting it. Her Curse of Persistent Wounds hadn¡¯t yet stacked up enough to entirely negate her spells. It was here that she thanked her father for forcing her to keep up her ruse for so long. Without him, she doubted she¡¯d have learned any light spells in the first place. Her boosted recovery could handle whatever wounds she took, but the timely healing spells kept too much of her blood from escaping her. Neck. She slashed in a clumsy, two-handed strike, biting deep into a hyena¡¯s neck. Foreleg. A swift cut to the scavenger coming in from her side, making it jerk back in pain. Head. She snapped her leg backwards, her foot connecting hard with the snout of a lunging beast. And at last, she was through. Had there not been a long, bloody trail stretched out behind her, Cal would have scarcely believed it. Though she was truly starting to flag, she¡¯d finally caught up to the hag. Whether through arrogance or some limitation of her powers, the gray crone made no effort to move or run away. She simply hung there, silent, even as her eyes seemed to laugh at Cal. One more big strike. Nothing had survived a fully empowered strike from Cal in a long time, save for the hag. Certainly, she couldn¡¯t take two, right? Even as the hyenas closed in on her again, Cal charged her weapon, ready to end the fight once and for all. Down she swung her feathery blade, shining bright with the glow of empowering mana. Meeting no resistance, it cleaved through the foul hag, splitting her from navel to groin. Having put her all into the blow, Cal nearly slumped to the ground, but she knew she couldn¡¯t. Still have to deal with all the hyenas, but as long as she¡¯s not around, then- You have triggered a retaliatory curse! Every fiber of her being protested as Cal¡¯s curses were magnified once again, and with mounting horror, she scanned her surroundings, only to find her worst nightmare. There, a solid hundred meters away, was the hag. Far from fresh, she sported new wounds, looking as haggard as her name would imply, but it didn¡¯t matter. Because she was there. And still alive. With a groan more fit for a zombie than a princess, Cal pivoted and began shambling forth. Just. Once more. One more time. I can do it. Just one more time.
For all of her confidence, Cal had been wrong. Really wrong, truth be told. It hadn¡¯t been just one more time. Or two. Three more times, she endured the grueling gauntlet, delivering her mightiest blow to the hag who silently taunted her. And three more times, the hag vanished, only to reappear in the distance. Huh. I think I¡¯m dead. Cal took a single step forward, but even the small act nearly sent her crashing to the ground. Every limb felt as though it was filled with lead, and she was already dizzy and disoriented from blood loss. Hells, without her¡­ unique constitution -- along with Hex¡¯s meddling with her body -- Cal would have already passed out thrice over by now. And even so, it wasn¡¯t enough. A wet cough escaped her, tinged with red, the sound serving as a trigger for one of the hyenas to lunge at her. Lacking the energy for a real attack, she instead formed a pittance of mana into a spell, a bright burst of light interposing itself between her and the beast. With a pitiful whimper, the massive scavenger backed off. Kind of a bummer. All that time stuck with Hex just to go out like this. Lame. Very lame. Another step, wrenching more stamina from her than an entire marathon normally would. She was close. Or at least she thought she was. The curse of blindness had long since stolen away the bulk of her vision. Even so, she could barely make out a stationary, shapeless gray blob up ahead. How far is that? Ten steps? Twenty? Too many. Even if the hyenas did not wise up and push past her harmless magic tricks, it was too many. Maybe, maybe, she could if she really truly pushed herself. But what was the point? She would hit it one more time, and then it would just reappear somewhere else again. Cal liked to think she could do just about anything if she really put her mind to it, but there was no way in all the hells that she could chase after the hag again. Well. Even if I¡¯m about to die, my mother didn¡¯t raise a quitter. She internally chuckled at her own joke. Her mother hadn¡¯t raised her at all, after all. That thought, more than most, should have given her some extra strength. Cal had goals. Small ones. Big ones. She wanted to sit down and have a real conversation with her father. Force him to tell her more about the circumstances of her birth. She wanted to change Ftheran for the better and lift it up from its humble backwater status. She wanted to live long enough to see Hex again, both to thank her and to curse her out again. Most of all, though, Cal just wanted a break. And some fun. Over two decades being locked in a palace, playing the part of a dutiful daughter. Another year trapped in an endless expanse of darkness. And after all that, she¡¯d been confined to this dungeon. Was this really how she died? Years and years of traveling from one trap to another, just to kick it before she ever got to enjoy herself? It was too sad to be true, and yet, for all that, it wasn¡¯t enough. Cal tried to force one more step out of her ailing body, but her legs buckled beneath her. Crashing down to the dusty earth, she tried to right herself, to push her body back up, but it was no use. Drained of blood and stamina and will, she lay there, only barely conscious at all. Man. This sucks. Her vision faded from gray to black, and the only thing that stopped her from passing out altogether was a nagging pull from the system. A new notification. Cal was half convinced it would be telling her that she¡¯d died. But no. In fact, it was quite the opposite. As the barest hint of vitality flooded her sore and tired body, Cal read through her messages, incredulously. Class Quest Completed: Fight uninterrupted for over an hour + 2 Class Points +5000xp And with one more class quest finished, the true notification she¡¯d been waiting for appeared directly afterwards. Congratulations! You have reached level 18! +1 Constitution +1 Strength +1 Wisdom +2 Endurance +2 Free points Need. Energy. Need. Health. Without a second thought, Cal dumped one of her free points into Constitution, the other going into Endurance. Instant relief washed through her, even if it was only a drop in the bucket. Small though the change might have been, it was enough. With shaky arms, Cal pushed herself back up, and she stepped forward. It was an unwieldy, jerky motion, and for a moment, Cal thought her Dexterity had gone down until her dazed nerves finally pushed through their near-death adrenaline. There were teeth. In her leg. Pain Resistance has reached level 4! Shaking its head back and forth, an entire hyena maintained a death grip on her calf, continually pumping her full of curses. It didn¡¯t matter. She was running on fumes, and she lacked the energy to even try fending it off. Besides, its presence was probably the only reason the rest of the pack hadn¡¯t descended on her yet. So instead, Cal kept moving forward. With her already superhuman Strength, she dragged her legs ahead, hyena and all. One more stack of blindness joined her steadily growing curses, and Cal¡¯s vision entirely winked out. No matter. She remembered. One step. Two. Just a few more. And then. Up she raised her blade, offering it every last drop of both stamina and mana. If this didn¡¯t work, there was no point in keeping any of her resources in reserve. With a great sense of finality, one way or another, Cal brought her blade down, throwing her entire body into the motion. She slammed into the ground, face first, barely noticing as the weight on her leg disappeared. By the time the notifications rolled in, she was already out cold. Even so, they waited there to be read, a testament to her long, bloody battle. Hidden Class Quest Completed: Fight to the point of passing out +3 Class Points +7500xp You have slain a Vengeful Hag! Quest Completed: Transgressor +1000xp Your Curse of Confinement has been lifted. B4 C54: Delayed Celebration When Cal eventually awoke, her first thought was that she was amazed to be alive. Her second thought was that everything hurt. More than that, she¡¯d never felt so weak in her entire life. She tried to flip herself over so that she wasn¡¯t lying face down against the blood-soaked ground, but it was no use. Her muscles absolutely refused to behave themselves. Confused, Cal turned to her notifications, first discovering her quest completions and the kill notification. ¡°Good riddance. If I slept like a normal person, I¡¯d probably have nightmares about that thing.¡± Frankly, the dungeon had done a pretty good job of punishing her, not that she¡¯d ever admit that. Cal was pretty sure that if she used the full version of Apex Shroud at all times, not even the dungeon would be able to spot her, but still, she doubted she¡¯d try her ¡°skirting the edges¡± trick again. Following her quest completion messages, there were a few lines of skill increases, mostly focused on her resistance skills. Reading past those, she groaned as she finally discovered exactly why she felt so abysmally awful. Your Rising Tenacity has worn off. Your Wellspring¡¯s Renewal has worn off. Your Surging Vitality has worn off. All three of her resource-recovery buffs had expired shortly after the fight. On the flip side, the curses didn¡¯t have the decency to do the same. You have eliminated the source of one or more curses! Based on their strength and the number of stacks each has, they will begin to expire naturally. The fact that they¡¯d eventually go away was obviously wonderful, but when Cal checked the durations left on all her curses, her eyes bulged out of her head. ¡°Weeks? Seriously? I won! How¡¯s that any fair?¡± As stacks dropped off, she¡¯d slowly get better, but the worst of her curses would take multiple weeks to burn off. The same was true for her skill lock curse, which meant she wouldn¡¯t have access to Apex Shroud for a good while. If there was a single silver lining, it was that enough of her blindness curse had expired so that she could see color again, but that was about it. Well, if I have a choice, I¡¯d rather spend my recovery time in bed than here. Once again, Cal tried to lift herself from the earth, putting all her will into forcing her muscles to obey her. She got a few centimeters upwards before an unnerving tearing sensation traveled down her left arm. Cal stared at the limb, blood trickling down it, before remembering. Oh. Right. Paper skin. Even the single movement had reopened some of her injuries, undoing what little recovery she¡¯d managed while passed out. Quickly checking her health, Cal swore at her foolishness. Calilah: 18/350hp As someone who didn¡¯t need to eat, Cal had her own ways of producing blood. Namely, her body could slowly create it directly from mana. Given that her mana recovery was also down to nearly nothing, the amount of blood currently in her body was so drastically low as to be fully lethal for most people. Even for Cal, it was too much. As her arm continued to bleed, her head went fuzzy, and once again, she passed out.
For days, Cal teetered in and out of consciousness, her health lingering in the single digits. Whenever she was lucid enough and had some mana to spare, she fired off a few healing spells, though they only managed to heal her a single health point at best. Ultimately, it took far too long for her to remember the wealth of class points she was sitting on, and when Cal finally did, she cursed herself out. One short trip to her class space later, and her health recovery was significantly boosted. She¡¯d saved five points for later, but even so, things went much faster from there. When at last she could pick herself from the ground without utterly bleeding out, Cal readied herself to begin the relatively short journey back home. Right before she set off, however, she noticed something she¡¯d missed while lying blind on the ground: remains. A scrap of amorphous gray material sat by her feet, a small golden-white light hovering above it. Loot. Not that she really wanted to carry anything all the way back to the cabin, but Cal would sooner lay down and die than leave without checking what she¡¯d earned from her harrowing fight. A quick poke was all it took for the system to dispense her reward. You have received: The Hag¡¯s Prized Locks. A few wisps of thin, oily hair fell into Cal¡¯s hands, and it was all she could do not to immediately toss them aside in revulsion. ¡°Eugh. I would have preferred pretty much anything else. Even one of the nasty black teeth would have been less gross.¡± Even so, Cal examined it. The Hag¡¯s Prized Locks Place anywhere on your head to attach. +3 Wisdom +3 to Curse Magic +3 to Curse Resistance Slightly enhances all of the wearer¡¯s retaliatory skills and effects. Cal stared at the nasty locks of hair for longer than she¡¯d care to admit, trying to convince herself that it wasn¡¯t worth it. She didn¡¯t have Curse Magic, nor did she use any retaliatory skills. The Wisdom in and of itself, though¡­ And I could really use some extra curse resistance right now. In one swift motion, and while choking back a gag, Cal brought her hand to the back of her head, choosing a spot that would be completely covered by her existing hair. She could feel as the hag¡¯s locks latched onto her scalp, her resulting involuntary shudder nearly enough to reopen her wounds. ¡°If I ever get some bard to make this into a ballad, I¡¯m leaving this part out.¡± Thus said, Cal turned back to the prairie and began shuffling back home. The moment she exited the region, it winked out of existence, replaced by the standard rocky shore. Her motions were slow, her health was low, and a good deal of her wounds had yet to close. With the stamina curse still in effect, even a single minute of walking was enough to leave her winded, but bit by bit, she proceeded until the wooden cabin came into view. Tess. When at last Cal saw her friend rushing over, she knew her ordeal was over.
¡°So, yeah. That¡¯s it. Tada!¡± Cal raised her mummy-like arms, waving her bandaged hands about to emphasize her grand victory. The fact that the motion did not fully drain her stamina was proof in and of itself of how much she¡¯d recovered. ¡°Anyway, I have notifications waiting, so can we hold off on the questions and the inevitable lecture from Verin? Yes? Good, thank you!¡± Naturally, Verin started to respond, but Cal tuned her out as she checked her new skill levels. Bleed Resistance has reached level 7! Curse Resistance has reached level 4! Pain Resistance has reached level 6! Bleed Resistance has reached level 8! A few other less important skills had leveled -- at some point, she¡¯d randomly picked up Hiking, for instance, and the skill seemed to have loved her trek back home -- but none of those notifications were what drew her eye. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. There, at the very bottom of her screen, was a line she hadn¡¯t expected at all. A truly, honestly, awful one, at that. Cal read it over and over again, as if sheer stubbornness would force it to delete itself. Her sheer horror didn¡¯t go unnoticed, with Verin and even Tess chiming in to check on her. When at last she found her voice to answer them, she could only lament her pitiful existence. ¡°Are you seriously telling me I slept through my entire birthday?¡± Age has increased to 23!
In fairness, there were some upsides to having her birthday now. For one, it delayed any sort of admonishments from Verin. Even the icy noble didn¡¯t have it in her to chastise Cal in light of her announcement. Plus, Cal was able to put Tess into cooking-overdrive mode, having her go all out in preparing just about everything she was able to. Thankfully, she forewent the squid this time around, but other than that, she went wild, using nearly every meat they¡¯d come across in the dungeon in some way shape or form. Here, Cal¡¯s suspicion was proven correct: Her Curse of Gluttony actually did let her chow down more, with her body rapidly breaking down each dish and leaving her with an empty stomach once more. Of course, considering she was essentially swaddled, most of the feast had to be fed to her, and as Tess was the one actively cooking, that left the feeding duty to Verin. That in and of itself would have been a wonderful birthday gift as Cal tried and failed not to laugh at the noble¡¯s cross expression, except whenever Verin got fed up with Cal¡¯s expression, the food suddenly got suspiciously cold. In the end, though, eating was the full extent of the day¡¯s celebrations. With her hemophilia, further thinning her blood with alcohol was inadvisable, and with her paper skin, it was best if she stayed put. ¡°This was nice, but we¡¯re having my actual birthday once all the curses go away,¡± she announced with finality. Either out of habit or from a genuine grievance, Verin couldn¡¯t resist arguing. ¡°I believe that the Lady Tess has already cooked more for you than she did on my birthday. Yet you still demand another day dedicated to you?¡± Oooh, someone¡¯s jealous. Cal wouldn¡¯t back down though. ¡°Look, I turned 22 in an endless expanse of darkness being chased by monsters directly crafted by god. I turned 23 sleeping off curses while trapped in a dungeon. I am absolutely not waiting to have a proper celebration all the way until 24.¡± It would just be too tragic. Too cosmically unjust. These were supposed to be her glory years or something like that! Verin relented at that, eventually leaving Cal to her own devices as the night drew on and Tess exhausted her supply of ingredients. It would have been nice to say that Cal kept herself busy for the rest of her recovery. That she occupied her time with continual spell casting and mental training, or that she strategized for their future. Mostly, though, she was just painfully bored. Eventually, she dipped into her class space and spent the rest of her points. It wasn¡¯t actually that helpful considering that time froze while she was inside, but at least she got two new skills out of it. Finally having met a foe she couldn¡¯t dispatch in a single supercharged sneak attack, Cal decided to first add some extra situational power to her attacks. Embrace of Exhaustion During combat, gain additional Strength, Intelligence, and flat damage based on how much health, stamina, and mana you spend. The effect had a cap that scaled with her resource stats, but if she ever found herself in another protracted battle, she would be considerably stronger the longer the fight continued. Had she bought the skill prior to her fight with the hag, she might have ripped through it far faster, and with fewer strikes. The second was another recovery option, but one with so much utility, she didn¡¯t dare pass up on it. Omni-source At a penalty and a capped rate, freely transfer points between your health, mana, and stamina. In some ways, the skill wasn¡¯t worth it at all. If she wanted to transfer her mana to her health pool, for instance, it would be far more efficient to just use a healing spell. In all other directions, however, it was a godsend, effectively meaning she could keep moving and casting spells unless all three of her pools were fully empty. Neither skill, however, was particularly distracting or amusing to use, which left her right back where she¡¯d started in terms of boredom. Perhaps detecting how much she detested being cooped up like this, both Tess and Verin spent plenty of time with her while she was on the mend, keeping her appraised of their recent exploits. Eventually, it was time for Tess to pick up a new batch of produce from Arbor, although she was unusually cagey about what she requested. When at last Cal was up for moving, the very first thing she did was take a bath. The hot water felt scalding against her sensitive skin, but she welcomed the sensation nonetheless. A few days later, her curse stacks were low enough for her to get some light exercise in, letting her get accustomed to her new class skills. And then, after far too long, the last of the curses expired. The celebration that ensued was as raucous and rowdy as they could manage, given their circumstances, beginning with drinks inside the cabin. It helped that Tess had come prepared with a number of juices that masked some of the moonshine¡¯s less pleasant features, both when mixed with it or when used as a chaser. Blackberries turned out to be the winner here, with Tess muddling a bunch of them into the bottom of their crude stone cups before pouring moonshine and juice in. With a bit of sugar and water thrown in, the final concoction was almost passable as a real cocktail. The real surprise, however, was yet to come. Cal was sitting at the table with Verin when, with an unusually furtive air about her, Tess sidled up to the birthday girl. ¡°I cooked something. It didn¡¯t¡­ it didn¡¯t turn out perfectly, and I was originally going to wait longer until I got it just right, but I figured we should try it today for your birthday.¡± Huh. Wonder what¡¯s worth all the buildup. Still, Cal was hardly going to refuse food from Tess. ¡°Lay it on me!¡± Truly, with Tess¡¯s neverending culinary creations, Cal was ready for just about anything. Somehow, that didn¡¯t blunt her shock when Tess removed her newest dishes from her storage, setting them on the table. Atop a simple stone plate, a stack of vaguely puffy brown disks let off wisps of steam. A large number of thin wooden sticks were impaled into the top of the stack, their purpose unclear. To their side sat two small bowls, one filled with a viscous yellow liquid, while the other contained a granular white substance. ¡°It¡¯s not an actual cake, but I made bread,¡± Tess muttered. ¡°I left the dough outside in the forest for a while. I think it took on some natural yeast. No oven, so I used a pan, which isn¡¯t the best, but-¡± Unthinking, Cal snaked her hand forward and tore off a large piece from the center of the stack, thrusting it into both of the two accompanying dishes. The hunk of bread was in her mouth before Tess could get another word in, and Cal didn¡¯t even try to stifle her audible pleasure. Oil. Salt! Holy hells, she¡¯d missed the two of them for so long. Admittedly, the bread wasn¡¯t great. It had a sort of funky taste to it, and it was by no means as light or fluffy as what she was used to at home. The simple creature comfort of warm bread, however, was as good a present as she could ask for. ¡°Incredible. Tess, you¡¯re a genius.¡± Her mouth still full, Cal gestured to the strange wooden rods embedded in the bread. ¡°What¡¯s with the sticks, though?¡± In way of response, Tess removed another long stick from her storage. Fire erupted from her fingertips, quickly igniting the elongated match. ¡°Birthday candles. Twenty-three of them. You blow them all out and make a wish without telling anyone.¡± Tess methodically brought the flame to each of the many makeshift candles, until all of them were alight in flame. ¡°A curious tradition. Am I correct to assume it originates from-¡± The rest of Verin¡¯s words were abruptly replaced with a coughing fit as Cal took Tess¡¯s words to heart, blowing on the candles with all her might. With the lack of proper wax candles, a cloud of smoke fled the bread, pushed directly into Verin. Given the resulting murderous look on the noble¡¯s face, Cal assumed it was only the occasion that prevented Verin from summoning an icicle to stab her with. A wish, huh? A few candidates came to her immediately, and she started to filter through them with some difficulty before thinking better of it. After all, why just one? It was her birthday, wasn¡¯t it? Cal was allowed to be a bit greedy, she decided. I wish that we escape the dungeon soon. And that Tess gets better. And that we completely crush the poison region, and that I get a million gold and a thousand more levels and that I live forever. Uh. And that I can have a normal 24th birthday next year. That felt like a reasonable list, right? ¡°Done wishing! Back to eating!¡± So said, Cal pilfered an entire circular loaf for herself, tearing into it with abandon. If with a bit more decorum, the others quickly followed suit. Tess even brought out some meat and sliced vegetables, and Cal had her first sandwich in over a year. It was utterly, truly, blissful. The day quickly devolved into a stream of food and drink and -- with enough booze and goading -- song and dance. When she eventually selected some of her favorite games to play out of their slowly growing repertoire of card and board games, she even won a few rounds! Enough blackberry cocktails later, and things got slightly blurry, but at some point, she found herself sprawled out on the ground by a fire. The three of them just lay there, idly chatting and enjoying each other¡¯s company. In many ways, it was a humble celebration. After decades being trapped in the palace, forced to pretend to be someone she wasn¡¯t, though, it was nice. Fresh. More honest. Yeah. Pretty good, I guess. Happy Birthday, me.
