《Heroes, Magic and Monsters》


 Prologue

    Goblin jumped out of the tree and started running towards me waving around with a dagger. The monster was quit small, reaching barely above human waist, but he was covered in bulging muscles. I grabbed my bow and released an arrow. It hit goblins stomach and monster screeched in pain. Without hesitation I released second arrow which went throw goblins head. He fell on the ground and stopped moving.


    I released a breath. The monster was kind of ugly with dirty clothe, that covered only his groin. Blood slowly run from his wounds, and for some reason I was surprised seeing that it was red, the same color as humans blood.


    This was my first time shooting someone with a bow, or killing someone at all, and I was happy that it worked out. Trying to stay calm I looked at goblin''s dagger. It was rusty and didn''t look very sharp, but still it was a weapon. I decided to pick it up when I heard a sound of breaking branches and several more goblins appeared. Among them was larger monster with a metal plate covering his chest, that supposed to be an armor, and a mace. A hobgoblin, an evolution of a goblin, slightly stronger level 1 monster.


    I was an elven ranger, with basic archery skill and a future hero. Armed with a bow and quiver full of arrows. And before me were just five monsters of a weaker kind. So I did the only reasonable thing. I turned around and run away. While I was running away I was cursing in my head and remembering the events that led me here.


    * * *


    It was early morning when sun shone in my eyes and woke me up. I rubbed my eyes and slowly sit up. Something was wrong. I was wearing strange close and was sleeping in the forest. Instead of a blanked I was covered with a cloak and nearby were a pair of long boots, bow and quiver full of arrows. It was kind of strange. I looked up at my hands and felt even stranger. These didn''t look like my hands. In fact they looked like a women''s hands, and I was definitely a guy.


    What was happening. Last thing I remembered I was walking on the street when I felt pain in my chest. Instinctively I touched my chest and felt women''s breasts. That was unusual feeling and reflexively I removed my hands.


    I looked at my close again. They looked fantasy like and as hard as it was to believe, was there a chance that I was reincarnated in an isekai world as a hero? Nearby was running water from a stream, so I put my boots on and walked to a stream so could take a look at my face.


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    It was definitely a women''s face. Facial features belonged to a young, attractive women eighteen or nineteen years old, and the first thing that came to my mind was that the girl was kindhearted and very likable - which wasn''t really like me. I never seen this women before, but she seemed somehow familiar. Then I saw her ears, they were pointy, an ears of an elf, and then I understood why this women looked familiar. This face and close they belonged to a game character Avone, female high elf ranger, that was one of a heroes or adventurers depending on a game scenarios that you played. So this was definitely an isekai situation.


    The game was called Heroes, Magic and Monsters, and it was one of my favorite games, that I played as a kid. Which was good and bad. Good that I now the games and hopefully this worlds rules, or at least some of them. Bad because the game focused on a hero leading an armies of soldiers or monsters, and didn''t exactly focused on a hero as individual. Which was kind of bad since I had hard time to imagine how it was supposed to work in a real world or fantasy word, well - whatever. As I remembered latest releases of a game concentrated on a hero as individual, but by then I overgrown my computer game phase and stopped playing, so I had no idea how it worked.


    Well first things first, if this was a world of Heroes, Magic and Monsters, then there were monsters and I needed a way to protect myself. I Jumped in the air, hoping that I had my level that I had in a game and was freakishly strong. But to my disappointment I jumped higher than I could, when I was a human. Elves even at level 1 were stronger than humans, but not by much, that meant that I was level 1. I said status hoping that a magical window will appear before me displaying my stats and skills, but nothing happened. No matter how hard I was thinking about it, nothing happened, which was kind of disappointing.


    Next I tried my archery skills. As I remembered Avone started with basic archery skill. All heroes could have up to ten skills, such as archery, magic or different kind of support or domestic skills and at level one started at two novice skills or one basic skill.


    My skills with a bow turned out quite good. Before reincarnating I tried shooting with a bow but I wasn''t anything special. Now I couldn''t pierce a centre of my imagined mark, but at a distance of twenty steps I could hit a target as big as a human head without missing once.


    I counted my arrows, there were two dozen in a quiver. Which I suppose was pretty good. At least I could protect myself, if it became necessary.