While it took Cal a bit of time to adjust to her new class skills, now that she was better, there was no reason to put things off any longer. And so it was that just a few days after the celebration, the three of them summoned Tal¡¯Ket once more. Huddled together on his back, the trio soared through the skies as the desert, the labyrinth, and the floating islands passed beneath them. Only when the familiar jungle landscape came into view did their majestic steed begin to descend. The roc lord landed directly outside the influence of the jungle¡¯s poison, dropping off his passengers before flying away. With his summoning disk¡¯s two-week cooldown, they wouldn¡¯t be seeing him again for a while. But that was fine. All three of them had taken some detours along the way, but at last, it was time to tackle another region. And with any luck, maybe this will be the last one before we reach our first mana-collection site. B4 C55: Temporary Companion Internal Breeze has cleansed the air, ridding it of poison. As Cal and I cautiously stalked through the jungle, the notification repeated itself, over and over again. Much as desired, Internal Breeze seemed to be up to the task of filtering out the region¡¯s air-borne toxins, allowing me to venture forth with impunity. For the others¡¯ parts, Verin was once again wrapped around my back, encased in ice, while Cal relied on her Apex Shroud to keep her safe. Perhaps more than any of the other regions we¡¯d visited, the jungle was particularly eye-catching. If one were to ignore the fact we were in a dungeon, it would have even been pleasant, in a way. Bright colors abounded in the lush environment, true of both flora and fauna alike. Large flowers in vibrant pinks and oranges sprouted above and below, joined by a host of vines and herbs and weeds in every color of the rainbow. Smaller critters skittered and hopped across the plant life, the tiniest of spiders making an appearance alongside bulbous neon frogs. A few insects attempted to crawl on us, though whether out of malice or indifference, I couldn¡¯t say. None managed to pierce our defenses. If there was one thing that they all had in common, it was their nature. Every single thing we saw was poisonous in some way shape or form. Or venomous, I admitted, eyeing a nearby oversized millipede. The Common language did have words for both standard poison and venom, although the actual word it used for skills like Poison Resistance and Poison Magic was more of a catchall, applying to both equally. After all, I¡¯d first gained Poison Resistance from being bitten by spiders. Regardless, it was all harmful. The vines? Poisonous. The puddles of water? Straight poison. That butterfly over there? Mega poisonous. Even just touching the tree bark with your bare hand could land you in the hospital here. For obvious reasons, I¡¯d decided to hold off trying to harvest any of it after my original hallucinogenic failure. Both God¡¯s Eye and Herbalism had a field day letting me know just how many ways I would be dead without Internal Breeze and my armor. Honestly, I doubted a party of level 25s would survive this place without proper skills and planning. So it was dangerous. That much was undeniably true. Even so, as the first hour passed and then the second, something -- or rather, the lack of something -- stood out more than anything else. ¡°Where the hells are all the monsters? Waiting for us deeper in?¡± The roguish warrior scanned the area, as if she¡¯d find something my Perception hadn¡¯t. Unable to converse without breathing, she inhaled a bit of poison, forcing me to cast Cure on her. Despite our many upgrades since last we were here, all three of us were on high alert, ready for a stealthy beast to pounce from the shadows. Thus far, however, nothing had. The closest we got was a few plants that actively squirted streams of noxious green goop onto us as we neared. ¡°Maybe there aren¡¯t any,¡± I replied with a shrug. Did every biome need to come stocked with monsters? Not every challenge had to be a massive slugfest. Sometimes the true danger was just normal slugs. Presumably there would still be some sort of boss, but who knew? Maybe we were otherwise safe. ¡°Yeah, well, it freaks me out, and it¡¯s bad for our experience. Let¡¯s scout for another hour or two, and then we can call it for today.¡± After a bit of strategizing, we¡¯d decided that today would be a ¡°test run¡± of sorts, more to get the lay of the land than anything else. Considering I couldn¡¯t keep Internal Breeze going as I slept, the logistics of sleeping here were a pain. The plan was to move incredibly slowly and cautiously on day one just to see what we were up against, and then retreat to sleep outside the jungle. Tomorrow, we¡¯d try to set a faster pace and push as deep as we could, hoping to find some sort of safe room we could sleep in. Failing that, Cal would probably have to force feed me antidotes as I slept, or I¡¯d need to be constantly woken to heal and cure myself. The clock ticked on, and on we trekked, but much as I was beginning to suspect, the jungle remained entirely monster free. Reluctantly, Cal called for us to head back, despite how little we¡¯d ended up learning. The walk back was much the same. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m a big fan so far,¡± Cal asserted, ¡°but there are some upsides. At least we can leave whenever we want to.¡± Evidently, Cal still wasn¡¯t over her recent trial in the curse region, which was understandable. ¡°As long as we can get through all these vines, at least. Are there more than there were before, or am I just imagining it?¡± Honestly, I¡¯d been beginning to ask myself the same thing. A sword charged with a bit of death mana made fast work of them all, but with every step, it felt like the hanging vines multiplied. I figured we¡¯d just gotten a bit unlucky, hitting an unusually thick patch of them, but the more we pushed on, the thicker they grew, until each step forward was a battle. ¡°Maybe head back and try a slightly different direction? I thought we were retracing our steps pretty well, but I guess not.¡± Cal led us away, trying to find us an easier stretch of the jungle to break through. It quickly became clear, though, that such a stretch didn¡¯t exist. No matter where we looked, the vines barred our way with equal density. It was hardly ideal and more than a bit confusing, but also nothing we couldn¡¯t manage. Or, at least I thought it wasn¡¯t. Another hour of constant weed-whacking had my arms gently burning, with our progress only slowing more and more. Still, we have to be close, right? My sense of distance was actually pretty decent with my enhanced Perception and Intelligence, and I swore that we were only a few minutes from exiting the jungle. A thick blanket of vines lay before me, and just as I had countless times before, I hacked through it. This time, however, my sword met resistance. My horizontal cut slowed and then stopped altogether, my blade coming to rest in the middle of my swing. I tried to yank it out, but much to my surprise, it was completely caught. Not a big deal. It¡¯s just a mana blade anyway. I can unsummon it and recreate it instantly. I let it go, intent on doing just that, but pulled up short as the vines surprised me once again. Slowly, the vines somehow began to drag the blade inwards, consuming the mana until it was completely out of view. If that weren¡¯t enough, the gash I¡¯d left in the wall of vines repaired itself before my eyes, new plant life growing in real time. After a few seconds, any evidence of my attack had vanished. ¡°Okay. I saw that. That was creepy,¡± Cal offered. ¡°Not liking where this is headed. Maybe see if a bigger attack would work?¡± For the next ten minutes, all three of us went to town on the mass of vines. We tried burning them. Freezing them. Flooding them with death mana. Poisoning them. Nothing worked. At one point, Cal and I flooded our respective weapons with as much mana as we could, launching a full Overcharge Weapon attack alongside an Empowered Strike. Row after row of vines fell to the ground, offering absolutely no resistance to the brutal attack. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Even so, more were waiting behind them. Before we could even think of pushing through, the vines grew back, blocking us off once more. ¡°Maybe¡­ maybe we just found something weird? Let¡¯s try exiting somewhere else.¡± Pivoting ninety degrees, we walked along the wall of vines, hoping to find some sort of opening. It was no use. Even after a full hour of walking, the infinitely regenerating wall persisted. ¡°All right. I can admit it. I jinxed it.¡± As if preemptively trying to clear her mouth of her next words, Cal spat. ¡°The dungeon boxed us in. I think we¡¯re trapped.¡± This admission, as it turned out, proved to be exactly what the dungeon was waiting for. You have received a quest! As soon as the notification arrived, a loud groan filled the jungle. ¡°Of course we did.¡±
The lingering scent of smoke wafted through the chilly air as the three of us addressed one another for the first time since entering the region. Robbed of our safe gathering spot outside the jungle, we¡¯d first worked to build a temporary shelter. Half of that work had just been me absolutely destroying any hint of vegetation in a wide radius. I¡¯d opted to use death mana at first, toggling on Pest Killing Aura and flooding weapon and armor alike as I killed off whatever I could. Worried that poison might still linger in the dead vegetation, I¡¯d then followed up by overcharging my armor and weapons with fire mana. From there, all we¡¯d needed were some ice walls from Verin before she felt secure enough to abandon her glacier. Admittedly, by being outside, she was constantly taking poison damage, but between Heal and Cure, that was nothing I couldn¡¯t handle. ¡°I will admit, without anything to fight, being stuck within the ice does grow a touch monotonous at times,¡± Verin began, stretching out her stiff limbs. ¡°I¡¯ve grown quite good at meditation in the past few months. But never mind that. What do you make of this quest of ours?¡± Her eyes unfocused for a moment as she presumably read through the description, and I followed suit. Hungering Jungling It takes a fair share of nutrients to keep such a vibrant environment alive and thriving. Having trapped such perfect presumptive fertilizer within its cage of vines, the jungle is loath to see you leave. Will you escape its clutches, or will your bones satiate the jungle¡¯s hunger? Requirements: Discover and make use of the region¡¯s exit. Rewards: On leaving the jungle, the vines will be permanently disabled, allowing free entry and exit into the region. Additional rewards may vary based on the method of completion. As best I could tell, it was hardly ideal, but also far less bad than it could have been. We¡¯d already been planning on clearing the region and beating its boss before advancing, if possible. Now, the only difference was that the choice had been taken from us. ¡°You two are probably going to have to sleep in the jungle, which sucks.¡± Despite using a sword now, Cal still idly fiddled with a dagger, a holdover from her earlier class. ¡°But other than that, I guess we just keep exploring. The quest says ¡°make use of the region¡¯s exit,¡± so there¡¯s probably only one, and I doubt it¡¯s some tiny hidden cutout in the vines. If we go far enough, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find a clue or two.¡± We continued to discuss logistics and contingencies for a while, but the three of us were in agreement. After a brief meal and one last round of healing, we set off to find the exit.
Two straight days of walking later, and I was beginning to wonder if the jungle had a spatial enchantment over it like the wandering woods had. Minus the occasional interesting herb or insect, there hadn¡¯t been anything of note on our journey. Sleeping, as expected, sucked. I¡¯d guzzled down one of my better antidotes right before bed, but it wasn¡¯t quite enough. To make matters worse, Enhanced Physical Hardiness only applied if I was actively conjuring or enhancing my armor with mana, which meant it turned off as I slept. That wouldn¡¯t be the case if I ever got around to grabbing Perpetual Armor, but for now, bedtime meant that my resistances took a hit. In the end, I was only able to sleep in two-hour blocks, max. After that, Cal prodded me awake, and I cured myself before trying to get back to bed. With my considerable Endurance, sleep was far less important to me, but I still found myself cranky and tired the next day. I missed caffeine. And my enchanted nightgown. And real beds that weren¡¯t in poison jungles. No amount of exhaustion could fully disable my Perception, though, and when something finally changed, I was the first to notice. Throwing an arm out, I brought Cal to a halt. ¡°What? Where?¡± Despite her best attempts, the princess failed to spot the cause for our pause. Which, in fairness, was understandable. Even I couldn¡¯t fully make out what I was looking at, courtesy of the dense vegetation partially obscuring my quarry. Something was moving, though, and it was definitely larger than whatever we¡¯d seen thus far. I pointed, which was all the prompting Cal needed before she went fully invisible. Only moments later, she returned from her mini scouting mission looking more confused than anything else. ¡°It¡¯s, uh, a plant guy? Not a dryad or anything, but it¡¯s definitely vaguely human-ish. Doesn¡¯t look that strong, honestly. You want me to kill it, or do you want to take a look first?¡± I debated both options before deciding to check it out myself. My identification skill was more advanced, and while Cal could almost certainly finish it off in one blow, if it did manage to fight back, I was the best protected and the most resistant to poison. ¡°I¡¯ll go. Stay with Verin.¡± Trying my best to be stealthy, I had Verin detach from my back before I left. From there, I swapped out my full plate armor for a set conjured from dark mana, similarly running dark mana into my feet. It had been a while since I¡¯d had to rely on my dark skill variants, but they came in handy at times like these. Dark Soles Cushions your feet with immaterial soles. Muffles footsteps and leaves fewer tracks. +5 to Stealth. Good arch support. The armor added another five levels to my Stealth, making me feel decent about my chances of remaining unseen. Leaving the others behind, I stalked off between the trees, evading detection until I could get a clearer view of our foe. Stealth has reached level 3! Just as Cal had said, it did look like a ¡°plant guy,¡± though it was only vaguely human at best. Its limbs were formed from comically thin branches, making parts of it look a bit like a wooden skeleton, or perhaps a scarecrow. Thicker sections of rough bark covered parts of its hands, feet, and torso, as if it were wearing clothes, completing the look with a large woven sack at its side that seemed to grow directly from its body. Vines liberally coated its body, some of them trailing off of its head like hair. A flat wooden face looked more like a mask than anything else, its eyes nothing more than long, vertical slits while its mouth was carved into an unmoving ¡°O¡± shape. While roughly my height, the creature hunched itself over, awkwardly plodding about. Jungling Harvester: Level 14, 230/230hp Pretty low level. Low health, too. Cal was right. I doubted we¡¯d have any trouble if it came to a fight. Not wanting to be caught off guard, I kept observing the jungling for a time. As I watched unseen, it bent down to a patch of bright yellow ferns, surprisingly gentle hands delicately harvesting the plant¡¯s fronds. In they went to its sack, and on the harvester went. Keep watching? Retreat? Fight? It was a tough call, but after careful consideration, I opted for the final option. It was alone, as best I could tell. If there were more junglings up ahead, it was best to figure out what its attacks were now. It was possible it might backfire, and despite its low level, the harvester might have some horrible ace up its sleeve, too. Still, I¡¯d rather figure that out now than once I was in a fight with twenty of them. Thus decided, I snuck closer before dropping out of stealth entirely, replacing my conjured armor with my full plate. Killing it with a surprise attack would defeat the purpose of battling it in the first place, after all. Summoning and brandishing my hammer, I stepped out from behind a tree and presented myself to the harvester. The wooden creature turned its masked face my way, locking eyes with me. Tension filled the air as I prepared for its opening blow. And then, at last, after it had fully taken me in, it cocked its head to the side- And kept on harvesting. Huh. Am I misreading this situation? Hesitantly, I dismissed my hammer trying a different route. ¡°Um. Hello?¡± My greeting went unanswered, and I cautiously advanced until we were within arm¡¯s reach. When not even this garnered a response, I summoned a short staff of mana and gave the harvester a gentle nudge. Unperturbed, it simply continued to go about its business. ¡°I guess it¡¯s friendly. Weird.¡± I quickly returned to the others to relay the news, and it was Cal who suggested how to proceed. ¡°The dungeon wouldn¡¯t put it there just to mess with us, right? It has to be related to the quest somehow. If it¡¯s not hostile, why not just tag along with it for a while? I dunno if it has some sort of village or not, but it definitely beats walking around blindly, right?¡± And that was the story of how our party gained a temporary new member. B4 C56: Kindred Spirits The harvester proved to be shockingly pleasant company. He -- for he seemed far too human-like to continue using ¡°it,¡± and I¡¯d arbitrarily decided he was a he -- was an easygoing fellow. Much like myself these days, he was rather adept at holding a comfortable silence. What more could I ask for? As it turned out, the answer was skill levels. Long, long ago, in what felt like another lifetime by now, I¡¯d passed the first Intelligence threshold back in Drawgin, triggering an evolution of my God¡¯s Mind ability. The evolution had left me with a new ability, Watch and Learn, which allowed me to slowly pick up and level skills by watching others perform them. It wasn¡¯t always my favorite ability given that I¡¯d gained a level in Demonic Summoning because of it, but on the flip side, it was the reason I¡¯d first learned Construction, too. The ability had largely sat unused since I¡¯d arrived in the dungeon, as neither Cal nor Verin had many relevant skills for me to pilfer. Given a front row seat to watch a skilled harvester in action, however, I was in a perfect position to learn. Case in point, the jungling crouched down to where a clump of leafy plants growing close to the ground. Each one had the smallest, thinnest of stems which extended from the earth for only a few millimeters at best. Three spiny, serrated leaves then split off from the stem equidistantly, forming a sea of tiny triangles underfoot. Without a care in the world, the harvester plucked off a twig from its own body, extending it down to the plants below. A gentle tap on one of their stems was all it took. With blinding speed, the three leaves snapped shut, clamping down on the twig. Slowly, the jungling pulled upwards, one hand on the twig, one hand at the base of the stem. An ugly red tuber soon followed, which I immediately identified. Paralytic Snaproot This seemingly innocuous plant snaps shut the moment anything small enough crawls onto it. Its leaves are covered in a mild paralytic, sufficient for most insects, while their sharp spines carry a more intense variant for toads and other medium-sized creatures unlucky enough to get ensnared. If one attempts to harvest this plant while the trap is open, the leaves will snap downwards, attempting to cut the harvester¡¯s fingers. A few more lines detailed the root¡¯s possible uses, which were -- unsurprisingly -- mostly to make paralysis poisons. The harvester collected a good dozen snaproots this way, and it was midway through his efforts that I received the desired notification. Watch and Learn activated! Herbalism has reached level 15! On several occasions, our meandering path through the jungle brought us to other harvesters going about their own business. Much like the first, they paid us no mind, content to spend their time diligently harvesting. Perhaps a bit too diligently, in fairness. Our conscripted tour guide never seemed to run out of steam, and for a time, I worried we would eventually have to bid him farewell when we next needed to sleep. Thankfully, while his stamina seemed endless, his carrying capacity was another thing entirely. His pouch slowly went from half-filled to full to practically bursting, and only when it looked like it was about to break apart did he cease his harvesting and walk off. Part of me considered snagging some of his hard-earned bounty, as I could doubtless make good use of the many interesting reagents he¡¯d collected. I wasn¡¯t sure he would mind, or if he could mind, but still, it felt a tad too mean. Whether or not he¡¯d meant to, he¡¯d been a pleasant walking companion and a good teacher. Robbing him now was no way to repay him. Plus, even if he kept letting us walk with him, what if he went back out to harvest more? I was growing curious to see exactly where he would be dropping off his stash. Only an hour later, I got my wish. After following a rugged and hostile path that we likely would have never found otherwise, we met a wall of vines so thick that I was convinced we¡¯d run into the region¡¯s border again. A quick tap from the jungling disabused me of that notion, as the vines parted at his touch. We hurried through the opening lest it close behind him. The very moment we did so, though, we froze. Spread out before us was a scene far beyond anything we¡¯d imagined. In a way, I¡¯d almost been right about being on the region¡¯s border. The space before us had no trees, which allowed me to see for several kilometers out. In the distance, we spotted the same wall of vines we¡¯d encountered at the start of our quest, far more imposing now that it was out in the open. It shot up into the sky before curving towards us, neatly cutting off any hope of escaping by air. Somehow, the verdant barrier was the least exciting aspect of our surroundings, though. Jutting out of the vine wall was one half of a towering pyramid. Rather than having its sides be entirely smooth, the looming structure was built in steps, with tall concentric squares of worn gray rock stacked atop one another. Each layer was outfitted with all manner of statues, engravings, and artistic flourishes, though the trials of time had worn many of them away. Thick blankets of moss clung to the structure from top to bottom, only adding to its ancient aura. Fairly certain of what I was looking at, I pointed at the pyramid, uttering a single word: ¡°Exit.¡± It was a building. It was embedded in the vine wall. Presumably, we were meant to enter it from our side. If we exited from the opposite end, we¡¯d be past the vines and into a brand new biome. Evidently, the system seemed to agree. Quest Updated: You have discovered the exit. Now all that remains is to use it. Despite the ease with which we¡¯d navigated through the jungle so far, somehow, I had a feeling it wouldn¡¯t be as easy as just walking in and out. In some sense, that was honestly fine -- I wasn¡¯t entirely sure I even wanted to leave yet. Mostly, that had to do with the last remaining feature of this strange new space. Junglings. Everywhere the eye could see, the spindly wooden creatures walked to and fro in an equally orderly and chaotic flurry of motion. There must have been at least a thousand present, though I didn¡¯t spot any houses or huts. Instead, the only items in the clearing were strangely familiar. Mortars. Pestles. Knives. Cauldrons. Seemingly grown directly from the ground, dozens of long wooden tables filled the space, making it look like some strange jungle-themed banquet hall. Every imaginable variety of herb was spread out across each table, with hundreds of junglings grinding, peeling, cutting, and otherwise processing the myriad plants before them. The vast majority of the plants ended up in different pots or cauldrons with practiced precision, none of the junglings needing to measure their reagents in any way. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°So, the junglings just spend all day brewing potions? Those have to be some pretty potent poisons they¡¯re preparing.¡± Even well out of range of the nearest workstations, Cal backed away. Even though she was doubtlessly correct -- whatever was in those cauldrons had to be brutally toxic -- I found myself moving forward nonetheless. ¡°No,¡± I replied. ¡°They¡¯re not practicing alchemy.¡± The distance was nothing to my heightened Perception, and I took a long breath in as the scents of their hard work wafted over. Unable to help myself, I felt the start of a dopey grin forming on my face. ¡°They¡¯re cooking.¡±
We followed our original harvester for a while longer, watching as he deposited his harvest in a designated area. From there, other junglings sorted everything out and moved the plants to the many chefs as needed. Our original companion wasn¡¯t involved in any of this followup work, forcing us to bid him farewell as he went back off into the forest. As tragic as it was to see him go, I had trouble staying too sad. My earlier revelation had me in high spirits, recognizing the junglings exactly for what they word. Kindred spirits! For many months now, I¡¯d been enjoying the subtleties that a good poison could add to a dish, but I¡¯d been alone in that regard. Not even Cal -- who ostensibly was trying to train her Poison Resistance -- would partake in my less conventional recipes, which left me cooking them only for myself. A true shame. One that I might be able to rectify if the junglings were interested in a culinary exchange of knowledge. I took a deep breath in, savoring the thick aromas in the air. At the same time, I noticed something strange. My notifications. I¡¯d reworked them to not repeat the same message over and over again, but I was still supposed to be getting my Internal Breeze notification at an interval. Only, I didn¡¯t see it. Cautiously, I dismissed my choker, once more taking a deep breath in. No new statuses greeted me, confirming my suspicions. With a knock on Verin¡¯s glacier, I signaled for her to get out. ¡°No poison.¡± Whether by some magic that the junglings possessed, or the simpler fact that we were in a clearing, away from the worst of the jungle, the air was safe here. Verin emerged from her icy cocoon with a series of stretches, and Cal presumably disabled whatever part of her Apex Shroud let her go without breathing. Both were interested in a lot of talking, but for my part, there was only one thing on my mind. Ignoring the others¡¯ protests, I made a beeline for the nearest cauldron, finding a sort of vegetable soup within. After God¡¯s Eye confirmed that the food wouldn¡¯t outright kill me, I summoned a spoon from my storage, making eye contact with the nearest jungling. When they didn¡¯t try to stop me, I activated the fire variant of my Arcane Choker to keep the liquid from scalding my mouth, and I took a small sip. ¡°That¡¯s good! I would eat mor-¡± You have been poisoned! You have been paralyzed! The rest of my words cut off as my tongue refused to obey me, and within moments, I fell to the ground, forced to wait until the poison wore off.