    I looked around hoping that there would be some kind of a sign which way I should go, but no such luck. So I drink as much water from a spring as I could, just in case and decided to go south, assuming that sun rose in the east. And around half an hour later I encountered goblins. Just my luck!

 Chapter 1. Beginning of a journey.

    I was running as fast as could, hoping to lose goblins in the forest. But the noise was following me. Goblins where screaming something in there screeching tongue, and it sounded to me like there were laughing, happily following their prey. A proper Isekai story would send me a group of adventurers that would save my life, but no such luck. I glanced back, and discovered that my running away plan was half-way working. Goblins where further back, but hobgoblin wasn''t far away. But at least there was only one hobgoblin. I turned around and took aim. Then released my arrow. It hit hobgoblins armored plated and broke. Second shoot I aimed at monsters feet. Arrow went throw hobgoblins tight and monster fell on the ground. Third arrow finished the monster by hitting its head. luckily for me, he didn''t had a helmet. Three arrows, counted I in my head. I copied some cartoon whose character always counted bullets, losing all my arrows an staying defenseless in front of monsters was one of my fears.


    Goblins released an angry cry and started running even faster. I regretted the fact that we were in a forest, In an open field I could easily kill all these monsters with my bow, but in the forest the trees were covering them and messing with my shots. So I turned around and continued running, searching for more open space. Soon I got lucky and found a small meadow. I run through it, hoping that goblins would be stupid enough to follow me by running through the meadow, instead of going around it. Just in case I hide behind a bush. Luck was on my side this time and goblins followed me directly. I stood up and released an arrow. It pierced goblins neck. Now there were only three monsters left. I was sweating, hoping that I could kill all goblins before they could reach me. They were armed with daggers, and one of them even had a small sword, unlike me who had only bow. In a close fight my chances would be quit bad, and in a fight two on one I wouldn''t stand a chance.


    Another goblin died from an arrow to the chest. Surviving goblins screamed in anger and ran as fast as they could, trying to reach me. Third goblin fell with an arrow in its stomach. Sweat was running on me like water, while I was reaching for an arrow. Last goblin was so close to me that I could smell its breath. Arrow hit monsters face and through it back a little. Just in case I hit goblin with my leg and through it even farther. Without hesitation I shoot him one more time.


    Goblin who I wounded in a stomach was still alive. It was heavily bleeding, but still slowly crawling towards me. Not wanting to take a risk I shoot the monster twice. When it stopped moving I set up on the ground. My hands where trembling and I needed some time to calm down. After calming down a little I slowly approached the monsters. They smelled, but it was tolerable, even which my elven sense of smell, which was better than humans. I collected my arrows, and cleaned them with grass. I also collected the short sword and the best of the daggers. I wanted to take with me all weapons, but decided against it. Not like I had a bottomless bag or magical inventory, where I could keep all my loot. Nothing more of value except piece of close wrapped around monsters waists they didn''t have, but I didn''t really need those.


    For a moment I considered collecting goblin ears, but decided against it. Isekai novels that I read, said, that goblin ears were proof of slayed monsters, but I didn''t know that for a fact. And the idea of carrying around bunch of bloodied ears was kind of disgusting. I also though off cutting open monster corpses searching for a magic stones, but decided against it for the same reasons.


    I traced back my steps and found a hobgoblin''s body. Unlike the other monsters it had pants and sandals. Also a small pouch that contained several coins. From the look of it they were made of copper and silver. In a game, my character had thousands of golden coins, and other coins weren''t even mentioned. Still the loot was a loot.


    Hobgoblins mace had a decent quality, but it was quit heavy. Not knowing how long I will have to travel I left it with a corpse. Monster''s breast plate also didn''t peak my interest, so I collected only the money.


    Wasn''t I suppose to level up? I didn''t feel anything, but at level one, killing half a dozen monsters should have increased my level and my stats. In the game I had level 106. It was quite high. Game didn''t exactly had an upper level, but leveling up after level one hundred was quite difficult. You had to literally kill more than a thousand dragons to level up. Which players technically could do, with an army of monsters behind their back, but there weren''t exactly many such opportunities. So reaching even level one hundred was as far as only small amount of players could reach.


    It was quite different when your character was at single digit level, when to level up players had to kill only a few low level monsters or overwhelm with their level one soldiers a high ranking monster, like a dragon or devil. But I didn''t feel anything, and no voice from the sky told me anything, which was quit disappointing.


    I continued my journey trying to move through the forest as silently as I could. To my surprise I was able to move without making a noise and leaving almost no tracks behind me.


    Avone''s race was elf, and my characters job was a ranger. Both my race and job was hunter based and forests were the best terrain for them. I managed to shoot a rabbit and after draining it''s blood and removing its skin I took the animal''s body with me. Luckily for me I spent some time in the village and knew how to skin an animal. I was planning to eat it, but the problem was, that I had no fire, and had no idea how to start one. I read somewhere that it is possible to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, however, to start a fire with sticks humans needed more than 15 minutes, and I wasn''t sure that I had enough patience. Another possibility was eating the meet raw, but I wasn''t that hungry yet.


    Soon after killing a rabbit I got lucky and discovered a road. It was just a dirt road. but that was good for me since I could see a carriage tracks. Somehow my ranger job allowed me to read tracks. Mostly road contained two kinds of tracks ones were deeper. Which meant that heavier carts were traveling one way and lighter were mostly traveling different way. After thinking a while I decided that probably there were peasants or merchants who delivered there goods or food to the town and then left with empty carts. The rod went through the forests plains. I was already walking several hours, but didn''t met anyone, what started to worry me, when I finally saw a town in a distance. Sun was already setting, but I reached the town before sunset. I considered it lucky, since from what I considered that most cities would close there gates after sunset, and I had no desire to spent a night outside the town, in a forest where I could be attacked by monsters.


    I had no idea what town that was. In a proper Isekai story protagonist reincarnated to the game, would have rudimentary knowledge about the world, and the locations. But Heroes, Magic and Monsters game had many different scenarios with different maps. Worst than that in those scenarios cities often had the same name, but located in different maps. The common idea was that the world of Heroes, Magic and Monsters had three continents inhabited by humans, elves, dwarves, beastmen and demon races. But the smaller maps were changed and the world map only showed three continents and there shapes, so I couldn''t even guess where I am right now.


    Town had a medieval feeling, surrounded by a large stone wall that was at least four meters high. The gate was guarded by two soldiers armed with spikes and swords. Guards wore dented armor and were European looking. In the evening there was no movement at the gate and I was the only person who wanted to enter the town. On my way to the town I threw away the rabbit corpse, since I wasn''t shore what to do with it, when I entered the town.


    I worried about the language for a moment, but then I realized that for some reason I speak one more language. I thought about it for a moment and understood that I can also use runes to read and write. Which was quit convenient, but probably came along with Avone''s background.


    As I approached the gate I smiled at the guard and both of the guards smiled back. There expression became friendly and they seemed eager to help me.


    I remembered my favorites characters description. In the game all heroes had back stories and Avone''s was something like:


    "The kindhearted Avone was a pure blooded high elf. She was beloved and respected by her brethren elves. Avone was the envy of women and desire of men. Her beguiling charms and sense of duty made her well liked through the continent and allowed her to raise money and support for her adventures."


    It was quit helpful in the beginning of the adventures, since it allowed her receive greater rewords and better conditions for the quests. But in the long run that wasn''t very helpful. The Heroes description or a profile was a bonus skill that only Heroes or playable characters receive. Most of them were swordmasters, genius magicians, or had increased stats. They had a background that gave them basic magic skills, or allowed them move their troops more efficiently. The only reason why I choose Avone''s character was because I thought that her profile looked great.


    But I guess you take what you have. My smile became wider as I greeted the soldiers.


    - Good evening, brave soldiers, may I enter your beautiful town.


    - Of course, but we will need to see your identification documents.


    - Oh, I''m sorry, but I don''t have any. You see I left my village hoping to see the wider world and became an adventurer. So this is the first human town that I am visiting. Will that be a problem, - I tried to show concern on my face, hoping that this story will be believable.


    - Of course not, - one of the soldiers smiled, trying to encourage me: - That''s not a problem but you will have to pay a copper coin in that case. I''m sorry, but that''s the rule for everyone who does not have any documents or adventurers tag.


    Internally I smiled. Bet this was the first time, that the guard apologized to anyone for asking them money.


    - That is fine, - I removed a copper coin from my wallet and gave it to the guard: - Oh, and could you recommend me a tavern, something clean, but cheap, and also tell me where I can find an adventurers guild?