¡°Foolish. It¡¯s bad enough having to deal with the princess. I was under the impression you knew better, Lady Tess. Especially given our current predicament, one should¡­¡± Apparently, my actions were lecture-worthy, but as the three of us examined the area in more detail, I largely tuned out the long-winded admonishment. If she would have just tried the soup, she would have understood. Then again, without my Constitution and Poison Resistance levels, she¡¯d probably also be dead, but that was another matter entirely. By and large, there wasn¡¯t much left to see with the junglings or their cooking, which only left the true object of interest: the exit. After scouring every inch of the dilapidated pyramid, we only found two items of note. The first was more strange than anything else. While most of the junglings were either down below or off in the jungle, a scarce few joined us on the stone structure, all of them holding one of the food-filled cauldrons we¡¯d seen earlier. Initially, I wondered if they had some space up here where they liked to eat, but no. Spaced out across the pyramid were five large tunnels, just large enough to fit a cauldron inside. Thick vines filled all of them, making each of the holes look like some massive plant monster¡¯s nasal cavity. ¡°While I struggle to articulate exactly why, I find this scene especially disconcerting.¡± Verin eyed one of the tunnels with a slight frown as one of the junglings placed their pot into the hole. The vines within latched onto it before slowly transporting it deeper into the tunnel, bending inwards one after another in a wave. ¡°I can articulate why,¡± Cal replied. ¡°Because it¡¯s creepy. And it means there¡¯s something inside eating all of that food. For what it¡¯s worth, if that¡¯s the only way to get inside the building, I¡¯m making one of you do it. Verin, your glacier is about the right size to fit, right?¡± The ensuing squabbling was eventually made moot when we happened upon the second key location. Tucked out of view beneath a mossy stone arch, a large doorway stood, presumably leading our ticket into the pyramid. A chipped and well-worn pedestal stood before it, sporting a small hole in its center, the purpose of which I couldn¡¯t begin to guess at. Unfortunately, the dungeon wasn¡¯t kind enough to fill the doorway with a basic door that we could easily push open. As was becoming vexingly commonplace, our way forward was barred by a wall of vines. ¡°What are the odds that we can just cut through it?¡± Looking to answer her own question, Cal summoned her feather blade and sliced into the vines. For a moment, it looked like she¡¯d succeeded, as her blade met next to no resistance, slicing through with ease. Even before she removed her sword, however, the gash in the door sealed shut, the vines regenerating at an ungodly rate. ¡°All right. That¡¯s a no-go. Any other ideas?¡± For a while, we unleashed an all-out assault against the barrier. Hoping to halt the rapid healing, I combined fire and death mana, overcharging my weapon with both. While the vines directly around my blade withered and caught fire, fresh vines took their place an instant later, extinguishing the fire and sloughing off the dead bits. Ice proved no better, as we quickly discovered that no matter how cold we froze the door, the vines continued to grow just as quickly. With enough elbow grease, we managed to get a small block of stone wedged into the vines before they had a chance to reform, but much to my horror, they burrowed straight through it. Ultimately, Verin was the first to voice the obvious. ¡°While it brings me no great joy to admit it, I believe we must conclude that force will not open the way forward for us. Perhaps it has something to do with the pedestal?¡± All three of us began to examine the protruding stone, finding nothing noteworthy about it save for the small hole on its top. ¡°What do you think? Kind of feels like we could pour something down there. I¡¯ve been getting ¡®creepy ancient temple¡¯ vibes from the pyramid for a while now. Maybe some sort of offering to get the vines to leave us alone?¡± As a test, Cal asked me to try pouring some water into the opening. The pedestal drank up every last drop, proving that the hole went on for longer than met the eye. Other than that, though, nothing visibly changed. Cal and Verin spent some time brainstorming, going so far as to offer the pedestal a few drops of blood. I mostly kept quiet, but as I eyed both the vines and the small hole, a sneaking suspicion began to build up within me. Without any explanation, I removed a crude stone vial from my storage, upending it into the hole. A caustic, foul-smelling brew came out, the stone greedily drinking it all up. Moments later, we saw the first results from our efforts: Large sections of the vine wall began to blacken and sizzle. Much as we¡¯d seen before, the vines regenerated nearly instantly, but at the very least, I¡¯d offered proof of concept. ¡°Poison,¡± I explained. ¡°The hole connects to the vines. We need to poison them to pass.¡± What else could it have been, after all? We were in the poison region, so poison was the answer. Clearly, what I¡¯d offered up hadn¡¯t been strong enough -- or more likely, it hadn¡¯t been the right type -- but we were in the perfect environment to fix that. With my original harvesting failure, I was nervous to gather new herbs to experiment with, but luckily, I had the perfect teachers to help with that. ¡°Give me some time,¡± I insisted. ¡°I can make something that¡¯ll work.¡± B4 C57: Vinebane While not officially recognized as a safe zone, the junglings¡¯ clearing essentially served the same purpose. Lacking the same pernicious poison cloud that permeated the rest of the jungle, it let us catch some much-needed shuteye without worry. And so it was that I awoke the next day bright eyed and bushy tailed -- at least, relative to my previous state -- and ready for my brand new apprenticeship. It was with some regret that I admitted I couldn¡¯t easily discern the difference between individual junglings, which meant we likely didn¡¯t manage to find the harvester who¡¯d helped us the day before. Nonetheless, his siblings appeared to be equally inured to our presence, allowing us to accompany them outside the clearing with minimal fuss. And by ¡°us,¡± I did, in fact, mean ¡°us.¡± I¡¯d debated for a while on whether or not to take Cal and Verin with me, initially leaning towards not. We¡¯d yet to cross a single monster for them to fight, and neither of them would be useful when it came to my planned herbalist pursuits. On the flip side, as much as I felt a growing kinship with the taciturn, poison-gathering epicureans, I doubted they¡¯d help me if I royally messed up harvesting something and received a big dose of hallucinogens -- or worse -- again. Boring though it must have been for them, Cal and Verin watched my back as I explored a side of Herbalism far more dangerous than anything my class in Sylum had ever hinted at.
Tink. A host of needles pushed through a thick layer of tree bark before trying and failing to puncture my gauntlets. Having expected the attack, I carried on unperturbed, carefully plucking a purple growth from the tree in question. I cast Vivify on the plant to give it some extra life, and then right before I tossed my latest acquisition into storage, I examined it. Festering Chestwort A bulbous parasitic bud that burrows into tree trunks, forming a series of needles that hide under the tree¡¯s bark. When agitated, the chestwort summons these curved spines to attack, injecting their target with potent rot-based poison. When deployed, the needles are said to resemble a ribcage surrounding the main growth ¡°heart,¡± giving the plant its unique moniker. A few more lines listed its uses and some strange preconditions for it to transform from a bud into a flower, but I could easily review its qualities when it was time to brew with it. Below the chestwort I¡¯d just picked lay a line of similar spiny rib cages, devoid of their festering hearts. A few of those were the result of the jungling, but the bulk were from me, hoping that the rot might work well against the vines in the temple entrance. Of course, the harvester had been a touch more refined than I¡¯d been. Rather than grabbing the bud directly, she -- this one was a girl, I¡¯d decided -- used two thin twigs to snatch it. The entire thing looked a bit like grabbing a dumpling with a pair of chopsticks. With my own defenses, I didn¡¯t bother. Even if the spines somehow got past my armor, they would have to contend with my gloves, currently filled with life mana. Hands of the Harvester +5 to Herbalism While harvesting any plants, fungi, or other living reagents, increases the quality of all gathered materials and triples the time it would take before they go bad. Any materials harvested in this manner have a small chance to upgrade to a mana-infused variant. Additionally, protects the wearer''s hands from any toxic substances encountered while harvesting. Admittedly, I¡¯d yet to test if that last bit would protect me from toxins in my bloodstream if the spines successfully got through my skin, but I was counting on Heal and Cure to act as a last line of defense if needed. Evidently happy to be appreciated, my gloves flashed with a pulse of mana the next time I grabbed one of the buds. Hands of the Harvester has activated! Festering Chestwort has been infused with mana. For once, I didn¡¯t have high hopes as to the plant¡¯s culinary uses. Who wanted to eat a plant called a ¡°chestwort¡± that made things rot? Even so, I reserved a small grin as the bud lit up with mana. Having collected enough, I rushed off to catch up to the harvester who¡¯d moved on a while back. Now what else can we find for our poison?
¡°Hey! I like this one!¡± Having her fair share to choose from, Cal plucked an orange lily from the ground, sniffing it while sitting on the jungle floor. ¡°Nothing¡¯s tried to kill you while harvesting these. I guess some plants are just normal, huh?¡± In a way, she was both right and wrong. True, the flower in question wasn¡¯t dangerous in and of itself. That didn¡¯t mean it was entirely defenseless though. ¡°Plucking by the stem is okay. Just don¡¯t crush any of them. They get angry if you do.¡± Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Cal tense up, slowly lifting one of her feet. ¡°Uh. Just on the off chance that someone were to crush one of the lilies, could you elaborate on that? What gets angry? The plants?¡± Should be arriving right about- Yup. Even as one of my hands swooped in for another lily, the other pointed into the air. Following my finger, Cal froze up on discovering the rapidly growing swarm of bees currently staring her down. Clearly, she hadn¡¯t read the flowers¡¯ descriptions. Lingering Lily A defenseless flower whose nectar and pollen are highly prized by the nearby insects. Its pollen decreases the healing rate of wounds for both plant and animal alike. Bees make use of this fact in particular, rubbing their stingers in the substance to dish out painful, long-lasting damage to any foolish enough to carelessly trample over their protected food source. Faced with the wrath of her winged, would-be foes, Cal took the only sensible option. ¡°Whelp. Not a fight my skill set can handle. Sorry. Bye!¡± Cal winked out of sight, leaving me crouched there. Stifling a sigh, I continued gathering the flowers without a care. Deprived of their original target, the poison-tipped pollinators shifted their attention my way, but it made no difference. For a moment, the jungle became a tundra as bee after bee fell to Verin¡¯s glacial might. What little of them managed to brave the cold soon lay in a wide circle around me, zapped out of the air by my Pest-Killing Aura. When at last we moved on, a sheepish warrior appeared on a tree branch beside us. ¡°So, uh, good job, team!¡±
I bent down to a small berry bush, lush with neon green berries. Acid Currant While actually basic rather than acidic, these berries cause the imbiber to feel like acid is running through their veins. I picked them. I put them into a stone bowl. I threw them into storage. Not every ingredient made us fight for it. Sometimes it was truly that easy. Just for fun, I popped a few of the currants into my mouth. Tastes kind of like partially sweetened Mountain Dew. Which was, coincidentally, kind of what my blood felt like a few minutes later as it burned within my veins. 4/10. Probably wouldn¡¯t eat again. Although if I could brew a good antidote, who knew? Maybe they¡¯d be good in a cocktail.
In only a few days worth of harvesting, I managed to amass the sort of herb stock that would leave any standard alchemist green with envy. Alternatively, the plants I¡¯d selected might make them go green for an entirely separate reason, as just about every reagent I had was deadly in some way shape or form. I¡¯d ended up being pretty safe, too. Only twice had I needed Cal or Verin to intervene, in one case forcing an antidote down my throat when I succumbed to a rage effect while harvesting mushrooms. Thankfully, the potions were one of the few things I forced the two to carry outside of my storage for such scenarios. In the second case, Verin had been forced to surround me with ice walls while I let a potent disorientation poison run its course. I was lucky that both lacked any cameras, as it had taken me a few minutes just to stop walking headfirst into my icy enclosure. Still, the things that could actually poison me through my armor, choker, and gloves were few and far in between, and the poisons that could survive a few Cures were rarer still. Even with the hiccups along the way, not one of us suggested that the outings were too dangerous to continue. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Hopefully, though, we wouldn¡¯t need to. Whether through luck or by design, the junglings had a section of one of their many tables that was completely empty, which I quickly took over. Having planned for needing to brew a spare antidote or two, I¡¯d come to the jungle fully kitted out for alchemy, and it was the matter of mere seconds to remove everything from storage and get set up. Admittedly, my somewhat shoddy stone implements could use some upgrades, and some of the junglings¡¯ tools looked a tad better, but I¡¯d see about swapping mine out a bit later. For now, it was alchemy time. First, the prep. A pile of gnarled roots, chock-full of a growth-inhibiting toxin that strangled out nearby plants. Herbalism whispered that its innards were entirely useless for my purpose, while Alchemy let me know that only by soaking the skin would I get what I needed. A few thin leaves, dappled with spots of blue. Ingesting them would temporarily slow cell division, with a secondary effect of resisting life-based healing spells. Their prep was a more involved affair, this time. Only the lamina could be used, forcing me to summon the smallest of blades and overclock my Dexterity as I carved away the midrib, veins, and tiny veinules. A few casts of Dry followed that before I threw the many bits of leaves into a mortar, grinding them down into a blueish-green dust. A bowl of blood-red berries with thick black seeds. Unfortunately, the toxic part was locked within the seed, meant to slowly leach outwards in an animal¡¯s stomach acid. Alchemy whispered that a quick boil after cracking them open with a mallet would suffice. I¡¯d yet to discover an alchemical variant of Gloves of the Arcanist, leaving me to use the basic dexterity version as I worked. Despite being thin enough that I didn¡¯t notice them most of the time, I was glad for the layer of protection in this case. By the time I was through with the last of the berries, I suspected my hands would have been permanently stained red otherwise. Over and over, I processed my herbs into more usable forms, tackling each problem with spells, skills, and raw stats when necessary. It was actually shocking sometimes just how much I was able to accomplish with raw Dexterity, Perception, and the custom knives summoned by Arcane Armament. Even so, for every reagent I handled perfectly, there were two more that I utterly botched. Many were just too high-leveled for me, Alchemy and Herbalism both growing silent whenever I looked at them. God¡¯s Eye occasionally offered hints here, but the skill¡¯s descriptions tended to be more broad, not zooming in to exact usage instructions. For these, there was only trial and error and a whole lot of guesswork. A smaller number simply required better equipment than I had. My control over heat was rudimentary at best, relying on where I placed something in my cauldron or on variants of Flameploof modified by my Spell Adjustment. Neither strategy could hold a candle to even the most basic of adjustable heat enchantments, and even if they could, I lacked the thermometer to make it matter. Any plant whose prep had a specific temperature requirement was doomed from the start. And all of that was just the pre-work. Once I began combining different substances with one another, my Initiate-ranked Alchemy offered me next to nothing. That would have put me in a rather sticky situation if I¡¯d been more resource constrained. With the abundance of life in the jungle, though, any failure that didn¡¯t kill me meant I just had to try again. Even if I ran out of something, I doubted I¡¯d have much issue restocking it later on. And fail I did, in a large variety of different ways. Sometimes, the failure was a matter of form. The goal was a liquid potion that I could dump down into a small hole, but that didn¡¯t mean my ingredients were going to play along. A few had almost gelatin-like properties, turning the end products into jelly. More often, the reagents refused to dissolve or properly combine, leaving me with a gross toxic sludge of little use. When I did end up with a workable liquid, it was a crapshoot on whether or not my ingredients had added up to more than the sum of their parts. On one occasion, I combined five different anti-regenerative substances, and the end result was just as strong as if I¡¯d only bothered to use one. On another, I¡¯d worked with only two, and the result was twice as strong than both of them added together. Very rarely, things would swing in the opposite direction, with two poisons somehow canceling one another out. Undoubtedly, there was some deeper biology at play that I wasn¡¯t aware of, or failing that, it was magic. The system seemed to waffle between the two at will. Often, it would mention cell division, coagulation inhibitors, and other keywords which let me know there was an actual scientific mechanism responsible for what I was seeing. Other times, it was the exact opposite. A mana-filled herb would somehow equally halt regeneration in plant, animal, and fungus alike, heedless of the entirely different chemical pathways each of them relied on. Here, I was fairly certain some level of straight-up magic was to blame. Ultimately, though, there were just as many ways to succeed as there were to fail. With enough poisonous substances, it wasn¡¯t that hard to make a vial of poison. Very quickly, it became less a question of if I could make a regeneration-halting poison, and more a question of how strong I could make it. My first victory, a viscous violet brew, wasn¡¯t even worth testing on the door. Lesser Regeneration Poison Deals 2 damage per second for 30 seconds. Reduces natural health regeneration speeds by 10%. Reduces the effects of lower-ranked healing effects by 15%. ¡­ A hodgepodge of other tertiary effects had made it in, but were so minimal as to not be worth mentioning. As for the regeneration aspects, I sincerely doubted 10% would even be noticeable based on what we¡¯d seen so far. Test after test, however, slowly saw all of those numbers trend in the right direction. Only two days later, I had my masterpiece. Orange and gritty and smelling like a bachelor¡¯s shower mold, the poison sat in my cauldron, ready to wreak havoc on one unsuspecting set of vines. Even the system had something nice to say about my efforts. Congratulations! You have crafted an item: Regeneration Poison (Plant-focused). The quality of your work is: Passable. Due to the mana contained within, all effects have been slightly strengthened. Note: This item was made using components harvested by the crafter. For creating an item using your own materials, a vertical bonus will be applied: Quality upgraded to Standard. Based on the quality, tier, and recipe difficulty of the crafted item, you have been granted 10xp. Augment of the Alchemist, Toxic Augment, and Vitalizer¡¯s Augment have activated, increasing the strength of your poison. All of that was par for the course by now, to the point that I mostly tuned out the notifications whenever they rolled in. The tiny experience gains were nice, but even a full day of Initiate-tier alchemy paled in comparison to fighting a monster or two, especially when considering my experienceless failures. For only the second time ever, however, there was something more. Note: This item has a unique design! Due to the Prestige of the crafter, the unique design, and the full vertical bonus, this item has been upgraded into a named item. Calculating¡­ Congratulations! You have crafted an item: Patchwork Dungeon¡¯s Anti-regenerating Vinebane. For crafting an item of Rare rarity at the Initiate tier, you have been granted 20xp. For crafting a named item at the Initiate tier, you have been granted 100xp. Further copies of this item will not grant this reward. Alchemy has reached level 12! Honestly, I hadn¡¯t even been sure simple poisons like this could turn into named items. The only other time I¡¯d made something named had been Nadja¡¯s Bangle of the Cocktail Princess. That one had made sense, at least, as I¡¯d etched unique designs onto it. This was just a big mixture of herbs. Then again, I wasn¡¯t entirely certain all of these plants existed outside the dungeon, which would make anything I made with them the first of its kind. Name or not, though, the more important feature was the potion¡¯s strength. For once feeling optimistic, I hit the concoction with God¡¯s Eye. Patchwork Dungeon¡¯s Anti-regenerating Vinebane Deals 20 damage per second for 10 seconds. Reduces natural healing by 45%. All effects lessened when used on non-plant creatures. All effects doubled when used specifically on vines within the Hungering Jungle. My brows raised as I read the last line, an effect I doubted would have been there on the original unnamed variant. Without a doubt, it was exactly what I needed. Before that, though, I took the obvious first step. A finger went into the pot. The same finger went into my mouth. You have been poisoned. Your quest status has been updated. Mithridatism II Dose yourself with at least x different types of poison of Rare or greater rarity. 1/10 I did my best to keep myself from gagging -- definitely not something I¡¯d be using in my dishes -- but the progress on my quest was worth it. From there, all that was left was to officially test it out.