    - Of course, - guard smiled, happy to be of help: - If you want to became an adventurer them you will probably want to stay in Silver shield tavern. Its located farther down this street, then you take third turn left, and fourth turn right. The adventurers guild is located not far away from the tavern, you will easily see it. It''s one of the few three-story buildings in the town.


    I thanked the guard and followed his directions. The street was covered by stone. The town was dirty, but not too much, and in general was well maintained. Few shops and food stands, that I saw, where already closing. There were some children playing in the street, what gave me a feeling that the town was reasonably safe. Buildings where build from wood and had one or two floors. Only few buildings where made from the stone.


    I easily recognized the tavern, it had no written name, but there was a sign with a drawing of a silver shield above a door. From the inside I heard sounds of music, and laughter. I entered the tavern and stopped on a doorstep looking around.


    In a corner there was a bard singing a song about a prince saving a princess from a dragon. Most of the room was filled with tables and chairs occupied by men and several women, who looked like a proper adventurers. One side of the room was left for a bar counter behind which there was a several barrels and a door, judging from the smell, it led to the kitchen. On the left side were located stairs to the second floor. The room was illuminated with several lamps inside which where magical stones.


    I hesitated for a moment when a cute looking waitress noticed me.


    - Are you new here? - she smiled at me. Waitress wore a long dress and an apron, covered by dirty stains: - Do you wish to have some food or are you looking for the room.


    - Both, - I answered: - Can I get a room and have food delivered upstairs?


    It would be more beneficial for me to eat downstairs, but I was cute looking girl, an in the tavern full of drunken adventurers it could lead to a trouble, which I wanted to avoid as much as possible.


    - I was long time on the road, and I''m quit tired, - my explanation seem to work and waitress smiled at me.


    - Of course. Room will cost you four copper coins and three more for the dinner.


    - That''s fine, - I reached into my pouch and gave the waitress silver coin, hoping that it be enough.


    Waitress turned around and called towards the kitchen.


    - Tom come here!


    A young boy who looked twelve to fourteen years old run from the kitchen and approached as.


    - Take the young lady upstairs and show her an empty room, then bring her some dinner.


    - Yes ma''m, - answered the boy and looked at me. When he saw my face, his eyes became round from surprise. Guess he''s that age.


    - Let''s go, - I smiled at him and beckoned towards the stairs. Tom nodded and run in front of me, shoving me the way. Few eyes followed me, but no one tried to stop me.


    The second floor had a long corridor with doors on both sides. Tom opened the second door on the left side and stepped aside.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    - Here you go ma''m, I''ll bring the food write away.


    - Thank you, - I smiled at him and entered the room. The room had a bed covered with straw and a bad sheet. There was also a single chair and small table. I put my cloak on the chair and sit down on the bed. To my surprise it was quite comfortable. I rested my legs which were tired from all the walking, but not too much. The door had no lock, but there was a wooden plate, which could be used to lock the door.


    Soon someone knocked at the door and Tom came inside holding a tray with food. He put it on the table and looked at me. I had a feeling that the boy had a hard time to take away his eyes from me.


    - Anything else ma''m?


    - I would like to wash myself? Is it possible?


    - Of course, it will cost you a copper coin.


    I dropped a boy a coin and after he left approached the table. The dinner consisted of a plate of soup, piece of bread and a mug diluted ale. The soup wasn''t to my liking, but it was good enough to eat, and I was very hungry. Just as I finished the dinner, Tom came inside and brought me a bowl of water and piece of cloth, to wash myself with. No bath here. After Tome left I locked the door and removed my clothe. They consisted of boots, which covered my knees and were difficult to take off, pants, shirt, leather vest and underwear which consisted of two cloth pieces were wrapped around me. After taking a middle age bath I fell asleep making plans for tomorrow.


    * * *


    I woke up quit late and had some trouble dressing myself with an unusual clothe. After some testing and experimenting I finally dressed myself and went downstairs. Tavern was almost empty only few customers sitting in the corners of a tavern. The same waitress as yesterday approached me and I ordered a breakfast. It costed me three copper coins and after I used a silver coin to pay, waitress gave me a change of six copper coins. So my yesterday''s guess was right. At this point, I still had enough money to several days, but then I would be out of money. I had to procure me some way to get income. So adventurers guild it is.


    Adventures guild stood out as the only three floor, stone building in the area, so it was easy to find. Inside the guild were many tables occupied by a few adventurers. Most of them were humans but there were also few dwarves and also beastmen. I approached one of the girls who worked behind the counter.