In short order, I grabbed Cal and Verin, and the three of us returned to the temple¡¯s entrance. Just as before, a wall of vines barred our way, and a simple stone pedestal greeted us. Removing the relevant vial from my storage, I couldn¡¯t help but hold my breath as I raised it up. If this didn¡¯t work, I wasn¡¯t entirely sure what our other options were. Slowly, so as to not waste a single drop, I tipped the bulky container over, sending my named potion into the hole. For a few tense seconds, nothing happened, until the poison finally reached its target. In real time, large swathes of the vine wall began to gray and wither away. Chunks fell off, plopping to the ground en masse. While the base of many of the vines thrashed and wriggled about, attempting to replace their damaged sections with fresh greenery, their growth was glacial at best. It¡¯s working. I did it. The momentary surge of pride was replaced by a sense of urgency. The poison wasn¡¯t going to last forever. Knowing we had only a few seconds to capitalize on, I raced forward, hacking at the door to help the destruction along. ¡°Go!¡± I rallied the others forth, and as one, we descended upon the barrier. And then, quite suddenly, it was over. One second, we stood before the door, chopping it into bits. The next, we were through, the previously impenetrable obstacle now behind us. Before us, a chipped and mossy tunnel stretched onwards, lit by the same omnipresent glow that illuminated the rest of the dungeon. Uncertain of what we might find, the three of us set off to explore the ruined jungle temple. B4 C58: Noxious Howl If I¡¯d been asked what I hoped to find deeper within the temple, I would have responded with the obvious answer: nothing. No matter how slim the odds of that were, I sincerely wished for us to waltz through the tunnel and end up in another region with our quest completed. As for the worst-case scenario, there were too many bad options to pick one. Currently, though, I was waffling between ¡°neverending swarm of venomous snakes¡± and ¡°multi-week temple sub-dungeon filled with multiple bosses.¡± All of these and more were still on the table, but what immediately followed the vine door was something far simpler. ¡°At the risk of stating something unnecessarily obvious, this appears somewhat familiar.¡± Verin stopped before a small pillar, noting upon the scene that greeted us. Another stone pedestal. Another hole. Another set of vicious vegetation. Admittedly, the specifics were a bit different: Rather than blocking our way with a door, this time, it was with a trapped tunnel. Trying to advance resulted in sharp, spear-like roots shooting from the walls at ungodly speeds. ¡°I mean, not an issue for me, but this sucks for you two.¡± Selectively enabling Apex Shroud, Cal waved a hand into the tunnel with impunity. Sadly, the rest of us weren¡¯t so lucky. To my horror, I quickly discovered that only a fairly powerful application of Overcharge Armor could keep the roots from digging through my armor, and even then, they battered me quite badly. When it came to Verin¡¯s glacier ice, they basically ignored it entirely. And thus, it was back to the drawing board. As a minor saving grace, it appeared the first section of the temple was now permanently disabled, as when we turned around, we discovered the vine door had completely vanished. To move further forward, though, we would need more poison. Here, my initial speedy victory proved to be more the exception than the rule. Unable to recreate my earlier feat of brewing a named potion, I struggled to make anything strong enough to break through. For a while, I worried that my Alchemy just wasn¡¯t high enough to cut it. It wasn¡¯t until nearly a week later that inspiration struck. My goal was to create a paralytic to freeze the roots before they could attack us. And when it came to paralytics, hadn¡¯t I eaten the junglings¡¯ paralyzing soup not too long ago? I¡¯d learned a lot about Herbalism from the jungling harvesters. Why hadn¡¯t I tried to learn just as much from the alchemist chefs? You have been paralyzed! It took nearly no time at all to hunt down the pot I¡¯d sampled from on my arrival, and a single taste was enough to assure me I¡¯d found the right place. When my muscles began to work again, I dutifully shadowed my new jungling mentors, watching as they made fast work of dozens of different herbs. This, I quickly learned, was the most important lesson for me. For countless ingredients that my own Alchemy drew a blank on, the junglings knew just how to extract the most important parts of them. Powders, pastes, and potions followed one after another, each ingredient transformed into its most potent form before any manner of cooking ever began. Perhaps it was mostly from the higher-leveled ingredients I¡¯d been using non-stop lately, but as I took mental notes on exactly what the junglings were doing, I was rewarded with yet another skill notification in only a few days. Watch and Learn has activated! Alchemy has reached level 13! While my impromptu internship hardly inspired me enough to instantly brew what I needed, it paved the way forward. A few days later, I had a full batch of a rather brutal, sickly yellow paralysis poison on hand. This time around, it was a much more comical affair when I used it. Stepping into the trapped portion of the tunnel, a few roots began to peek out of their holes in the wall, questing inwards at the pace of geriatric snails. Needless to say, Verin and I passed through without incident. As perhaps was to be expected by now, we were once again met with a pedestal and a vegetal impediment -- this time a set of impossibly tough roots that not even my strongest blow could pierce -- but I¡¯d learned what I¡¯d needed to by now. The solution ended up being to brew the strongest plain-old poison I could, and within a few days, I succeeded. What ended up being our final barrier crumbled away, allowing us to move forward unmolested. Once again, I found myself hoping that we¡¯d passed the extent of the dungeon¡¯s trials. A faint, uneasy tingling from my Danger Sense implied that hope to be little more than wishful thinking, however. As we crept through the narrow, overgrown tunnel, only Cal was able to maintain some level of levity. ¡°So? Has anyone been thinking about what the boss is going to look like?¡± She scratched a dagger at the side of the wall as we walked, cutting through patches of moss. Whether it was for fun or for finding hidden secrets, I couldn¡¯t say, though I would have wagered on the prior. ¡°And what grants you such high confidence that there will be a boss, Lady Calilah? Certainly, crafting three alchemical poisons is a suitable feat for this region, no?¡± I doubted Verin actually believed that, but it was nice to hear she thought it was possible, at least. ¡°Nah. I didn¡¯t really want to say anything because the quest rewards are based on how we clear it, and Tess seemed to be having fun, but I doubt alchemy was the only way to clear this puzzle. Pretty sure we could have conscripted the junglings to help somehow. Actually, I¡¯m like 90% sure we could have just poured some of their soup onto the pedestals to get this far.¡± I felt my footsteps falter mid-stride as my brain started to short-circuit, only managing to eke out a single word: ¡°What?¡± Why hadn¡¯t she said anything earlier? Seeming to not realize what a bombshell she¡¯d just dropped on me, Cal kept walking for a few paces before realizing I wasn¡¯t keeping up. Only after clocking my expression did she see fit to stop, offering me a sheepish grin. ¡°Hey. I¡¯m not going to say this isn¡¯t a shitty dungeon, and I wasn¡¯t loving being cooped up here with nothing to do, but it¡¯s not all bad. This is supposed to be some incredible training ground fit for the young generation of a rich-as-all-hells emperor, right? And on top of that, this region focuses on three of your skills -- Herbalism, Alchemy, and Poison Resistance. Four if we take your word for it that those vats of poison are actually soups.¡± Despite my insistence, she remained unconvinced. ¡°Why waste a good training opportunity?¡± As she spoke, Cal scooted over to Verin, nudging her in the ribs. ¡°And besides, we made good use of our time. Verin and I picked up Alchemy and Herbalism at the Novice rank. Mostly with safe plants and brewing crappy antidotes, but it¡¯s still something, yeah?¡± It¡­ it all made sense, I supposed. The soup part, too. If the one I¡¯d sampled was a paralytic, what had stopped me from dumping an entire cauldron of it onto the second pedestal? Was there an anti-regenerating soup I could have used for the first? She was entirely right that I didn¡¯t regret the training. Any way I swung it, two Alchemy levels and two Herbalism levels in under two weeks was pretty stellar, at least for skills that weren¡¯t class aligned. At the same time, missing the obvious solution had me kicking myself, effectively dissolving whatever pride I felt from brewing a named potion. ¡°Less being gloomy! In any case, of course there¡¯s a boss. We still haven¡¯t figured out what the deal is with the soup and the creepy tunnels. Something has to be eating all the soup they¡¯re sending down here, right? So? Has anyone been guessing what it¡¯s going to be?¡± Stationary, Cal had transitioned from dragging her dagger along the wall to carving little pictures in the moss. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. To her credit, Cal¡¯s question partially broke me from my funk as I contemplated it earnestly. Maybe my alchemy hadn¡¯t been nearly as important as I¡¯d thought, but there was still a chance I could use it against this imaginary boss of hers, wasn¡¯t there? Before either of us could offer our thoughts, Cal beat us to the punch. ¡°I¡¯ve personally thought about it a lot. What horrifying creature could be down here, guzzling up all that soup? My vote is that we get all the way to the depths of the temple, and it¡¯s just a normal guy waiting for us. Like, we¡¯re going to get into the boss chamber, and he¡¯ll say, ¡®Hey! I¡¯m a normal guy who really likes eating poison soup!¡¯ That sounds about right, right?¡± Verin and I shared a look, the noble no longer able to keep her mouth shut at the warrior¡¯s antics. ¡°Lady Tess, I do not wish to cast aspersions on your character, but I have been meaning to inform you that you keep rather strange company. One of your closer companions happens to be entirely bereft of good sense.¡± For once, I was forced to take a clear stance on their usual squabbling. ¡°Agreed.¡± Thus said, the two of us moved deeper into the tunnel, leaving Cal behind us. As she took up the rear, the princess kept mumbling about us ¡°teaming up on her,¡± and her being a ¡°misunderstood genius.¡± To the best of our abilities, we paid her no mind.
¡°All right. You two win. I take it back.¡± After a long walk into the heart of the temple, Cal stood side by side with us, gazing out into a cavernous room that could fit our humble cabin dozens of times over. At last, we had discovered the pyramid¡¯s main chamber. Thick beige tubers covered its perimeter, seeming to ooze directly from the ceiling. These roots parted only at five locations, revealing five vine-laden holes in the wall. If there was any doubt as to the relation between these holes and the ones we¡¯d seen above ground, it was soon dispelled: As we watched, a stream of familiar soup fell from one of the tunnels, landing directly into a large trough set up to catch it. All of this, however, was entirely inconsequential in the face of the room¡¯s main feature. Or perhaps main occupant would be more accurate. For, in one sense, Cal had been entirely correct: There was a boss waiting for us here. In another, she had been very, very wrong. In absolutely no universe could the being before us be considered ¡°a normal guy.¡± The size of its body put even Tal¡¯Ket to shame, its massive form covered in sickly green scales. Four legs sprouted from beneath it, thick enough to crush tree trunks with ease, and an extensive, sinuous tail extended from its back. While both of these body parts were imposing in their own rights, neither held a candle to the beast¡¯s main identifying feature. From its torso, five long necks diverged from one another, each ending in a fearsome serpentine head. Here, the scales merged and stretched to create something akin to an armored crown, lending the heads an aura that was equally regal as it was deadly. The effect would have been far more imposing under other circumstances, but for now, the creature slumbered, its various necks coiled up in a haphazard pile. Quest updated: The Hungering Jungling You have found the region¡¯s guardian. Defeat it to secure safe passage out of the jungle. Be advised that while it¡¯s normally vegetarian, it¡¯s perfectly willing to make an exception if you give it a chance¡­ Having some extra clarity for our quest was a plus, I supposed, but none of us were feeling particularly optimistic when faced with the creature before us. ¡°I will certainly try, but I do not believe I will be capable of freezing¡­ that.¡± Of the three of us, Verin was the most clearly unnerved. It was understandable given the fights she¡¯d been in thus far -- The only truly large monster she¡¯d fought was Din¡¯Ket, and she¡¯d done so far away and on the back of a powerful protector. This was another matter entirely. I hit the boss with God¡¯s Eye, catching its name: Adaptive Jungle Hydra. Before I could read any further, however, things quickly took a turn for the worse. Steam wafted off from the trough the soup had recently fallen into, seeming to serve as a siren call to one of the five heads. Two beady eyes blearily opened, the head they belonged to slowly questing out towards its meal. Only, it never made it. Halfway to its goal, the colossal serpent¡¯s head froze, flicking its forked tongue out to taste the air. With a speed belied by its great size, the head snapped to the side, unerringly homing in directly on us. Before Cal could even attempt to make some form of quip, the hydra opened wide its gaping maw, letting loose a sound from nightmares. Half screeching roar, half sibilant hiss, the noise bounced and echoed off every surface, accompanied by a mana-filled green fog which billowed from its throat. In an instant, the other four heads awoke, and the gaseous cloud expanded to fill half the room. Unfortunately, the three of us didn¡¯t have time to appreciate either of these facts, as we had much more immediate concerns to deal with. You have been poisoned! Take 15 damage per second for 10 seconds. Natural healing reduced by 50%. All healing spells and effects reduced by 60%. The actual poison in the air should have been far, far away still, and out of caution, I was still using Internal Breeze, which should have negated it in any case. With the hydra¡¯s roar, however, Understanding perked up, shooting me a skill description even as I suffered from it. Noxious Howl Release a howl that carries your natural poison. Any beings in earshot will suffer from a stack of your poison. Bypasses any mundane sound muffling items. I didn¡¯t even bother to shout at the others, instead grabbing them by the arms and rapidly high-tailing it out of there. Cal caught on quickly, completely vanishing, leaving me with a free hand which I used to toss Verin into a princess carry. Flaring Flash Feet, I sprinted down the tunnel with all I had. Tragically, my speed still left something to be desired. Only a second later, four howls joined the first, complete with a quartet of new ailments. You have been paralyzed! All motion halted. -5 Dexterity You have been stamina poisoned! -5 Endurance -5 stamina per second. All stamina expenditures heightened. You have been mana poisoned! -5 Wisdom -5 mana per second. All mana expenditures heightened. You have been inflicted with a blood-rot poison! Continuously lose blood internally. Remaining blood slowly thickens. All four came with damage notifications on top of the secondary effects, moving my periodic damage into genuinely frightening territory. Then again, it wasn¡¯t me that I needed to be worried about. A quick glance at the noble form in my arms made that overwhelmingly clear. Verin¡¯Sylus: Level 18 Advancing Glacier, 331/350hp, 447 Prestige Damn. Damn, damn, damn. I frantically began to cast Heal and Cure in rapid succession, focusing the first on Verin while I reserved the second for myself. With so many different poisons running through me, my newest spell took a few tries to work as desired. Combined with my high Poison Resistance and a small boost from Impairment Resistance, though, it managed to do its job. Cure has removed paralysis poison. Normal motion restored. Cure has reached level 6! I immediately switched the target of the spell, attempting to cure Verin even as her skin began to disappear beneath a layer of frost. If there was one silver lining, it was that none of the heads tried to howl again. Whether that was due to arrogance or some skill cooldown, I couldn¡¯t say. That didn¡¯t mean they were content to let us leave, however. With outraged cries and stomps that shook the entire temple, the hydra charged towards the tunnel we were running through. Far too large to squeeze its bulky form into the narrow confines, it did the next best thing: Five heads aimed their toxic gullets our way, and they exhaled. In an instant, the thick cloud of poison barreled into us, easily overtaking me despite my best attempts. Here, though, we¡¯d arrived prepared. Internal Breeze has cleansed the air of poison. With Verin having retreated into her glacier, both of us were fully immune to any airborne toxins. With each step, the beast¡¯s audible displeasure grew more and more distant, until I found the temple and its tunnel behind me, spilling out into the ruins surrounding the pyramid. Not until I was on the far side of the clearing did I stop, crashing to the jungle floor and depositing Verin¡¯s frigid form beside me. As she was wont to do, Cal soon appeared out of thin air, leaning over us. ¡°Well, that sucked. Not to sound too defeatist, but how are we supposed to beat something like that? We nearly died just from listening to it.¡± Despite having taken a stack of the initial poison, Cal looked none the worse for wear, her own healing and Poison Resistance sufficient to protect her. Lying there, still attempting to cure away the last bits of poison, I could only ask myself the same question. What level was it even? I scrolled back through my notifications, pulling up the results from God¡¯s Eye that I¡¯d been looking over being so rudely interrupted. A description followed the basic information, and as I read through it, my mounting dread was completely washed away. Despite the unexpected ordeal we¡¯d just been through, I found myself with the start of a grin on my face. ¡°I know exactly how to beat it.¡± B4 C59: Apprentice Chef The initial stats on the hydra looked discouraging at best, with its level alone enough to make me wary of even attempting to fight it. Adaptive Jungle Hydra, Level 32, 20,000/20,000hp Considering that I was still stuck at level 16, I was looking at picking a fight with a beast that was double my level. Under other circumstances, I would have just thrown in the towel right then and there, accepting that this jungle clearing would serve as our home from now on until we painstakingly leveled up enough to escape. Thankfully, God¡¯s Eye wasn¡¯t finished yet, offering me one key piece of information buried in the boss¡¯s lore. The result of a long-forgotten beast tamer¡¯s experiment, the Adaptive Jungle Hydra is the answer to the question ¡°what happens when you combine the natural ferocity and regenerative prowess of a hydra with enough poison to swallow a village?¡± This toxic monstrosity is a natural mutation of the basic Adaptive Hydra, a highly sought-after beast that can take on properties of its environment. Hoping to automate the fulfillment of the creature¡¯s intensive care requirements, the original prospective owner crafted and animated the surrounding junglings. Through their constant ministrations, the hydra has grown far stronger than its original would have ever imagined. With each of the five heads constrained to their own separate diets, the hydra maintains a full five different poisons it can use at will. The text was an interesting read for me, clearing up some of the questions I¡¯d had earlier. I hadn¡¯t been certain exactly what the junglings¡¯ role was until now, but it seemed that they were some sort of specialized golems with the express purpose of feeding the hydra. And, of course, once again, I became curious as to just how much of the text was factually true and just how much was window dressing created by the dungeon itself. Had there actually been a real beast tamer once upon a time, or was the entire story a fabrication? All of that paled in comparison to the one standout fact presented in the boss¡¯s lore. Its poison. More importantly, its poison¡¯s origin. It gets its poison from its diet. If that was all I was working against, finishing our quest would be a breeze.
Paralysis Antidote When imbibed, negates the paralyzing effects of poisons. All effects are dependent on both antidote and poison tier and strength. I hefted up a large bowl of my latest creation, the result of another day of gathering and brewing. In general, this wasn¡¯t a recipe I usually went for. After all, if I was paralyzed, how was I supposed to bring the antidote to my mouth? In this case, however, that requirement was sidestepped completely. This antidote wasn¡¯t for me at all. The plan was fairly simple. If the hydra only had poison powers because it kept eating poison, what would happen if we took the poison out of its diet? Or more precisely, what would happen if we counteracted it? I wasn¡¯t entirely sure how long it would take, but theoretically, we could take out half its skill set just by altering its food. With the potion in hand, I went off to grab Cal, entrusting it to her. From everything I¡¯d seen, the junglings wouldn¡¯t care even if I walked up to one of their cauldrons and dumped it in, but I figured it was better to do it stealthily just in case. ¡°This it? You just want me to dump the entire thing into that cauldron over there, yeah?¡± After receiving a confirmation from me, Cal winked out of existence. With my attention glued to the pot in question, I just barely caught the exact moment the antidote left the bowl and stopped benefiting from Apex Shroud, a trickle of liquid appearing out of thin air. When no jungle-themed alarms started blaring, I breathed a sigh of relief. Cal returned moments later, hitting me with a double thumbs up. ¡°Easy. Can you tell if it worked?¡± Considering that no one had stopped me from tasting the soup in the first place, I figured I¡¯d just go over and have another sip. If it didn¡¯t paralyze me, then everything was in order. Before I could take a single step, however, one of the jungling chefs neared the pot. Rather than pass it by or add new ingredients, she froze then slowly cocked her head to the side. A single finger entered the cauldron, scooping up a dab of the soup to her mask-like face. The moment the liquid touched her mouth, the jungling recoiled. She then proceeded to heft the cauldron upwards, carry it to the treeline, and unceremoniously dump its entire contents onto the ground. No. Would they really not let me change the hydra¡¯s food? Would they instantly trash anything I altered? I ambled over to the vestiges of the soup on the dirt, Cal close in tow. ¡°Huh. In fairness, I kind of get it. Doesn¡¯t smell very appetizing, does it?¡± Cal leaned over the remnants of the stew as I stood there stewing. Wait. Is that it? She was right. It didn¡¯t smell particularly pleasant. Throwing propriety to the wind, I bent down and grabbed a chunk of vegetable, popping it into my mouth. As soon as it touched my tongue, I had to force myself not to wretch. The paralysis antidote hadn¡¯t been particularly pleasant in the first place, but it seemed like it had reacted with something in the soup. True, I hadn¡¯t gotten a paralysis notification, which meant I¡¯d at least been somewhat successful, but that was only half the battle. No wonder they dumped it. The hydra¡¯s never going to eat something that tastes this awful. I briefly wondered if that was actually a positive. What would happen if I just sabotaged every cauldron one after another and got them all dumped until the hydra starved? Hell, I wouldn¡¯t even need to put antidotes in them; I could just tip them over before the junglings delivered them. Feels doomed to go wrong, honestly. I somehow doubted the hydra would just chill there until it died from starvation. A hungry rampaging hydra was the last thing I wanted. If it still had its poison skills and broke free from the temple and started chasing us, I didn¡¯t like our odds. No. I¡¯m on the right path. I just can¡¯t use an antidote that tastes this bad. With that realization, suddenly everything clicked into place. Trying to fix this with alchemy had failed because this wasn¡¯t an alchemy problem in the first place. The junglings weren¡¯t brewing potions. They were making soup. If I wanted to change the recipe, there was only one skill I could rely on. Guess it¡¯s time to cook a little, then.
The first step in taking cooking lessons was donning the proper garb. With a thought, I summoned up my battle apron. Suds had given it to me mostly as a joke, but I had to admit I¡¯d grown fonder of it over time. With that out of the way, I dove into the world of jungle cooking. If the junglings were capable teachers for both Herbalism and Alchemy, then that was equally if not more so true for Cooking. For a full day, I didn¡¯t even try to add anything to their cauldrons. In fact, I wasn¡¯t even thinking about all five recipes yet: For now, I was just focused on the paralysis soup. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Rather than directly interfere, I mostly just watched, occasionally replicating their steps with my own set of ingredients. When I didn¡¯t understand exactly why they were doing something, I¡¯d often sneak a taste from their workstations just to see how the flavors evolved step by step. Eventually, I was able to muddle through everything, recreating their paralysis stew from scratch. That, however, was the easy part. Over the course of my harvesting extravaganza, I¡¯d chanced upon an entire 30 separate ingredients with properties directly related to paralysis resistance. Another few dozen had strengthening effects that could magnify the effects of the other 30 if paired properly. Just about any of them could be tossed together for a basic antidote, barring any odd reactions to one another. The real question was how their flavors would interact. Sadly, it wasn¡¯t as simple as biting into all of them -- each had different usable portions and waste products that required me to do a good deal of prep work. Once that was all done, though, I went through a taste test, further narrowing down my options. Ten. Ten options that won¡¯t make the entire thing taste like roadkill. Of those, a few were inoffensive and bland, while others had interesting flavor profiles that could theoretically add to the soup if used sparingly. In a strange way, the experimentation that followed might have been even more strenuous than it had been for alchemy. Hours were spent with the powdered reagents alone, trying to get the ratio of my anti-paralysis spice blend just right. And after that, when did I apply it? Did I throw it directly into the pot? Did I sear the other vegetables in it? The answer ended up being a bit of all of the above, though I found that soaking the most poisonous of the ingredients in an antidote brine often had the best results without negatively impacting taste. Then, all that was left was to- ¡°Tess! Hey. Tess. You okay?¡± A hand appeared before my face, snapping a few times until I pulled myself from my work, finding Cal by my side. ¡°Yes?¡± I thought I was, at least. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been cooking for like, four days straight. And you¡¯ve spent the last hour around this pot walking around in circles and mumbling to yourself.¡± That couldn¡¯t have been right, right? With God¡¯s Mind bolstering my memories, I replayed the last hour, and then the past few days before that. Any way I swung it, maybe I¡¯d gotten a little carried away. But it was okay! Because I was almost done! ¡°Sorry. You¡¯re right. But taste this!¡± Before Cal could move a muscle, I summoned a spoon from my storage and swiped it into the cauldron. Even as it was moving, I cast Chill to get it to a reasonable temperature before I shoved the spoonful right into Cal¡¯s mouth. She spluttered in protest before suddenly calming down. ¡°Huh. No poison. And hey, that¡¯s not half bad! Could maybe use a little salt, though.¡± Salt. Duh. The junglings never added any for obvious reasons, so it had completely slipped my mind. I¡¯d amassed a pretty solid stash by now, making it a simple matter of summoning the proper amount directly from my storage. In the salt went, and with another stir and another taste, I cut the fire and backed away from the pot with a sense of finality. ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± The very moment I said those words, the system reacted. Cooking has reached level 20! Congratulations! You have reached the Apprentice rank in Cooking! Based on your skill usage, you have been granted a skill augment for achieving a new skill rank. Augment of Supreme Dungeon Connoisseur +10 to Cooking while using ingredients primarily harvested from dungeons You gain a keener insight into how to make use of unconventional dungeon ingredients in your cooking. Amplifies any buffs or stat boosts conferred from cooked dishes. NOTE: Cooking is not considered class-aligned for the Arcane Arsenal class. As Cooking was already not class-aligned for the previous rank, leveling speed will be further reduced. The augment boost was unexpectedly large, but then again, the conditions to acquire it were probably pretty tough for most people. I doubted the average chef worked through the Initiate rank while living in a dungeon, after all. As for the buff amplification, it sounded exciting, but my dishes didn¡¯t tend to have buffs in the first place. That was probably from some combination of my low Cooking level and my ingredients, or possibly my lack of a cooking-related class. Maybe now that I was in the Apprentice tier, that would change. My ruminations were cut short by one of the junglings passing by. Much like the first time, he froze right beside my cauldron, and for a moment, I thought he was about to dump it again. And briefly, it looked like he would. The jungling lifted up my pot, and I nearly stopped him to prevent my hard work from being wasted. Instead of walking over to the vine wall, however, he began walking in the other direction. To the temple. Mute, I followed him, step after step. When at last he reached the proper hole, he presented his offering, and the vines accepted the fresh new meal. The cauldron disappeared from view, and it was only belatedly that it hit me. ¡°It worked! My recipe worked!¡± A hand grabbed mine in a firm grip, pulling me away from the ruins. ¡°That¡¯s great Tess. Let¡¯s have you take a break, though. Sleep. Maybe make something for Verin to eat so she stops complaining about eating leftovers. Play a game or two with us before you do this all again, okay?¡± Do it again? That was right! I had an entire four more recipes to figure out! Even as Cal pulled me away, my mind was racing with ways to negate the other four poisons. It continued to race all the way until Cal physically picked me up and placed me onto one of our mattresses, tucking me in. Within moments, I was out cold.
The following days contained cooking and only cooking from dawn till dusk -- or, not actually considering the dungeon had no sun, but the general idea was the same. The second recipe fell to my culinary might much like the first did, and then the third, fourth, and fifth soon after. Knowing that one batch would hardly be enough to affect the hydra in any way, I had to repeat each recipe over and over, often relying on the junglings to help with the standard steps. To my great shock, even after all that cooking, I didn¡¯t gain another level in the skill, although I did grab another in both Alchemy and Herbalism. Evidently, the system hadn¡¯t been kidding when it had noted that my leveling speed would be even more slowed down. I once again felt thankful that my class seemed to encompass such a disparate set of skills, as I might otherwise feel a lot more pigeonholed. With all my cooking behind me, however, now was the time for the big test. I¡¯d made my meals. I¡¯d fed the hydra. Only one thing remained. Making our way into the ruins and down the once-trapped tunnel, the three of us came to rest at the entrance to the hydra¡¯s root-covered lair. Just as before, the colossal creature lay sleeping. The main goal of this excursion was to check if my plan had worked, and if it hadn¡¯t, we would back off and try again later. Even so, there was no reason to let the hydra wake naturally. Perfectly willing to get a free shot in, I summoned my bow, overcharging an arrow with fire and death mana. As the area around me pulsed with waves of sterile heat, Cal vanished while Verin backed off. Unsure if we¡¯d be fighting or running, she hadn¡¯t activated her glacier yet, leaving her shying away from the intensity of my impending attack. Only when I could feel my fingers start to simultaneously burn and necrotize did I release the bowstring. The arrow, transformed into a veritable missile, tore through the chamber. Missing the five heads, it instead struck the hydra¡¯s massive form. For the briefest of moments, it seemed like its serpentine scales might deflect the blow, but whatever defensive skills the hydra had, they weren¡¯t enough. With a deafening boom, the arrow carved out a giant chunk of flesh before continuing to burrow inwards, cauterizing as it continued on. Needless to say, the hydra awoke very quickly after that. Wasting no time at all, it threw its five heads back, and half in fury, half in pain, it roared with all its might. Or more specifically, it howled. You have been hit with Noxious Howl. You have been poisoned! As the battle notifications flashed across my vision, my heart sank into my chest. It didn¡¯t work. It wasn¡¯t enough. Only a split second later, though, a new set of notifications joined the first. You have partially resisted a poison. Poison duration and strength greatly lessened. Five times, the notification arrived, and scanning my status, I realized that I was poisoned in name only. A quick glance towards Verin revealed that she was slightly worse off, but as I looked at her health, it was clear she wouldn¡¯t be dying, even if I didn¡¯t heal her. Which I did, naturally. A single Cure was all it took to completely flush the poison from her system. That, more than anything else, was what truly convinced me. It worked! Day after day of cooking for an ungrateful giant beast, and my bizarre plan had actually done just what I¡¯d hoped it would! It was possible that if we backed off and waited another week or two, we could entirely neuter the boss, fully ridding it of even the tiniest traces of poison. In the end, though, I¡¯d seen enough. As the hydra reeled from its burning blackened wound, I made the call, shouting out. ¡°Good enough! We can take it. Fight!¡± Ready for our resounding victory and a nice flight back to the cabin, I burst into motion, repositioning and nocking another arrow. Charging it to the brim once more, I aimed it carefully, having a wealth of targets to choose from. Five good options. Now, which head to take out first? B4 C60: Soporific Somnifacients As I charged up my second arrow, a not insignificant part of me hoped that the battle was already effectively over. Sporting a horrific wound and without its normally potent poison, the hydra was clearly on the back foot. Even when it shot all five of its heads into the air and billowed out a mass of toxic fog, I wasn¡¯t worried. The poison was already heavily weakened, but even had it not been, Internal Breeze was more than enough to keep me from breathing it in. If there was one thing I hadn¡¯t counted on, however, it was the hydra¡¯s freakish vitality. Before I could launch my second arrow, I spotted the hydra¡¯s chest wound start to morph. By all rights, black lines of necrosis should have been radiating out from the charred mess of flesh, courtesy of all the death mana I¡¯d packed into the blow. Instead, what few signs of necrosis I could see were being undone. The burns were holding up a bit better, but only the most brutally charred sections were resisting the boss¡¯s shocking levels of regeneration. Probably not worth hitting the torso unless I can hit its heart, then. Honestly, I wasn¡¯t sure that would be enough either. After reaching 25 Constitution, I¡¯d gained an ability that would theoretically let me live for a bit without my vital organs as long as I got healed immediately afterwards. With the real-time healing I was seeing, it was entirely possible that the hydra could regenerate its heart and keep on chugging. Take out the heads then. Theoretically, easy enough. Putting theory into practice, I fired my second shot, targeting the closest of the heads. At the last second, it jerked slightly out of the way, some preternatural instinct protecting it. Even so, it wasn¡¯t a clean dodge, and the fiery, death-clad arrow cut into the side of its neck. Archery has reached level 19! Half of the neck¡¯s width was entirely savaged in an instant, filling the room with the acrid scent of burnt hydra. Unable to support its weight, the neck collapsed, crashing to the ground with an earth-shaking thud. Whatever pained cry it would have normally let out was instead taken up by the other four as a booming wail assaulted us once again. You have been hit with Noxious Howl. You have partially resisted a poison. A quick check on Verin confirmed that she was now within a sizable block of ice, slowly growing with each passing second. Thankfully, the glacier didn¡¯t stop me from targeting her with a Cure. The real issue was something else entirely. My eyes sought out the head I¡¯d failed to entirely sever. Even now, the neck was starting to recover, on track to put the fifth head back in action well before we finished the fight. ¡°Cal! The neck I shot is regenerating!¡± I hung back by Verin, entrusting the followup strike to Cal as I readied another shot. As much as she liked to goof off on her own time, when it came to serious fights, Cal came through. Presumably having run up the hydra¡¯s neck while invisible, the warrior princess appeared directly below the wound I¡¯d dealt it, straddling its scales as if she were riding a horse. A feathered blade appeared in her hands, and with a spinning, scythe-like motion, she slashed into the damaged area. THWICK. Empowered by her class skills, the blade cleanly slid through. Completely severed from the beast¡¯s body, the rest of its neck fell to the ground with another resonant boom. As the hydra hissed and roared and attempted to furiously buck Cal off from its stump of a neck, the now-bloodied warrior shouted out. ¡°Fuck yeah! Did you guys see that? I¡¯m getting off to go hit its limbs so you don¡¯t accidentally shoot me, but I want to do that again!¡± Having said her piece, Cal vanished once again. Unfortunately, the hydra was rapidly wising up to our tricks. Realizing that its poison wasn¡¯t doing nearly as much damage as it should have been, the boss began to rely on its second biggest asset: its size. Trampling over its own neck, the scaly monstrosity charged forth. For all its mass and momentum, it didn¡¯t make it far. A thin layer of frost formed on its stubby legs, and while that was hardly enough to lock the boss in place, a few ice walls sprung up directly in its path. Perhaps even that wouldn¡¯t have been enough normally, but Cal made good on her earlier promise. As the hydra took a step forward, she reappeared right by one of its forelegs, her blade biting deep into its musculature. Already unbalanced from its icy footing, the hydra wasn¡¯t prepared for the blow. Its leg crashed into the barrier of ice, and instead of barrelling through it, the boss tripped. To add insult to injury, it fell directly on the wall, its own weight driving the hard ice through its scales and into its leg. Temporarily immobilized, the boss could do nothing but watch as I fired off my third arrow. This time, my aim was true, and I struck dead center, right beneath one of the heads. With a deafening explosion followed by a loud thud, a second head joined the first on the ground. With another bellowing cry, Noxious Howl triggered once again, but this time only with three different poisons. Bit by bit, the boss was growing weaker. Hoping to speed things along, I readied another arrow. Only two things stopped me from considering this fight as good as done. Firstly, the neck Cal had chopped off was slowly growing back from the stump. Assuming the hydra could regrow an entire head and brain, then we were on a time table before it rejoined the fray. Secondly and perhaps more concerningly, no amount of frost was going to keep the hydra locked down for good. Even with its leg impaled with shards of ice and sporting a giant gash, the hydra righted itself in moments and continued its charge. While Cal and Verin made sure that the boss¡¯s every inch forward was hard won and paid for in blood, eventually the hydra trudged forward all the way to Verin¡¯s glacier. With the time they¡¯d bought, Verin¡¯s defensive skill was now fairly large, having grown two about thrice the size of one of the hydra heads. Using its remaining three heads as a flail, the boss bashed into the glacier. Reinforced with mana and impossibly hard, the defensive skill staved off most of the impact, but giant chips flew from the ice mass. Damn. Not fast enough. My fourth arrow sailed forth, claiming a third head, but I could tell I wouldn¡¯t have time to charge a fifth and sixth before the first of the heads regenerated. Nor was I certain that Verin could hold out for that long, either. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Think. What else do I have? Scanning the hydra, I noticed that chunks of Verin¡¯s ice wall were still embedded in its leg. Does it have trouble pushing things out of its body when it tries to heal? I could work with that. Whenever at all possible, I strongly preferred not being in range of titanic beasts that could flatten me with a twitch, but I hadn¡¯t spent so many class points on my defense for no reason. Flaring Overload Armor, I took to the skies with a few quick Jet Steps. Here, I could only be thankful for Tal¡¯ket¡¯s talon guard, as my aerial maneuverability was quickly put to the test as I dashed straight for the hydra¡¯s back. Momentarily abandoning its assault on Verin, the boss attempted to snatch me from the sky with its remaining two heads. With a loud SNAP, one of its fanged mouths closed shut right where I¡¯d been less than a second before, as I dashed through the air directly onto its back. The moment I landed, I summoned my harpoon spear, one of the only five physical weapons I¡¯d arrived here with. With Arcane Armament fully upgraded and evolved, I theoretically could summon as many different weapons as I wanted at once. I rarely had a use for such an ability, but there was a first for everything. Supercharging my spear with fire mana, I plunged it into the neck that was closest to recovering. Rather than pull it out, I simply left it there. If the boss somehow regenerated around it, then we would see how well its neck could move with a burning spear lodged inside. With my knives and a handful of physical arrows, I repeated the process with the other two stump necks, peppering its wounds with a flaming shrapnel of weaponry. No matter how much the hydra attempted to buck me off, it was no use. Friction Feet and my own heightened Dexterity gave me a solid grip on its scales, and when that wasn¡¯t enough, I stabbed it with a spear of mana and hung on. None of this, it turned out, made the boss very happy. Still, it came as a shock when the hydra suddenly stopped battering away at Verin. The once proud glacier was more of a glorified ice cube at this point, and in another few seconds, I would have had to intervene before the hydra stomped on it. Saving me from the trouble, however, the boss completely sidestepped the mass of ice, starting a mad dash towards the nearest wall. Does it have a plan, or did the pain from the burning weapons drive it crazy? As best I could tell, there was nothing in front of it except for a wall full of thick, gnarled roots. If it wanted to bash its own heads against the wall to save me the trouble, I wouldn¡¯t say no, but that felt a bit extreme. Doesn¡¯t matter. Still two necks to chop. With Hammers, Archery, and Spears being my highest-leveled weapon skills, chopping things wasn¡¯t my greatest strength. Still, summoning my inner lumberjack, I conjured as large an axe as I could, creating it out of fire mana. Right as the hydra reached the wall, I cleaved into its fourth neck. Axes has reached level 17! Lacking the proper time to charge up my weapon, I didn¡¯t manage to cut through in a single strike, instead only making it a quarter of the way. Thankfully, the hydra didn¡¯t seem intent on stopping me, letting me land a second blow. Actually, what is it doing? For a second, it looked like its heads had smashed into the wall, supporting my earlier theory that it wanted to be put out of its misery. On second glance, though, it appeared to be¡­ eating? Entire swaths of roots disappeared down its twin gullets, and only then did it occur to me to identify what I¡¯d assumed was a mundane tuber. Sadly, both God¡¯s Eye and Herbalism had a different stance on the matter. Somnolent Serpent¡¯s Root Specially grown to aid the Adaptive Jungle Hydra, this root serves as a powerful somnifacient with both toxic and regenerative properties. After its victories, the hydra feasts upon these roots to send it into a deep, healing slumber. In a pinch, the root can also supercharge the hydra¡¯s healing before it succumbs to the call of sleep. This root is best left to the hydra. A dose that would merely make the beast drowsy would render any smaller creature completely comatose. So it was some sort of super melatonin combined with a healing potion? The regenerative aspect was a pain, but it was doubtless too little too late. Even as the boss¡¯s two heads greedily gulped down as many roots as they could, I finished my final swing. The fourth neck crashed to the ground, and then there was only one. Already, the healing aspects of the root were kicking in, with the newly severed neck regenerating at a truly mind-boggling speed. Would it matter, though? Even if I hopped off and left the hydra to its own devices, as best I could tell, it was only a matter of time before the sedative took effect and knocked the boss out. Maybe I can collect some of the roots for later. A sleep aid would be welcome if I could get the dosage correct, and it would fit nicely with the rest of my poison cooking. It was right as I had that thought that I froze, a sudden realization sending a spike of dread through me. I guess the root is poisonous, isn¡¯t it? Which would mean- Understanding came far too late as the boss¡¯s fifth and final head opened its root-filled maw once more. From the depths of its throat came an ear-piercing wail, gracing me with the same notification I¡¯d received multiple times throughout the fight. You have been hit with Noxious Howl. Unlike the other times, however, there was one clear difference. The hydra could produce any poison it ate, and this time, it had consumed a boatload of sedatives. You have been poisoned! You have been dosed with a soporific. You are growing drowsy. The axe that I¡¯d been readying for another strike suddenly grew impossibly heavy in my hands, and I felt my legs start to give out beneath me. Even with all of the mid-fight adrenaline still pumping through my veins, my eyelids began to droop. My skin started to feel tingly, and my vision blurred, growing foggier by the second. I need¡­ Cure. I need to cure myself. I tugged at my mana core, trying to coax the threads into the proper form. Under the intense strain, I felt as all my active skills fell apart, both my fire axe and the extra protection from Arcane Armory disappearing. A muted flash from my Danger Sense was the only warning I got that I wasn¡¯t fast enough. For one brief instant, I sobered up. In some ways, I wished I hadn¡¯t. When I fully opened my eyes, the only sight that greeted me was a massive, fanged mouth, opened impossibly wide. In a heartbeat, those fangs closed in on me. The air was filled with the sounds of rending metal as its bite tore through armor and flesh alike. It pumped me full of its newfound venom, and even with its fangs drilling massive holes in my torso, I could feel as I lost my grip on consciousness. For a brief moment, I wondered if the hydra was about to swallow me whole, armor and all. But no. With a vicious flick of its head, it sent me hurtling to the ground. It was some small mercy that the poison at last grew too strong to bear. By the time I hit the earth, I was already out cold. B4 C61: Hydra Slayer In the many months that Cal had been in the dungeon, she¡¯d seen Tess take some brutal hits. Her general attitude by now was that, unless she confirmed Tess was 100% dead, then the Protagonist was fine and would bounce back from just about anything. Even so, when Tess¡¯s limp form flew into the ground with a resounding crunch, Cal knew something was very, very wrong. Temporarily abandoning her assault on the hydra, she quickly identified Tess¡¯s body, desperately hoping that it wasn¡¯t a corpse. Tess: 380/850hp Damn, that was a lot of damage. In fact, it was more than Cal¡¯s entire health pool. The exact math around different types of damage could get pretty hairy, especially when it came to collisions and other types of attacks that weren¡¯t from system-based skills. Regardless, Cal was fairly certain that she would have outright died from the bite or the fall alone. Still a lot of health, though. Why isn¡¯t she getting up? Is she out cold? Another identification showed Tess¡¯s health steadily sinking, and while it could have been from internal bleeding, Cal imagined there was another more likely answer. She¡¯s poisoned? Probably from the bite. And hells, if she¡¯s unconscious, she¡¯s probably not using Internal Breeze anymore. Every second she lay there was another breath of poison seeping into her lungs. Cal spared some mana for a few quick light-based healing spells, hopefully staving off the worst of Tess¡¯s damage. Still, it was clear they were on the clock now. If they couldn¡¯t beat the boss quickly enough, they¡¯d have to retreat. Thankfully, said boss had taken a brief respite from its enraged warpath. It took a brief pause to throw its final head into the air, billowing out another cloud of poison. With that complete, however, rather than charging Tess down to stomp on her, the hydra was still focused on munching down on roots. Its noticeable uptick in healing would be a problem, but that was a problem for later. ¡°Verin! Moving Tess to you! Throw some ice walls around her.