    - Welcome to the adventurers guild, - receptionist smiled at me: - How can I help you?


    Receptionist was in her twenties, a little bit taller than me, with long golden hair and pleasant looks. Kind of clich¨¦ of a fantasy world, smiled I inside me.


    - I would like to register as an adventurer, - I replied, and she nodded at me.


    - Registration will coast you one silver coin, and we will need to test your skills, if you want to start with higher rank?


    Guess the encounter with those goblins, was quit lucky, without money that I get from them, things would be quite difficult for me, I wouldn''t even be able to enter the town or register at the guild.


    Higher rank meant better jobs with higher pay, so agreed to that and handed the receptionist silver coin.


    - Please fill this form, - she handed me peace of parchment, quill an bottle with ink. Since I could use runes, that wasn''t a problem for me. Registration required only basic information, such as name and race, job, birth place and age were optional, so I filled only job section.


    After reading the information, receptionist nodded at me.


    - My name is Leone, miss Avone please follow me.


    She took me to a conference room and after me sat down at the table handed me a small crystal:


    - Please hold this crystal, it will measure your level and record your skill.


    I did as told and after holding crystal for a while, handed it back to Leone.


    She put the spell on the table and waved her hand over it. Information displayed in runes appeared over it and Leone wrote down the information.


    - Oh, you already have basic Archery skill, which means we can assign you rank E. Adventures have ranks, starting at F, followed by E, D, C, B, A and S. I also see that you have killed some monsters and acquired part of their life force, so you can level up now. Sadly our leveling crystal is on the lone for a church. Ordinarily you can increase your level in the Adventurers guild, but for the time being, you will need to go to a church. Since church is using our crystal, just show them your adventurers tag and you found have to pay them for using a crystal, since usually Adventurers can increase their levels for free in the guild.


    So in this world adventurers leveled up by acquiring monster life energy, and using some king of a crystal. It was different from a game, were heroes automatically leveled up by killing enemies and gathering experience points.


    Leone took handed me a small tag, made from copper.


    - Adventurers tag will require a drop of your blood to complete registration, and serve as proof of your identity. It will also allow you to enter cities, without paying the fee.


    I used my knife, to slice to cut a finger, and after my blood fell on the tag it shined for a while. Leone nodded and handed me over the adventurers tag.


    - That has completed your registration. You can increase your adventurers rank by successfully completing ten jobs of your rank or five jobs of higher rank. You can only take jobs one rank higher than your, but if you do not complete the job, you will need to pay a fine.


    Leone started explaining me guilds rules, and I tried to listen carefully.


    - If you do not take any jobs, but prefer to hunt monsters in the dungeon, for their crystals, then adventurers can level up by reaching level 5 for rank E, level 10 for D, 20 for C and 20 more levels for every ranking after that. Rank S is reserved for special cases and require recommendations. Since you will start with rank E, in order to increase your rank you will need to reach level ten or complete guild quests.


    I quickly did the math. So the middle level adventurer had a level between 20 to 40. My game level of 120 would make me a real monster. Which made sense, since at that point my strength points where twice as large as a dragons.


    - If you join a party, then your party level will increase by completing the jobs, but your individual level will increase depending on your level, - continued the receptionist: - Are available jobs are posted in the guild main room. The proof of completing the job is determined by the quest. Dungeon monster magic cores you can sell to as directly or you can go to e merchant directly, that will be your choice.


    - You said dungeon core monsters, so the monsters in the forest don''t have them?


    - Yes, only monsters who appear in the dungeon have magic cores. Destroying the magic core will also kill the monster, but you won''t get paid then.


    As I remembered the lore of the game, the world of Heroes, Magic and Monsters was battlefield for Chaos and Order, represented by evil god Lucifer and Gods of Light. Dungeons were creations of Chaos magic and suddenly appeared in places rich of mana. Dungeons gave birth to monsters and randomly created artifacts inside them. Left uncheck dungeons could create a monster stampede. Since dungeon monsters fed on mana in the Dungeons or other living beings, then if the adventurers didn''t regularly kill monsters, their numbers would increase and they wouldn''t have enough mana in the Dungeon to sustain themselves. Once that happened, monsters would leave the Dungeon and kill everyone in their way, including other creatures as well. The only difference between dungeons monsters and outside creatures was that dungeon monsters were created by dungeons magic and had magic stones inside them, while other creatures were born, mostly like humans. In order to level up adventurers or creatures had to kill other living beings who had mana, so killing Dungeon monsters was good way to level up. While killing ordinary animals wouldn''t allow anyone to absorb opponents life force, and wouldn''t allow to increase the levels. The problem was that anyone with mana could had access to magic or increased stats. Anyone who had mana could potentially learn how to use magic, but skills and stats increased human and creatures natural abilities. As an elf I was naturally stronger than regular humans, but increased strength stats would make me even stronger, just like magic related skills would make spells more powerful and use less mana. For someone like me hunting alone would be very dangerous, since most of the creatures would potentially be much stronger than me and I wouldn''t stand a chance against any mid-ranking magician.


    - Could you recommend me any adventurers party, who would be looking for an archer? - I asked receptionist.


    She thought for a while: - Not now, but you can join monster extermination quest if you would like. Several adventurer parties will be participating, along with other low ranking adventurers.


    - What kind of a quest is it?


    - One of the noble lords wants to expand his territories. In most cases the new settlement is created by the villagers, but there were many cases when the villages are destroyed by the monsters or bandits. Some of the lords started first hiring adventurers to scout the lands and exterminate the monsters to ensure that the lands are safe. We have one such quest posted, adventurers will be departing tomorrow, and anyone can join this quest. It is considered low ranking quest, so the pay isn''t very large, for that reason mostly low ranking adventurers and their parties are participating.


    - I see, then I would like to participate as well.


    - Very well, - nodded Leone: - I will register you, you will be leaving day after tomorrow after sunrise, from the east gate. One of the noble attendant''s will be going with you, and you will receive all the specific details from him. Do you have any other questions? I will be happy to answer the for you. Also if you need any information in the future, you can ask me or any other guild receptionist. As a registered adventurer you can also have free access t guilds reference room in our town or any other.- If I want to learn any battle related or magic related skills, is there a place where I can do that?


    - Yes of course, there are several schools in our town, were anyone can learn battle related skills. If you want to learn how to use new magic spells you will need to visit magic guild.


    - And what are their prices?


    - You will need several gold coins, if any of those places.


    - I see, - I sighted internally. So, no new skill for me now. I''ll have to complete quests or risk dungeon diving first: - Could you tell me where the church is located, I would like to increase my level, and after words I want to visit the guilds reference room.


    - Guild''s reference room is located on the second floor, first door on the left. You can visit it any time, but please don''t take any books or parchments outside.


    I nodded and Leone explained me how to find the church. After saying goodbyes I left the adventurers guild and visited the church. It was a large building, almost a castle, with many towers, build not for defense, but to impress commoners.


    The entrance was too large doors, and the first room was large, with high ceilings. The walls and ceiling had many ornaments, telling the stories of the gods and ancient heroes.I waited a while looking around until I saw one of priests. He was a tall, bearded man dressed in white priest robes.


    - Greetings traveler. How may I assist you?


    - Good day father, I was told that I can use your leveling crystal here and increase my level.


    - Of course my child. But if this is your first time of increasing your level, I should probably worn you that you after increasing your level, gods will grant you a skill, or increase an existing one. You will be given two choices, and will have to chooses one, or gods will choose one of them for you. As you probably now, the number of skills you can possess is limited, and you can''t change them afterwards.


    I bitted my lover lip. So the skills in this world worked the same way they worked in the game. One person could acquire ten skills, and once you had them, they were set and impossible to change. There were three ways to acquire skills, by leveling up, completing the quest, or learning them from a teacher or in some sorts of academy. When someone completed a quest or paid for lessons they learn a specific skill and had a choice to learn it or not. But it was different when heroes leveled up. They get a choice from to random skills, and didn''t have another choice, but to choose one of them. It was kind of a problem since skills were useful when used in a right time.


    For example there was a shipping skill which was useful when the scenario was in the ocean with islands. Heroes ships sailed faster and soldiers were more efficient in sea battles. But if the scenario was in the middle of the continent, were hero traveled only in deserts, forests, dungeons or swamps, then shipping skill was completely worthless. Similarly where skills which seemed useful, but were only at lower levels. First aid skill could be used to heal your armies soldiers, but a high ranking water magic or light magic skill user could use heal spell, which also removed status ailments, making first completely redundant.