¡± In a kinder world, Cal would have carefully transported Tess over on a gurney. If being flung directly into the ground hadn¡¯t killed her, though, then a bit of roughhousing wasn¡¯t likely to finish the job. After making a mad dash to Tess¡¯s position, Cal simply grabbed her by the legs and tossed her. As much as Cal didn¡¯t plan to keep her current class forever, she had to admit the extra Strength was nice sometimes. With another (less loud) crunch, Tess landed right beside Verin¡¯s glacier, and Cal fully intended to put the two of them out of her mind for now. That quickly changed when she noticed how slowly Verin was creating her ice walls. For a moment, Cal worried that the noble had somehow run out of mana, but as she peered into the much-diminished glacier, she saw something even more concerning. Verin¡¯s eyes. In between casts, they drooped downwards, barely staying open long enough for Verin to get her spells off. Having a sneaking suspicion of what was going on, Cal dismissed her Apex Shroud, taking in the tiniest breath she could manage. You have been poisoned! You have been dosed with a soporific. ¡°Fucking hells! What¡¯s with this dungeon and sleep effects!¡± First the curse region, and now this. ¡°You guys owe me so hard for this one.¡± In a twisted way, it actually felt kind of nice. True, she¡¯d also been the MVP during the fight with Din¡¯Ket, but she doubted that Tess or Verin would have actually lost without her. This time around, she couldn¡¯t see any way that the others would survive without her intervention. Cal had long since wondered if she¡¯d ever catch up to Tess¡¯s level of power, but for once, she¡¯d surpassed the Protagonist. Wish it didn¡¯t have to do with sleep, though. Out of all her abilities, Cal had the most complicated relationship with her immunity to anything sleep-related. Unlike any of her actual earned skills, her sleeplessness had been present since birth, a fact that caused her father no small share of grief. Not only did it make raising her a pain -- a sleepless baby was not a pleasant thing in the least bit, after all -- but it also served as an uncomfortable reminder of Cal¡¯s mother. While Cal had never met the woman, she was made to understand that her mother also hadn¡¯t needed to sleep, amongst other things. Her father had been very insistent that they figure out a way to make her fall asleep, as if that would somehow keep her from turning out like her mother did. Hells, the enchanted Captain Cozy¡¯s nightgown that Tess had taken as a reward was one of the king¡¯s many attempts to use magic to make Cal fall asleep. Like all the others, it had failed. In fact, it was probably the intense boredom from being up all night that had first driven Cal to her rogue-like pursuits and her sneaking out of the palace all the time. In some twisted way, that meant it was to blame for her original class, which meant it was also partly the reason she¡¯d joined Tess and was here in the first place. Still, as evidenced in the curse region and with the poison right now, Cal couldn¡¯t deny that the ability had its perks. Not afraid of the soporific poison in the least bit, Cal dashed to the hydra, briefly turning into gas with the Soma of the Sylph spell that Apex Shroud had absorbed, floating upwards onto the hydra¡¯s back. Finally, the beast had stopped its gluttonous feast, turning its attention back to its visible enemies. Deciding the still-awake Verin was more of a priority than Tess¡¯s inert and ice-wall-protected form, it homed in on the glacier. Instead of running towards the noble, however, it began to take slow, unsteady steps, swaying from side to side. At first, Cal assumed it was a result of its many injuries before she put the picture together. Rematerializing on its back, Cal chastised the hulking hydra. ¡°Seriously? You¡¯re sleepy too? That¡¯s just sad, man.¡± Well, no matter. Hopefully, it would make this next part easier for her. Not willing to let the boss reach Cal¡¯s sleeping and soon-to-be sleeping companions, the Indefatigable Onslaught summoned her feather blade and began to empower it, sinking both mana and stamina into the weapon. Had she passed the first Perception threshold, she would have heard the resonant hum of the blade¡¯s mana, signaling its power. As it was, she just waited a while until it felt right, and then she struck. The blade bit deep, through scale and sinew alike, but ultimately didn¡¯t penetrate very far. Even had she been strong enough, her blade wasn¡¯t ideal for hacking through something so large. Immediately, the hydra ceased its ambling hunt to roar once more, its final head twisting around to either bite through Cal or bat her away. To call its efforts ineffective would have been generous. Even if the beast were at its prime, Cal doubted it could touch her as she effortlessly went in and out of Apex Shroud, vanishing before its foul fangs could reach her. And quite noticeably, the boss was not in its prime. Growing increasingly drowsy, it flailed its head at her with the wild gesticulations of a drunkard. One hit, then another, and another after that. Slowly but steadily, Cal continued to chop into the thrashing, undulating neck before her. At some point, she worked her way through enough of its muscles that the neck failed to move properly, limply flopping around like a beached fish. Swords has reached level 14! ¡°All right! Not quite a dragon, but it has scales so I¡¯m going to count it. Definitely telling everyone I¡¯m a dragonslayer when I get home. Hear ye, hear ye, here starts the epic tale of dragonslayer Cal!¡± With one final slash, Cal worked her way through the rest of the serpentine neck, sending the fifth and final head to the floor. At last, the fight was over. Right. The fight was over. Incredibly over. Why was the damned thing still moving then? And where was its death notification? If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. And¡­ why were its necks still regenerating? ¡°Oh, come on! It¡¯s headless! It literally doesn¡¯t have a brain! I won!¡± Despite Cal¡¯s complaints, the system didn¡¯t seem to care, nor did the hydra suddenly drop dead. Well, that was fine. Nothing could regenerate forever, and it wasn¡¯t like Cal was really at any risk. Her entire class was about never running out of energy, after all. She could easily outlast the hydra if need be. Guess I¡¯ll just keep chopping away the necks for now, huh? Without any better plans, Cal quickly got back to it. What followed could only very generously be called a fight. Losing some of its sluggishness, the hydra began to run around its lair with no sense of direction, trying and failing to buck her off while intermittently crashing into the walls. The entire time, Cal engaged in what felt like a game of whack-a-mole played with a weed-whacker. You have gained a stack of Rising Tenacity. Stamina recovery enhanced. You have gained a stack of Wellspring¡¯s Renewal. Mana recovery enhanced. You have gained a stack of Surging Vitality. Health recovery enhanced. With each hit, her bread-and-butter class skills triggered, adding to her recovery. At the same time, she made ample use of her two newer acquisitions. Omnisource allowed her to spend her fullest resource pool to top the others off. Not that she really needed to, but the extra resource spending helped to empower her other recent purchase. Embrace of Exhaustion During combat, gain additional Strength, Intelligence, and flat damage based on how much health, stamina, and mana you spend. While she hadn¡¯t lost much health yet -- save for through Omnisource -- she was actively emptying boatloads of stamina and mana, slowly growing the skill¡¯s strength. A new line appeared, updating on her current bonuses. Embrace of Exhaustion bonus updated: +4 Strength, +4 Intelligence, +20 flat damage on standard attacks. With the skill granting all her attacks some extra oomph, Cal felt her strikes sinking deeper and dealing more than they ever had before. All in all, Cal thought it would have been an easy fight if not for the others. Periodically, she descended to cast a few heals, mostly on Tess. Verin was still awake if only in name, but she¡¯d largely stopped casting by now. Thankfully, her glacier had regrown much of its previous size, keeping her from getting inadvertently trampled on as the hydra ran around like a headless chicken. For a while, Verin wondered if the battle would ever end. Were the necks not enough? Did she need to burrow into its body and take out its heart? She hoped not. Cal would hardly call herself squeamish, but excavating through its flesh sounded like a bad time, to put it lightly. Thankfully, Cal¡¯s fears proved unfounded. Bit by bit, the hydra¡¯s necks began to grow back slower and slower, first as the boss¡¯s root-empowered healing wore off, and then as its natural recovery began to wane. Speeding the process along, Cal tore giant gashes down its back, hoping to bleed the beast out. By now, she¡¯d long since been using Apex Shroud to make her ¡°invisible from air-current detection,¡± effectively sealing off her sense of smell as the air refused to move into her nose. It was an imperfect solution, as unless she turned to gas, she still had to breathe now and then. Whenever she did, she was struck with the stench of iron and butchered meat. The end of the battle was characterized by a gradual decrease in speed. Both the hydra and its healing grew increasingly lethargic, with its wounds taking longer and longer to close and its steps turning into an awkward shuffle. When at last it stopped entirely, crashing to the ground as its legs gave out beneath it, all that was left was shaving off enough of its health to render it properly dead. In this, Cal took to her task with great gusto. Eager to be done with the slog of a fight, she empowered her blade to its maximum strength, stabbing into the prospective corpse and running down its back to form deep furrows. Only once the body was thoroughly striped, scored, and hashmarked did the much-awaited notification arrive. You have defeated an Adaptive Jungle Hydra! Despite the massive amounts of stamina her class skills were supplying her with, Cal still slumped to the ground with relief. The following notification only intensified that feeling. Quest completed: The Hungering Jungling You have slain the jungle¡¯s warden, earning the right to escape from the region¡¯s cage of vines. Based on your contribution and the method of completion, you have been granted additional loot and experience. +1500xp The room shook as a section of the far wall began to descend into the earth, tearing off a clump of roots as it opened up. Presumably, that was their exit into the next region. At the same time, a few vines rapidly grew from the center of the room, weaving themselves into a chest of sorts. While the prospect of loot was enticing, Cal hardly spared it a second thought. ¡°Okay, you two! Time to get out of here.¡± Leaping down from the hydra¡¯s corpse, Cal sauntered over to Verin¡¯s glacier, knocking on it a few times to rouse its occupant. With a start, Verin jerked into wakefulness, cancelling her skill and cracking open the ice. ¡°Oh. Lady Calilah. Is it over already? I could have sworn that-¡± The noble¡¯s expression abruptly shifted into a stern frown. ¡°Ah. The room is still filled with poison. How¡­ unfortun¡­¡± With direct exposure to the soporific still lingering in the air, she then collapsed to the ground, out cold. Cal merely stared at her unconscious form for a while before muttering to herself. ¡°You guys suck sometimes, you know that?¡± At first, the newly minted hydra-slayer was planning on dragging them back through the tunnel and healing them up in the junglings¡¯ clearing. Belatedly, however, Cal realized that the hydra had fallen directly in front of the tunnel¡¯s entrance. Short of carving through its stomach, there would be no returning that way. And so, in the end, there was only one real option. Complaining the entire time, Cal grabbed Verin¡¯s arm with one hand before moving over to Tess and doing the same. Lacking another arm to spare, she kicked the chest of vines as she dragged the other two, slowly progressing to the newly formed exit. The entire time, she healed both of them, outpacing the poison running through their veins. Thankfully, they didn¡¯t have long to go. The door led to a short tunnel -- untrapped, this time -- and from there, it spit them out into a fresh new region. At least, that¡¯s what Cal assumed it was. Without a doubt, they were out of the jungle. Only, everything in front of her looked¡­ strange. Indistinct and nondescript. Cal struggled to describe it even as she looked at it, but as best she could tell, it was a realm of total white. Not like snow. Nothing so simple. Instead, Cal wasn¡¯t even sure what the ground beneath her was made out of, nor could she say what it felt like to walk on. If there was one word that came to mind, it was ¡°empty,¡± although that wasn¡¯t quite right either. Because there was one thing that stood out. There, just a short walk away, was a giant blue crystal. It was a beacon in this disconcerting, unknowable place, standing in stark contrast to the otherwise blurry space. A spell diagram surrounded it, though it was one far less complex than the imprisonment on Sett. With a start, Cal realized she knew what she was looking at. A mana collection site. One of the four they¡¯d been sent off to destroy. Here it was, just standing out in the open. Cal finally let go of her burdensome companions, taking a few steps towards the crystal. ¡°Hells. We finally made it. We¡¯re here.¡± Leaving this place wasn¡¯t just some pipe dream, a pleasant fantasy that they whispered to make themselves feel better. And it¡¯s just sitting there. Unguarded. Cal nearly broke out into a fit of laughter. Were the mana-collection sites their own special thing? No surrounding biome. No boss to fight. Just like that? She couldn¡¯t believe it. Cal was of half a mind to go smash the thing to bits right now, giving herself something extra to gloat about once the others woke up. She didn¡¯t, of course, knowing that such a thing was reckless without the others. But she thought about it. No. I¡¯ll just sit tight and wait for them to wake up. Cal spun about, hoping to heal the others again and maybe open up their rewards. When she turned, though, she didn¡¯t spot them. No Tess. No Verin. No chest. Not even the door back to the jungle. Just emptiness. A void of white. Cal frantically twisted about, searching for any signs of her friends -- anything at all, really -- but came up short. There was nothing. Nothing but the crystal and the whiteness. A sudden fatigue started to overtake her, and for a brief moment, Cal wondered if the sleep poison had somehow kicked in. But that didn¡¯t make sense, did it? Cal didn¡¯t get tired, and she¡¯d barely inhaled any of it in the first place. All the logic in the world didn¡¯t change the truth, though. As Cal ran about, searching for any signs of the others, she slowly grew more and more tired. After a time, she gave up her hunt. What had she been looking for, anyway? That was strange. She couldn¡¯t remember. Remember what? What had she been thinking about? She wasn¡¯t sure. How odd. Was something wrong with her? A spark of clarity burst through the fog, prompting a single thought: Was she under attack? Hoping to hide herself away, Cal tried to activate the full version of Apex Shroud, only to realize that she¡­ couldn¡¯t remember how? She knew she had the skill. She knew she¡¯d used it recently. For the life of her, though, she couldn¡¯t figure out how to turn it on. A spike of dread began to fill her, dissipating just as quickly. Turn what on? What was I doing again? Man, standing was growing to be a pain. Wouldn¡¯t lying down be nicer right now? That sounded pretty good. Cal lay down, the not-ground ground cushioning her comfortingly. As if spurred on by her inertness, her thoughts grew foggier and foggier. Shortly thereafter, and for the first time in her life without the aid of severe blood loss, Cal drifted off to sleep. B4 C62: The Reaper Waking up in an unfamiliar place was always a jarring experience, and current circumstances were no exception. Frankly, I was a bit surprised to be waking up at all, given my last memories. Before I took full stock of my situation, I groggily opened up my messages to get a sense of what had happened. Battle notifications didn¡¯t work properly while unconscious, but what little the system had recorded before I passed out painted a bleak picture. Adaptive Jungle Hydra has bitten you for 106hp. You are bleeding! You are poisoned! Paired with some dim recollection that the hydra had flung me to the ground, my last memories had me shocked that I wasn¡¯t in more pain, at the very least. Clearly, the others must have saved me. A quick scan through the rest of my status and notifications revealed that all the poison in my system had run its course, leaving me as good as new. Mostly, at least. My health was a decently damaged 531/850, but that was more than most people had total. Additionally, four new skill levels greeted me, as was to be expected after such an ordeal. Advanced Internal Mana Manipulation has reached level 18! Poison Resistance has reached level 21! Heavy Armor has reached level 16! Bleed Resistance has reached level 16! The latter two were fairly straightforward, whereas the first had likely come from my attempts at casting Cure while I¡¯d been half asleep. I idly wondered if that was a possible skill training route. If I could nab some of that root, maybe I could try casting spells while sedated to see if it helped my manipulation skill level faster. After that, there was the expected set of notifications for the hydra¡¯s death and the quest completion, but that was all secondary. Quest rewards could wait until I understood my situation better. Even before I sat up and scanned my surroundings, the first thing to send my alarm bells blaring was my health. Cal should have been more than capable of healing me up to tip-top shape. A few points, I could have understood. She could have healed me to full health, and then I could have lost a few from the last bits of poison and bleeding damage. To be a full hundreds of points down, though, something must have been wrong. A proper examination of the area only added more questions to my list. I could have imagined waking up in the hydra¡¯s lair, in the junglings¡¯ clearing, or even back in the cabin until I recalled that Tal¡¯Ket¡¯s summoning plate was in my storage. To wake up in a very boring, empty space was far outside my expectations. In fairness, it wasn¡¯t entirely boring. There was a big ol¡¯ crystal up ahead, and the region was small enough that I could see where it ended in every direction. Behind us, that was the jungle. With the quest completed, the vine wall had vanished, allowing us to travel back into the ruins or the clearing at any time. The trippier direction was ahead of us, where it appeared that the dungeon abruptly ended. I¡¯d wondered what would happen if we made it to the edge of the protospace, and the answer seemed to be a sort of spatial curving. The sky, it appeared, was actually a warped sort of dome, and the same kaleidoscopic mana patterns above us stretched downwards to join the ground. The sight looked particularly wrong, and I couldn¡¯t stare at the warped space for too long without my head hurting. But then again, I didn¡¯t want to stand there staring in any case. Much more pressingly than the environment or even the crystal -- which I was beginning to suspect was the mana-collection site we were after -- were the three features currently sprawled out on the ground. One was a chest made from vines which I assumed was our loot. The other two were familiar bodies. Verin lay directly to my side, and a bit further on, Cal was lying on her side. Before my mind could offer up any macabre thoughts, I identified the two of them, confirming that they were still very much so alive. My first thought was that they¡¯d both succumbed to the soporific poison, much like I had. I did have the highest Poison Resistance, after all, so it wouldn¡¯t have been strange for me to wake up first. As far as I knew, though, Cal should have been immune to sleep effects, and with her Apex Shroud, she shouldn¡¯t have ingested any poison in the first place. Then again, what did I know? Maybe she was immune to sleep curses but not sleep poisons. She¡¯d been resolutely tightlipped on the details of her sleep resistance, which left me largely clueless as to how it functioned. Regardless, I hit both of them with a few Cures and then a couple Heals for good measure. When they didn¡¯t wake up after that, I figured they just needed some time. I hadn¡¯t spotted any monsters, nor was my Danger Sense flaring up, so I wasn¡¯t too worried about getting attacked. If the other two were just a little sleepy, then I could afford to wait for them to wake up. Seeing no reason to put it off any longer, I decided to look through my quest completion notification. Aside from the standard boilerplate, it appeared that the dungeon had rewarded me for my novel approach to clearing the region. Based on your contribution and the method of completion, you have been granted additional loot and experience. +1500xp Nothing groundbreaking, but those weren¡¯t the only rewards. I glanced at the vine chest, trying to figure out how rude it would be to open it without the others. Surely a little peek wouldn¡¯t hurt, right? Be nice. You nearly died and probably made Cal lug your body around until she passed out. Not to mention, the others had fought the beast after I passed out. My antidote cooking had played a huge role in our victory, but I wasn¡¯t sure if I could confidently consider myself the most important this time around. I could wait a bit longer before opening it up. And so, I waited. And waited. And after a good deal of waiting, I then waited some more. Figuring the two might need a good meal, I even took out some supplies to build a fire and get some cooking done. When the smell of food failed to rouse either one of them, though, what had begun as mild concern began to blossom into true anxiety. Attempting to rouse Cal first, I shook the warrior, gently at first and then with more force. Not once did she give me any sort of reaction or make a single peep. Taking a page out of her book, I then summoned up a knife. I wonder if she¡¯ll stop waking people up this way if she finds out how awful it is. I kind of doubted it, but it was still nice to give her a taste of her own medicine. Giving her a quick jab to the side, I waited for her to awake with a gasp. Instead, she continued to lie there, entirely dead to the world. Maybe she¡¯s just a deep sleeper? She has lots of sleep to catch up on, right? I repeated the entire process with Verin only to get the same results. More and more, I was beginning to grow convinced that there was something unnatural going on here. But what? I purged them of any poisons left in their systems. What did that leave? A spell? Unsure what I¡¯d even do in that case, I flickered through my vision variants hoping to spot anything out of place. On the first pass-through, I got nothing. On closer inspection, though, I realized the two of them looked a bit strange while I had the basic Arcane Vision applied. By now, I was used to seeing just about everything around me with ease. My Perception, paired with my vision skills and boons, made it exceptionally hard to hide anything from me. It was a shock, then, when I finally spotted the glow of mana so subtle that I was half convinced that I was imagining it. After getting right up close and personal and toggling Arcane Vision on and off, though, I slowly grew certain: There were faint wisps of mana dotting both Cal¡¯s and Verin¡¯s heads. Any lingering doubt that I had was dispelled when the system kicked in with a skill level that I hadn¡¯t seen in ages. Detect Secret has reached level 15! Emboldened by the confirmation, I experimentally poked at one of the wisps with a needle-like dagger of mana to no avail. A physical dagger fared no better. If it¡¯s by the head, maybe it¡¯s something mental? I cursed myself for slacking on my Arcane Vision trial, as I imagined that the mental variant of the skill would have come in handy right about then. If there was something mental going on, I could have used a way to visualize it. Wait, I do. Much as I tended to avoid it these days, of course I had a way to visualize mental effects. With a dash of trepidation, I pulled myself into my mental space. In some ways, it wasn¡¯t as bad as I¡¯d expected. The shattered ground, for instance, had largely mended itself. The cracks in the foundation of my mind were no longer thick enough for me to fall through, and in some places could even be considered ¡°healed.¡± Of course, that ignored the countless broken pieces of the rest of my mind, still haphazardly strewn about. Even if I was gradually healing, and even if my mental and soul resistances had come a long way, nothing would passively rebuild my original Stygian Citadel or the larger structures that made up my mind. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The brooding, however, could wait. I¡¯d come here for a better reason than to get lost in defeatism. With now citadel walls to block my view, it was a simple matter to cast Sense Minds. A pulse of mental mana rippled through the space, breaking upon any other minds it found within range. Despite coming here with the exact hope that Sense Minds would reveal something, I was still shocked when it worked. In addition to the two large and solid minds of Verin and Cal, dozens of tiny purple dots were latched onto them. A quick identification revealed what I was up against while also making my blood run cold. Mind Spawn Mental Magic: 21 Mental Resistance: 13 Beings of almost pure mental mana, mind spawn are close to the bottom of the mental food chain, consuming ambient mental energy to slowly grow and evolve. Often harmless and unnoticeable parasites, these diminutive creatures only become an issue in great numbers when they tend to overtax their host¡¯s mind. To avoid killing their hosts too quickly, when many mind spawn gather, they have the ability to provide their hosts with minor amounts of sustenance. In this way, they¡¯re able to force their hosts into comas which are entirely harmless if reversed quickly enough. After extended periods, however, a host may suffer from mental trauma, scarring, and depletion. Alternatively, many such comas eventually end when the mind spawns consume enough energy and evolve into something greater -- and far hungrier. God¡¯s Eye has reached level 14! It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s completely fine. It says it''s harmless if I remove them fast enough. Both of them are going to be entirely okay. I repeated that sentiment over and over again as I tried to figure out how I was going to deal with them. Besides, their mental magic level isn¡¯t that high. Having viewed them through Sense Minds, I wasn¡¯t able to see their levels or healths, but I did get a peek at their relevant mental levels. Their resistance is lower than mine, too. Regular mana hadn¡¯t worked, which probably meant they were only susceptible to mental attacks. Here, my general reluctance to ever learn offensive mental magic came back to bite me in the ass, but I was hoping that I had a workaround. Keeping half my attention on my mental space, I slipped back into the real world and summoned a dagger of mental mana. Cal first. If I free her, she can probably Apex Shroud her mind to hide herself from getting reinfected. In any case, I was really glad that I¡¯d chosen to do those damned class trials. Without them, I wouldn¡¯t have been allowed to enhance my weapons with advanced mana types. If we make it out of this, I¡¯m definitely devoting more time to finishing the ones I have left. With bated breath, I gently poked my dagger forward, careful not to stab Cal and make things worse. The tip of the thin dagger lanced into the first wisp of mana, and with barely any resistance, it popped. You have defeated a Mind Spawn! See? Easy. It¡¯s going to be totally fine. Even as I had that thought, a disturbance kicked off in my mental space, eager to disprove me. Normally, when I cast Sense Minds, I released a sort of mental pulse which bounced off other minds. This time, however, when I noticed a series of ripples in my mental space, none of them were my doing. Each of the tiny spawns started emitting frantic waves of mental energy, evidently alarmed by the passing of their sibling. Another few casts of Sense Minds let me keep track of the various spawns, and it quickly became clear that they were sending out some sort of distress signal, as a fresh batch of the little wisps started flying in from deeper in the region. I was scared for a second that they¡¯d latch onto me, and that would be the end of it, but even broken as it was, my mind had fairly powerful defenses built into it. Chief amongst those defenses was the shrouding effect of Stygian Citadel, one of the few powers that hadn¡¯t gone away when my mind fractured. While the wisps chaotically bounced about, sending out sonar-like probes to hunt me down, my mind returned absolutely no useful information to them. And even if they did find me, I liked to believe that my Mental Resistance was high enough to resist a few attacks, even with most of it working to keep my mind stable. Should I fight them? I could probably charge my hammer with mental mana and smash them out of the air by the dozens. No. Maybe if I tried to challenge this region at a later date, but not now. Right now, Cal and Verin were all that mattered, and my first priority was to get them out of the region. No matter how many spawns I popped, it wouldn¡¯t matter if more kept coming to replace them. Not giving the matter a second thought, I scooped the two of them up, one in each arm. Briefly, I debated leaving the chest, but at the last second, I recalled I could just stash it away in my storage, which I did with a thought. All the while, the mental parasites mentally buzzed away, my entire mental space now looking like a flag flowing in the wind. Doing my best to ignore them for now, I began running back to the ruins, hoping to heal them in the junglings¡¯ clearing. All in all, it was a good plan, I thought. It might have even worked had I tried it before attacking that first mind spawn. Or not. Maybe they would have sent out their incessant S.O.S. the moment I tried moving the bodies. In the end, I would never know. I made it but a single step before it appeared. Well before I saw it, I felt its presence descend upon me, both mentally, and through the pervasive, full-body panic set off by my Danger Sense. Mid-step, I froze, relying on every point of my Dexterity to lock my body perfectly in place. I didn¡¯t know if it could see me moving, nor did I dare risk it. At first, it was just a pressure -- a vice-like grip on my mind from every possible angle. As it grew closer, however, I could spot it in my mental space. And frankly, of course I could. Making absolutely no effort to hide its presence, the newcomer practically tore through the fabric of the mental space, sowing chaos with its every motion. In fact, for once I didn¡¯t even need to cast Sense Minds to see it clearly, as it practically screamed out its mental identity for all to hear. While most of the minds I¡¯d seen were neat, tidy spheres, this creature was a raw, jagged thing, a deep purple lightning bolt filled with static and rage. If that wasn¡¯t bad enough, it was large. Large, large. Easily-swallow-all-of-us-and-not-notice large. Without having to consciously use my skill, I found its information pushed onto me, unbidden. Mind Reaper Mental Magic: 46 Mental Resistance: 33 A Mind Spawn that has evolved after consuming gleefully malicious thoughts and amassing a great abundance of mental energy. No longer content to act as a harmless parasite, the reaper delights in the destruction of any foreign minds it encounters. Its singular benevolent feature is its instinctive kinship with its fellow mental entities, often protecting them when possible. I cursed our luck as it approached. Mental Magic at level 46? There was little doubt that this was the region¡¯s boss, and we¡¯d somehow managed to attract it almost immediately upon arrival. The only thing that kept me from breaking down right then and there was my mental shroud. For now, at least, the reaper seemed to be having as much trouble finding me as its younger companions, sweeping through the mental space as if searching for me. It roved through the physical world as it did so, eventually moving in front of me. Given its horrific mental presence, I was surprised to find the actual form of the reaper was much more mundane. With a vaguely humanoid appearance made from translucent purple mana, the reaper¡¯s only similarity to its mind was the zig-zagging, jagged lines that made up its body. I could beat that, I suddenly realized. The smaller ones popped to a single poke of mental mana. What would happen if I stabbed this one with a full-on spear? Did I dare try? If the reaper had any sort of normal sight, it didn¡¯t seem to be using it. While I was hidden from its mental senses, however, Cal and Verin had no such protections. Finding them with ease, the creature leaned in towards their heads, passing unnervingly close to me. The mental space distorted and destabilized around the reaper¡¯s mind, the aftershocks of its movements enough to qualify as mental attacks. For now, it seemed content to leave the others to the spawns, but that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t harming the others. What was I supposed to do? Just wait until it left? With that much exposure to a monster that ¡°delighted in the destruction of foreign minds,¡± the others might end up as messed up as I¡¯d been by the time it departed. And that was if it left. I need to kill it. It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s probably fragile. Just one good shot. As fast as I can, and it¡¯ll die. After sufficiently steeling myself, the only thing left was to act. Burning my stamina as rapidly as I could, I unceremoniously dumped the others to the ground as I conjured a spear of mental mana. The entire motion was fast. Ridiculously so. My limbs blurred at a speed that no Earthen mortal could ever hope to match. Compared to the reaper, however, I might have been frozen in place. The very moment that I used my mental mana, it disappeared from my sight at the speed of thought. At least, it disappeared from my standard sight. Mentally, I watched as its mind thinned out, stretching outwards to form into a dome and then a hollow sphere, fully encompassing. Knowing that I needed to leave now, I bent down to scoop the others up and make a run for it, but it was already too late. The reaper¡¯s sphere contracted, and the pressure on my mind momentarily intensified by fivefold. I staggered, understanding without understanding that it was breaking something. Snapping it. Severing it. What that ¡°something¡± was, I couldn¡¯t say, but I knew that I did not want it to break. I pushed back with all my mental might, but I might as well have tried to stop an avalanche with my breath. As considerable as my mental resistance was, it was still hobbled while my mind repaired itself. The sphere contracted again, and I felt my vision growing black. Was it forcing me into a coma like the others? There was no way we¡¯d be surviving if all three of us passed out, and I tried to use that thought as fuel to keep me awake. A futile attempt. One more contraction, and my vision descended into darkness, and I felt my body grow limp. With a start, though, I realized I¡¯d been wrong. I wasn¡¯t asleep at all. Albeit in an entirely different form, my sight returned to me, revealing a thinly cracked plane of black ground. Strewn across it were massive mounds of shattered black and purple pieces, the remnants of a mind that once had functioned properly. In the distance, a dome of static climbed into the sky, confining me to my own mind and blocking me off from seeing the others. My mental space. I hadn¡¯t been trying to fully materialize in my mind. Why was I here? Eager to return to my body, I tried to leave, cancelling my skill. Try as I might, nothing happened. End. Leave. Cancel. Escape. Panic began to well up within me as I frantically tried everything I could think of. There has to be some way out. But as every one of my attempts miserably failed, I was slowly forced to admit the reality. I was stuck. As the reaper loomed outside, I was trapped in my own mind. And barring a miracle, there was no way out. B4 C63: The Will to Live In the vain hope that I could distract myself from my present reality, I tried my best to be optimistic. Maybe this wasn¡¯t as bad as I was making it out to be. Sure, it wasn¡¯t looking good -- quite literally, as my surroundings were pretty much as dismal and depressing as possible. It wasn¡¯t like there was no hope, though, right? I¡¯d been in some unthinkably bleak situations before, and I¡¯d made it out of all of them alive. I wasn¡¯t the only one here. If I just held on long enough, maybe Cal or Verin would figure something out? I was pretty sure Verin had mentioned something about high nobles getting some training to resist mental influences. Maybe Cal had too? And what about Mental Resistance? Verin definitely didn¡¯t have the prerequisite stats to unlock it, but Cal might by now, right? My brief attempt at optimism was quickly slapped down by reality as I followed that line of thought. And then what? Even supposing Cal or Verin somehow did the unthinkable and woke up on their own, what happened next? Neither of them had any offensive mental attacks. It wasn¡¯t as if they¡¯d be freeing me. With Tal¡¯Ket¡¯s summoning plate still in my storage, they couldn¡¯t bring me back to Sett, either. No, on the off chance that one of the others beat their mind spawns, the most likely outcome was that the mind reaper would kick their mental asses. Try as I might, I couldn¡¯t think of one remotely realistic scenario where the others saved me here. The realization hit me hard. For all that Cal¡¯s and Verin¡¯s bodies were lying right next to mine, I was on my own. That¡¯s¡­ still¡­ fine. I was great at resisting mental attacks! Stellar! Sure, my Mental Resistance was a little preoccupied right now, and my Stygian Citadel was largely reduced to rubble, but otherwise, the skill was one of my best! Between the slight boosts I¡¯d grabbed from my Intelligence threshold, God¡¯s Mind, and my Mental Resistance augment, I was as much of a mental fortress as could be expected for my level. Which isn¡¯t going to help if you can¡¯t get out of here. No matter how many different directions I tackled the issue from, it kept coming back to that one thought. I was stuck. Stuck here in my ruined mind. The one, singular place that I tried to avoid. Why did it have to be here, of all places? Figuring that doing anything would be better than just sitting there, I tried to escape in a more hands-on way, running towards the reaper¡¯s barrier. Well before I reached it, however, I came up against a steadily increasing pressure pushing me back. While I pushed back with as much force as I could muster, it was pointless. A can-do-it attitude wasn¡¯t enough to break through, and I wasn¡¯t sure I had even that. Having only a single mental spell, I then tried to cast Sense Minds. The ripple of magic spread out before crashing into the barrier where it was promptly consumed, accomplishing a sum total of nothing. Actually, it accomplished worse than nothing: Evidently having used my spell to lock in on my location, the reaper finally managed to push past my stygian shroud. A questing tendril of chaotic, wrathful energy peeled off from the barrier, reaching out for my mental avatar. It wasn¡¯t particularly fast, but it didn¡¯t need to be. I tried to dodge it, but when I moved to the side, it followed, perfectly homing in on me no matter where I went. In the confined space of my mind, there was no permanent escape. Hit it. Fight. I tried to conjure a spear of mental mana, only for the skill to utterly fail. Which, of course it would -- this wasn¡¯t the real world. My class was useless here, as were the vast majority of my skills and spells. For the first time, I honestly, truly regretted not leaning more into mental magic outside of defense. Who cared if it felt evil? So was fire magic if you used it to burn someone. So was frost magic if you froze someone alive. I hated feeling weak and pitiful, and my past squeamishness meant that now I was going to feel dead instead. It was funny, in a way. I¡¯d spent so long worrying about how empty I felt. How little drive I had. How little desire I was able to dredge up for living. But as that damnable tendril crept closer, rather than lay down and accept my death, I felt a spark of true rage light up within me. ¡°I was doing well!¡± I had been! Right after I¡¯d been healed by Sett, it had taken me days before I did anything but stare forward and mutely scarf down my half-raw meals. Simple actions would utterly drain me, sending me to bed for days at a time. Sure, I wasn¡¯t great now. I wasn¡¯t the poster girl for recovery or a shining example of being well adjusted. But I¡¯d gotten better! I could smile. On rare occasions, I could laugh. If pressed, I could hold a conversation, and I didn¡¯t mind sitting on the sidelines, basking in the second-hand warmth as others were social in front of me. And I had things I liked! I enjoyed my cooking. My humble herb garden. My story time with Arbor and the subsequent playing with new ingredients. I wanted to make our cabin better. Craft new furniture, build new rooms, get good enough at enchanting to make some basic appliances. Make Verin some clothes that actually suited her, so that she could stop looking sad whenever she remembered her limited wardrobe. Craft some better one-player games for Cal to help her deal with the long, boring nights she was stuck with as we slept. I wanted all of that, and with each day, I grew to want more. And even if I didn¡¯t feel right -- even if I didn¡¯t feel at all like the old Tess had -- day by day, the act of being human felt a little bit less like an act. It had only been a dream, I knew, and an unreasonable one at that, but I¡¯d entertained the notion that I might -- one day, eventually, far from now and in the distant future -- feel normal again. And for this to be how everything ended, ¡°not fair¡± didn¡¯t cover it. Not in the least bit. With more emotion than I¡¯d been able to summon in ages, I felt as a broken, bitter rage enveloped me. When I lashed out at the tendril closing in on me, there was no real plan there. No rational thought or hope of success. The only thing I had was a nearly animal-like desire to tear it apart. To attack, to strike, to crush it. My hands swung down in what I knew to be a foolish and futile act, but if this was how it ended, so be it. I would impotently claw and tear and bite at the reaper, heedless of any dignity or pride. Here, at this final juncture, I had realized I wanted to live, and I would go out fighting my hardest to stay alive. Even with my newfound resolve, when the reaper¡¯s probe jerked back, deformed and shrinking away from me, I didn¡¯t understand at first. Did I¡­ did I hurt it? Part of my anger evaporated from sheer stupefaction. Heightened emotions or not, certainly I hadn¡¯t been able to harm something that powerful with my bare hands. But as I glanced down, I discovered, much to my shock, that I was not empty-handed. Resting there, as if it had been there all along, was a hammer. Black as night and with craggy veins of purple shooting across it, the weapon looked right at home in my mental space. But then, of course it does. Back when I¡¯d created it, I¡¯d been given the opportunity to imprint the hammer with a single skill. I¡¯d chosen my Stygian Citadel skill, which meant, in a way, the weapon was based on the space around me. Is this a power I didn¡¯t know about? Experimentally, I tried to summon any of my other weapons, but as expected, none heeded my call. It seemed that something about the skill imprint let the hammer -- and only the hammer -- appear with me here. Then maybe¡­ I tried running some mana through the weapon, and much to my shock, it actually worked. I knew I had access to my mana here, or else I wouldn¡¯t have been able to cast Sense Minds. By all rights, my class skills shouldn¡¯t have functioned here, though. Having gotten over its temporary wariness, the reaper went with a more aggressive approach this time. While the original probe retracted back into the dome, three replacements came shooting out, intent on running me through. What would happen if they succeeded, I wasn¡¯t actually sure, nor was I intent on finding out. This time, as the jagged tendrils approached, I stood my ground. After all, I had no reason to run. Flooding my hammer with mental mana, I went on the offensive. My first attack used the sharp end of my warhammer, gouging out a piece of the reaper¡¯s mind. Redirecting the bulky weapon to the side, I smashed into the other two probes with the flat end, crushing them. If the hammer by itself had wounded the first tendril, then the hammer augmented with mental mana utterly savaged them. The pressure all around me intensified as a rapidfire series of pulses vibrated off of the dome, and with a start, I realized the reaper was crying out in pain. In response, all I could do was laugh. ¡°Good! Come try again!¡± I wanted to live, and I had a way to fight back. Nothing else needed to be said. Either understanding my taunt or simply seeking revenge, the reaper sent out thick limbs of energy, one after another. No matter how many it sent or how quick they came for me, however, I was ready. Seeming to shed some of its physical weight while here in my mental space, my warhammer was a blur in my hands. Brightly glowing with a steady purple light, it flowed effortlessly between the reaper¡¯s attacks, batting them aside. Each time it connected, the monster let out another cry, its pain only spurring me on further. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. One minute blurred into two, until I realized that I¡¯d lost track of the time. Something about my mental space made each moment blend together. With my mental avatar not depending on stamina or Endurance, I felt just as fresh now as I did at the start, raring to go. Throwing myself fully into the battle, I barely registered it as the system sent me a few notifications, only belatedly reading them as the fight grew notably easier. Hammers has reached level 19! It was surprising that the mental battle even counted towards the weapon skill, but that was far less important than what followed, a level I¡¯d been waiting on for ages. Mental Resistance has reached level 20! Congratulations! You have reached the Apprentice rank in Mental Resistance. Based on your actions, you have been granted a skill augment for achieving a new skill rank. Augment of Active Involvement The effects of Mental Resistance are greatly heightened when you actively aid them from within your mental space. This includes fighting with your avatar, or actively repairing your mind from within. With the unexpected boost, what before had been a rage-fueled slog quickly transformed into a thing of ease. The reaper sent forth more and more of its mental attacks, but I was untouchable. Here in my own mind, no matter how broken it might have been, I held sovereignty. Not an inch of ground would be yielded. And in this, it seemed that the reaper agreed. It certainly took a while, but at last, the mental monstrosity was forced to see reason. Suffering from wound after wound, it grew less and less willing to expose itself, until, after some unknowable amount of time, it finally stopped. For a moment, I felt ecstatic. Giddy. Alive! I¡¯d done it! I¡¯d defended myself. Slowly, however, the truth of the situation sunk in. What now? With my newly strengthened Mental Resistance and my hammer in hand, I tried running towards the dome again. I managed to get a bit closer this time around, but just as before, I ran into a steadily increasing force, pushing me back until I couldn¡¯t fight it off. At one point, I got so fed up that I chucked my hammer, hoping to hit the reaper with a half-assed ranged attack. Just like my body, though, the hammer was repelled, impotently falling from the air. I yelled. I taunted. I cast Sense Minds over and over again, hoping to goad the reaper into some sort of action. Nothing worked. And to be fair, why would it respond? Sure, its attacks had failed, but I was still trapped here. As long as it didn¡¯t let me out, it had already won. I sat down amidst the rubble of my mind, trying to think of any way out. Try as I might, though, no solution presented itself. With no signs of anything changing any time soon, time slowly continued to drag on.
Though time was hard to track inside my mind, at least subjectively, it felt like entire days passed by. By the second day, I was still feeling energized. I had renewed my lease on life. I wanted to live, I had my trust hammer, and I would find a way out. Somehow. By the third, some of that enthusiasm began to wane. How much time was passing outside? The mind spawns¡¯ descriptions stated that they provided their hosts with sustenance. Did the reaper? Was my body being cared for, or was I slowly wasting away? And which was worse? The latter meant that I was on a clock before I died, but the former? That would mean that I was trapped here indefinitely. Could I imagine being stuck here for weeks? Months? Years, even? I¡¯d never had any illusions about my chances of making it out of the dungeon. The odds were stacked against us, and gods only knew how many times I¡¯d already come close to death. Still, I¡¯d always assumed that I¡¯d go out relatively painlessly. Like with the hydra. A brief flash of fear as it sank its teeth into me, and then I¡¯d pass out, and it would be over. Maybe there¡¯d be a bit of physical pain beforehand, but that¡¯s what Pain Resistance was for. Here, though, it was hard to think of a worse way to go out. My current sanity was already in question, but what would it even look like for me to spend a year here? A year in what was essentially solitary confinement, coupled with a constant reminder of my own shattered mind. You don¡¯t know, though. Maybe it¡¯ll get bored. If it can¡¯t reach you, it has to leave eventually, right? But did it? What else did it have to do with its time? For all I knew, mind reapers loved sitting still for a century. And if it was directly spawned by the dungeon, this might have been the most exciting thing to ever happen to it. By day four, whatever positive energy I¡¯d discovered had fully run dry. I spent the entire day letting my darker thoughts run wild, painting worse and worse pictures of what my future would look like. Bit by bit, I could feel whatever healing I¡¯d undergone slowly regressing. This wouldn¡¯t have hurt so much if I still felt like I had right after meeting Sett. Back then, I could have stared at a wall for days without a care in the world. Wouldn¡¯t it be so much nicer if I could get that feeling back? No. It wasn¡¯t worth it. I remembered all the pained, sidelong glances from Cal and Verin. The ones they thought that I didn¡¯t notice. The hushed whispers whenever they talked about me, thinking I couldn¡¯t hear them. They¡¯d put on brave faces and done well by me, but it was always clear as day how much my old state had worried them. One way or another, I wasn¡¯t going back. Although, if and by the time any of us get out here, they might be just as bad. The descriptions for the mind spawns had mentioned mental scarring. It would be all three of us, irrevocably messed up. More than anything else, that thought hurt. I wanted to make it out of here. I wanted to get better. Sure. True. Even more than that, though, I needed the two of them to be okay. They were only in this mess because of me in the first place. I owed it to them to protect them as best I could. Which, of course, I couldn¡¯t. Because I wasn¡¯t strong enough. I turned about, really taking everything in, seeing just how impossibly large the hills of shattered mental fragments were. The sight tended to make me feel small. Empty. Dead. But on this occasion, reminded -- once again -- that my own failures could put those I cared about in danger, it wasn¡¯t emptiness I felt. It was anger. Rage. Bitterness. Emin. Oachin. Very possibly Alara and Nella for all I knew. And now Cal and Verin, too. Was I really that much of a fuck-up that everyone who got involved with me died? Was this all that my second life amounted to? I felt my skin prickle with heat as that anger coursed through me, and suddenly, I was on my feet, hefting up my hammer. ¡°Why? Why all this? Why me?¡± Just plain dumb bad luck that I¡¯d gotten into that car crash? Happenstance and coincidence that delayed one bad death to bring me another? Only half consciously, I began to channel fire mana through the weapon, its many cracks coming alive with a red-hot glow. Before I knew what I was doing, I moved closer to the nearest of the miniature mountains of broken rubble, swinging my hammer down for all I was worth. ¡°WHY?¡± The shout drowned out the sound of the hammer¡¯s fall as I screamed into a very literal void. ¡°Why does everything keep going to shit?¡± I could have lived a perfectly fine life as some magical chef. A woodworker. An alchemist. Hells, even a miner. But I¡¯d never had the chance. Even when I laid low and just took classes, some psychopath decided he needed to kill me. I¡¯d been set up from day one. Anything but fighting over and over and over again would see me dead. ¡°One of you gods! Any of you! Dex! Can you fuckers hear me in here? I want to know why!¡± Bang, bang, bang. I smashed into my broken mental space over and over again, as if to stir up a din loud enough to reach the gods. ¡°Can you see me right now? Because I was hunted down for being chosen by one of you! The least you can do is tell me why. Was there a point? Was it just a whim? Just for fun? Dex, are you up there enjoying the show?¡± Or was it somehow worse if he wasn¡¯t? Was it even more sad if he¡¯d picked me and then forgotten about it immediately afterwards. Try as I might, though, I couldn¡¯t maintain my anger for the gods. Instead, that resentment quickly shifted targets, turning back towards myself. What had Dex really done to me that I could be angry for? Save me from dying a painful death? Give me a mark that people would literally kill to have? No, if I was being reasonable, I was mostly in this situation because of myself. Sure, once or twice, the deck had been stacked against me, but there were so many ways I could have ended up somewhere else. If I¡¯d been smarter, more proactive, less naive, or just more realistic in general, none of this would have had to happen in the first place. I stewed in that potent mixture of self-resentment and general rage until it slowly burned away, leaving me feeling nothing but empty and defeated once again. Even so, long after my emotions subsided, I continued to hammer away at whatever I could find. Ever since my mind had snapped, I¡¯d always hated this place. Even if it wouldn¡¯t do any good, there was something cathartic about going to town on it. Except, when finally I came to my senses and dropped the hammer, the sight that greeted me might have been even worse than what had been there before. The intense heat from my hammer had turned everything it touched to slag. Pieces of my citadel wall had mixed with chunks of my palace and shards from my dungeon doors, all melted together in one amorphous mass. Cooling down, the soupy mixture solidified, likely making the change permanent. Would Sett even be able to heal me if I came back like this, with all the pieces of my mind fused together? Was it even possible to put me back together now? Something about that thought tickled my mind as I stared, suddenly transfixed on the solidifying puddle of heterogeneous mental mass. Since when did I want to be put back just like I was before? That Tess had been a failure, and I¡¯d already accepted that she was gone for good. I didn¡¯t want to be restored. I wanted to rebuild anew. Different. Better. I just hadn¡¯t had a way to do that without Sett¡¯s help. As I continued to stare blank-faced at the scene of devastation in front of me, and as the black and purple molten material finally lost the last of its heat, settling down, it all finally clicked. I thought I needed to wait for Sett to fix me. I thought there was nothing I could do on my own. But what if¡­ What if I¡¯d been wrong? It felt as though I¡¯d stumbled upon an oasis while wandering through the desert. Such a thing just didn¡¯t happen, did it? It had to be a mirage. A bout of wishful thinking. But on that off chance that I was well and truly saved, I found myself lurching forward to take a drink. Once more, fire roared through my hammer, and I reduced the nearest mound to a hunk of slag. Only, this time, I didn¡¯t leave it to expand into a puddle. Sometimes using my hammer as a poor man¡¯s shovel, sometimes using the still-solid fragments of my mind to corral the molten liquid, I did my best to keep it in some semblance of a rectangular shape. As it began to cool, I handled it directly, ignoring the pain in my fingertips as I gathered it beneath me and began to hammer it once again. Like metal, the strange substance proved malleable in this heated state, and I shaped it as best I could. Without me noticing, my unwieldy warhammer began to shrink, morphing with my intent until it was less of a weapon and more of a tool. Now in the form of a blacksmith¡¯s hammer, it slowly beat the lump of superheated metal into a clean, rectangular block. When that block eventually cooled down, it was remarkable. The pattern was a bit different. So was the coloration. It would never be exactly the same as it had been before. But otherwise, one could have mistaken it for any of the bricks which had made up my citadel walls, or even the palace itself. As I held that singular, cooling brick, a wellspring of emotions began to burst up and out of me, and I began to cry. I can. I can rebuild. Maybe even enough to get out of here. And with that realization, and just as the brick in my hands completely settled, the system offered me its own gift. The deluge of notifications was longer than expected, matching my steady deluge of tears. Through watery eyes, I managed to catch a single line that made me pull up short. Congratulations! You have learned a Legendary skill! B4 C64: Forging Ahead Under different circumstances, making a single brick would not have seemed like much of a feat. As evidenced by my slowly tapering sobs and the influx of system notifications, though, this was a bit of a special case. While a quick skim confirmed that the latter messages spiraled slightly out of control, the first was much closer to what I¡¯d expect. You have learned a new skill: Mental Modification Though the mind naturally changes with time and experience, you have discovered a more hands-on approach to altering it. This skill encompasses the ability to modify, restructure, and empower your mind. Note, while some modifications may be reversible or temporary, many can be permanent, and mistakes while using this skill can come with dire consequences for the user¡¯s mind. Caution is advised during all modifications. More than the unshapely block in my hands, this was proof that I was on the right track. Fixing myself wouldn¡¯t necessarily be easy, and as the skill description advised, the attempt could be harmful in and of itself. Somehow, though, I doubted anything I could do would leave me off worse than I already was. From there, things became a bit stranger. Note: User¡¯s mind has partially merged with their soul. User modified the structure of a Legendary mental domain with direct access to the soul. User has a soul-bound tool which can influence and reshape the user¡¯s mind and soul. Skill Mental Modification has been consumed to form a new skill. Congratulations! You have learned a new Legendary skill. For a moment, I panicked, thinking that the system had stripped me of my ability to fix my mind. As it turned out, the truth was the exact opposite. You have learned a new skill: Soul Forging The average sentient being lives and dies without any real awareness of their soul. Rare are the beings who can sense their soul, and rarer yet are those who can interact with it in any way. You have gone one step further, permanently modifying your very being in a fundamental way. With the soul¡¯s notoriety for its resilient and unyielding nature, this is a remarkable achievement, often -- though incorrectly -- considered to be the domain of gods. This skill encompasses any alteration of the user¡¯s soul, taking entirely different shapes depending on the specifics of the skill-holder. Based on your method of acquisition, this skill will enhance your ability to build structures in your fused mental-soul domain. Further levels will boost the effects of your buildings, allow you to build more complex structures, enhance your bound soul tool, and grant you more direct access to the underpinnings of your soul. Due to your mind¡¯s fusion with your soul and this skill¡¯s consumption of Mental Modification, this skill will level from and encompass all mental modifications, regardless of how much they directly impact your soul. The description was far longer than usual, and the achievement was in many ways momentous. Literally so, as the final notification was an actual achievement. Achievement Unlocked: Bearer of Legends (Repeatable) While most can only dream of gaining a singular Legendary skill, you¡¯ve acquired multiple. Your legend grows long and storied. +50 Prestige (+25 Prestige for future Legendary skills) At the same time, after confirming that my plan might work, the text felt like a distraction. Perhaps I should have felt some level of hesitance after reading all the bits about irreversibly modifying my fundamental being, but that could wait until I was safe. When the last of my tears dried, I swiped the messages away, my hammer already reigniting with flames. With an alacrity born of both desperation and salvation, I attacked the nearest pile of mental fragments, intent on giving my mind a makeover. All right. I can¡¯t rebuild the palace. Or the dungeon. And frankly, I¡¯m not sure they would help. As much as I eventually hoped to reshape my mind into something much tidier, right now, the priority was dealing with the reaper. Preferably, I would have built some incredible weapon that could pierce his barrier and mortally wound him, but that was out of the question. So far, the best I¡¯d done was a lumpy block. Siege weaponry was out of my league. For now, pretty much all I can do is a wall and maybe a small building if I can figure out roofing. The original citadel walls had been a reflection of my Mental Resistance. With any luck, bringing them back would allow the skill to operate at its full strength. In the best-case scenario, that would entirely repel the reaper, but if it didn¡¯t, maybe the extra resistance could still relieve some of the pressure on my mind. And if that didn¡¯t work, I¡¯d just need to get more creative. For now, though, it was wall-building time. After five days of sloth, dejection, and defeatism, my body rejoiced at the prospect of having something to do. With a single-minded focus bordering on obsession, I took to my task with a great fervor, repurposing the piles of mental refuse into as many bricks as I could make. Soon, dozens of blackish purple blocks sat side by side, but despite my productivity, I was dissatisfied. Both in speed and quality, I felt I was lacking. Dexterity and Perception went a long way towards making each brick uniform, but I was no smith, and it showed. Worried that I¡¯d have trouble arranging the bricks into a functioning wall if they didn¡¯t fit together nicely, I reluctantly took a brief break to search for a solution. I need a mold, I realized. The real question was what I could make it out of. Initially, I figured making one from the mental fragments wouldn¡¯t work, as it would melt at the same temperature as my bricks. Maybe I could carve a rectangle into the floor? I was pretty sure that gouging out the foundation of my mind was a bad idea, but I¡¯d already proven that the ground could repair itself over time, at least to some extent. Still, that felt a bit extreme. Was it possible to alter the material I was working with? Hex certainly had -- the Stygian Citadel made good use of dark mana, which meant it was possible to incorporate non-mental mana types into my mind. How exactly did I go about doing it, though? I spent some time running a few brief experiments. Just charging my hammer with the relevant mana didn¡¯t seem to do anything, but I supposed that made sense. If it did, I would have expected my existing blocks to be imbued with fire mana. None of my standard spells worked here, so I couldn¡¯t summon pebbles or saltwater or weigh the blocks down with Encumber. In the end, the only thing I could think to do was add mana directly, which meant relying on my External Intrinsic Mana Manipulation. My low skill level made me skeptical of my chances, but the next time I forged a brick, I kept one hand close to the ¡°metal,¡± piercing it with tiny threads of earth mana. The mana heeded my will far more readily than I would have imagined, successfully sinking into the red-hot substance. On reflection, I wondered if technically I was using my higher-leveled Advanced Internal Mana Manipulation instead. Technically, my mind was still inside of me, right? That meant I wasn¡¯t actually manipulating any mana outside my body. Over time, the metal began to take on a ruddy brownish tone, mixing with and, in some cases, overriding the existing purples and blacks. Despite the flames from the hammer constantly heating the material up, it began to lose its red glow, growing harder to manipulate. By the end of the process, the brick I created was essentially stone. Soul Forging has reached level 2! Earning a level in a Legendary skill that quickly made me wonder if I¡¯d just done something larger than I¡¯d realized. And maybe I had: I only had a limited amount of mental fragments, and I wasn¡¯t sure there was a way to undo what I¡¯d just done. I supposed, in some sense, I¡¯d just irrevocably transformed a part of my mind and soul into stone. It was an interesting avenue to explore, and I was curious to see what would happen with the rest of my mana types, but in that light, I was wary of playing around too much. From there, it took a bit longer to make my mold. Without a great option for a chisel, I was forced to get creative, first making the very best, flattest brick I could. Reheating it, I slowly added a bit of earth mana until it was still mostly metal but could withstand heat better than before. From there, I heated up a fresh batch of mental metal and plunged my perfect brick in. After adding enough earth mana to the outer casing to turn it entirely to stone, I tapped its back a few times with my hammer, ejecting the original brick. Its removal left a perfect brick-shaped depression in the stone, and voila, my mold was complete. I spent a bit more time creating a crude stone crucible, but after that, things sped up considerably. The fragments went into the crucible where they were melted. The melted metal went into the mold. Out came another brick. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Freed of my need to think or be creative, I sank back into my earlier obsessive state. It would take quite the number of bricks to form a decent-sized wall, and the days rolled on as I devoted myself to the repetitive, mind-numbing work. When I had enough, I laid down the first layer of my wall, basing its size off of my memories of the original fortress. Construction has reached level 12! Without grout, I instead opted to cheaply weld the blocks together by resting my hammer on their shared edges and briefly enhancing it with fire mana. The result would make any true welder weep, and with enough force, I could still pull the two halves apart, but for now, it would do. Increasingly, as the time passed, I grew convinced that the reaper must have been keeping me alive much like the mind spawn were. Why, I couldn¡¯t say. Maybe to wait until I cracked? If I died, I was pretty sure my mind would too, which meant it wouldn¡¯t get anything from me. That, more than anything else, was a convincing reason not to let me go to waste. Regardless, I no longer was too concerned about dying of thirst or starvation or even sleep deprivation. If it could happen, it would have happened by now. The other alternative was that I¡¯d had my subjective sense of time sped up, and all of these days were passing in the blink of an eye in the real world. I would have entertained that notion for longer were it not for the compelling evidence to the contrary. While I didn¡¯t have any system clock, there was one way the system could let me know that time had passed. It happened after what felt like weeks of work. Bricks were piled high. The wall was almost taller than me. As far as I was concerned, today was my final day of labor before I considered the structure complete. My system notifications had largely died down by this point, the routine task not enough to level either Soul Forging or Construction again. Rather unexpectedly, though, it piped back up once more before I was done. Age has reached 28! Still stuck in something of a work trance, it took me a while before it registered. I reread the single line of text over and over, mutely, until it finally hit me. ¡°Oh. It¡¯s my birthday.¡± I supposed it made sense. Verin had had hers, as had Cal. How long did that make it since we¡¯d gotten stuck here? My last birthday had been at the end of the first semester, and everything had gone to shit maybe a month before the end of the second. I still hadn¡¯t figured out if the system was counting my age in standard Earth years or not, but the difference between year lengths wasn¡¯t so large as to matter much. So about eight months? Maybe nine? While not quite there yet, we were slowly making our way towards our dungeon anniversary. I wonder who¡¯s had it worse -- me or Cal? Her last birthday had been spent running from monsters of conjured darkness, and this time around, she¡¯d turned 23 while in a temporary coma after getting cursed. By comparison, one year prior, I¡¯d gained the very Stygian Citadel skill I was presently stuck in, resulting in me screaming for three days straight as I relived my most traumatic experiences. Now, I was trapped in my own mind, possibly forever, by a horrific monster. Yeah, probably me. But it could be a good bonding topic. As long as we don¡¯t make this into a recurring thing. But then again, my birthday wasn¡¯t done yet, and there was still plenty of time for things to get better. In fact, it only took me a few more hours before I finished my birthday gift to myself. The final brick fell into place, I joined it to its brothers, and that was that. While the verbal confirmation wasn¡¯t entirely necessary for the system, I gave it nonetheless: ¡°I¡¯m done.¡± I held my breath for a moment, worried that I¡¯d done all of this for nothing, but my notifications stirred to life directly afterwards. Structure finalized. Sufficient similarity to the ¡°Citadel Walls¡± blueprint encoded in your Stygian Citadel skill. Would you like to apply this schematic? I wasn¡¯t entirely sure what that would do, but if I recalled from regular construction, buildings weren¡¯t recognized by the system unless you had a schematic for them. If my mind operated on similar principles, then I absolutely wanted to use a blueprint. As such, I confirmed. You have constructed Citadel Walls! The quality of the building is: Poor. Quality Bonuses: Initiate Construction skill - 1% Initiate Mental Magic skill - 1% Apprentice Dark Magic skill - 3% Vertical Bonus (Working on own mind) - 3% Augment of Active Involvement (Mental Resistance) - 15% Total Bonus: 23% Building Quality bumped up from a base of Poor to Passable. No extra bonuses are applied for constructing a Passable structure. Construction has reached level 13! Construction has reached level 14! Construction has reached level 15! Soul Forging has reached level 3! The harsh grading of my efforts was a bit of a let down, but it was hard to argue. Compared to the original walls, mine were a cheap copy, and that was being generous. Still, it was a wall, and it counted. Bolstered by the existing schematic somehow already contained within my skill, the wall subtly shifted, both in shape and in color, becoming a bit closer to what I recalled. Citadel Walls reactivated. Due to your damaged mind and the quality of your walls, a portion of your Mental Resistance and Soul Resistance are still partially weakened, but the bulk of their functionality has been restored. Note, the overall Stygian Citadel skill is still restricted from leveling until more repairs are completed, though some skill effects are still active. Current effects: Shrouded Barrier - Your mind is hidden from prying eyes. Citadel Walls - Strengthens your mental and soul resistances. Fused Soul - 10% of your Mental Resistance is added to your Soul Resistance and vice versa. (Deactivated) Mindling Defenders - Aids in active defense of your mind. (Deactivated) Dungeon of Tragedies - Locks away your trauma to visit at your leisure. Instantly, the pressure on my mind practically disappeared, rebuffed by the walls surrounding me. Having gotten used to it by now, I hadn¡¯t even noticed it until it departed, leaving me feeling unexpectedly spry. With proof of concept, there were all sorts of routes I could take now. If I forged a bunch of vaguely humanoid bodies, could I reactivate my Mindling Defenders? If I made a passable palace, would the overall skill reactivate and level up? Both were possibly good options for the future, but I was hoping for something far simpler and far more immediate. Climbing atop one of the mounds of mental shards I hadn¡¯t used for construction, I got enough height to leap over the walls. A hint of the reaper¡¯s pressure bore down on me, but relative to before, it was laughable. Much like last time, the force intensified with each step I took towards the dome. Unlike last time, I was more than a match for it. Halfway there, then three fourths, I fought against the reaper¡¯s insistent pushing. I had little doubt that it would have easily rebuffed me had I been invading its mind, but that was exactly the opposite of what I was doing. It was invading mine. All I was trying to do was walk to the edge of my own mental territory, so to speak, which let my resistances do the heavy lifting. Even those would have normally failed given the reaper¡¯s level in Mental Magic, but with my augments, boons, and other small boosts I¡¯d picked up along the way, my Mental Resistance was set up to hit far above its weight class. Though the final steps proved to be a struggle, at last, I arrived at the reaper¡¯s barrier. ¡°Not to jinx it, but I really hope this works.¡± With a thought, my hammer reverted to its original state, growing even as I fed it every bit of mental mana I could muster. For good measure, I threw in a little bit of death mana, too. Thankfully, the reaper didn¡¯t seem to notice my preparations. Whether that was because it wasn¡¯t watching, or because of the space¡¯s Stygian Shroud hiding me from sight, I wasn¡¯t sure, but I¡¯d take it either way. When at last the hammer was filled with as much mana as it could possibly bear, it was time. Feeling the moment deserved at least some sort of remark, I kept it nice and short. ¡°Knock, knock.¡± With all my Strength, the war hammer smashed into the dome, completely atomizing everything it came into contact with. All at once, the reaper began to frantically vibrate, tearing up the fabric of the mental space around it as it erratically pulsed in pain and rage. For all that I¡¯d damaged it, there were no signs that my attack was enough. But then again, that hadn¡¯t been the point. Even now, the barrier was starting to reform, the space I¡¯d carved out slowly filling in. But for the moment, there was a gap, and much as I¡¯d hoped, that gap let me do something rather important. No longer entirely blocked off, I escaped from my mental space. Sensation crashed into me. Even knowing that I only had a brief window before the reaper likely sealed me in my mind once more, I couldn¡¯t help but waste a second getting my bearings. On shaky limbs which hadn¡¯t moved in weeks, I rose from the ground. I didn¡¯t need to search for my adversary: He was directly in front of me. In one smooth motion, I lifted my arms above my head and summoned my hammer, overloading it with mana while swinging it down. It was funny, in a way. While I was trapped in my mind, the reaper was nigh unbeatable. The very best I¡¯d been able to do was defend myself and proverbially stub its toe now and then. Here, outside of its domain, however, it was an entirely separate matter. The head of the hammer connected with its wispy shell. With next to no resistance, it continued on. And with a great finality -- splat. In one fell swoop, the fearsome reaper was no more. You have defeated a Mind Reaper! +1280xp And with that last bit of experience, I received one more birthday gift, long overdue from the work I¡¯d been putting in. Congratulations! You have reached level 17! Rather than read through my notifications, I first bent down to tend to Cal and Verin, relieved to find them still alive and breathing. As quickly as I could, I popped every last mind spawn that clung to them. When their cries summoned more, I popped those too, until there were either none left, or simply none dumb enough to try me. Neither immediately awoke, but from what I¡¯d read, they eventually should, now that the spawns were gone. And from there, I just took a moment. Flopped to the ground. Spread my limbs out. And despite it all, I began to laugh. ¡°What a fucking awful time.¡± Filled with giant holes from being bitten by a hydra. Pumped full of poison. Attacked by a mind reaper. Trapped in my own mind. Forced into weeks of manual labor with nothing else to do. Truly, by any stretch of the imagination and by any standard of measurement, the last few weeks had sucked. Massively, wildly, epicly, sucked. And yet. I survived. I¡¯d won! I was alive, and I¡¯d discovered a way to heal my mind with my own two hands. Cal and Verin were safe. We had a chest full of loot waiting for us in my storage. I¡¯d leveled. And even more than that, the first of the four mana collection sites was only a stone¡¯s throw away. For once, it felt like things were finally looking up. As I lay there laughing to myself, one thought rose to the surface. Yeah. All in all, maybe this birthday won¡¯t be so bad after all.