    I had a choice to level up and forced on me a choice of choosing a skill, hoping for a luck of a draw or refuse to level up. Of course leveling up could also offer a hero to level up existing skill, since all skills had four levels, novice, basic, advanced and master. But it was the same luck of a draw.


    I could acquire skill first by completing the quests, paying someone to teach me or learning at the academy, but in order to do that I needed money, or strength to complete the quest, which required me to become stronger, by increasing my stats, and for now I only could do that by leveling up. Not so good choices all around.


    - Yes, I want to increase my level, regardless, - I answered the priest.


    - Very well, it will cost you three copper coins, - nodded the priest.


    - I was told that adventurers do not have to pay a fee, - I shoved a priest my adventurers tag and he nodded.


    - Of course, sadly our leveling crystal was stolen, and Adventurers guild loaned as their crystal, so all the people of the town could use it. Please follow me.


    Priest took me to a back of the church and used a key to open the door. The room inside was almost empty, with exception of a human head sized crystal on a pedestal in the middle of it.


    - Please put your hands on the crystal, - ordered the priest.


    I approached the crystal and put both of my hands on it. For a while nothing happened, but then bunch of words and numbers appeared in front of me.


    Elf, LV 1 - LV 2


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:


    Health: 3 - 5;


    Mana: 10 - 20;


    Strength</a>: 0 - 1;


    Defense</a>: 0 - 1;


    Spell power: 0;


    Luck: 0 - 1;


    Speed: 6;


    Morale: Neutral


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Archery (Advanced);- Artillery (Novice);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    So I get Artillery which allowed me more efficient use of my armies ballista, or I could increase my Archery skill. Not so bad, Artillery skill was useless to me, since I had no armies, but increasing my archery skill was good choice. I chose Archery (Advanced) and numbers disappeared.


    I really wanted to increase my speed, so I could run away or move faster, but for some reason in the game speed was the only ability which didn''t increase after leveling up. The only way to increase heroes or monsters speed was by evolution or using the artifacts. At least the rest of my stats got a boost.


    I thanked the priest, and left the church. The rest of two days I spend in the guilds reference room, learning as much information as I could. Adventurers guild had many books and parchments, with information about monsters, other races, some maps and basic information about surrounding cities and lands. It was very useful for me, since there were many differences from the game world. According to the books this world had three continents. Griffin continent where I found myself right now. Demon continent located north, and Barbarian continent located north-west. This kingdom was called Ashgrin and the town''s name was Grimsburg. Grimsburg was small town in the east of the kingdom. Farther east were uninhabited lands, and lords of Ashgrin who wanted to increase their territories tried to establish settlements in the uninhabited lands. But most of these settlements were destroyed by raiders or monsters so this time one of the lords decided to hire adventurers to scout the lands first.

 Chapter 2. First quest.

    Two days later I approached east gate, carrying backpack with supplies for a few days. I wanted to bay a magic bag, but they were out of my price range, so I spend the rest of my money on supplies, such as food, water canteen, flint and cross. I also visited the blacksmith and traded my short sword and goblin knife for a decent dagger.


    At the east gate already gathered a dozen adventurers. Most of them were humans, but among them was also four beastmen, two catgirls, lizardman and a gnoll.


    Among them only two human adventurers, one male and one female had magic staffs and seem to be magicians. Rest of the adventurers were warriors mostly armed with spears and swords and wearing cheap light armor.


    We waited for a while longer, but no one showed up. One of the men went in front of us and everyone stopped talking.


    - My name is Shirzan, I serve lord Gilliazar from hose of Ulek, - the man was dressed in good quality clothes and were an iron breastplate. In the hilt of his stone was a gemstone, and the weapon was probably a low level magic sword. Shirzan took a good look at us and continued: - My lord wants to create a new settlement in the east woods and you were hired to clear those lands from hostile creatures and determine if the land is safe for human settlement. The land that my lord has chosen is located five days walk to the east. I will be party''s leader. Now please introduce yourselves and state what kind of job you excel at.


    Everyone introduced themselves and states their abilities. Like I thought only two among as were magicians. Both magicians were part of a parties of four, the rest of us were solo adventurers. Catgirls introduced themselves as scouts, the rest were warriors. Technically my Ranger job made me also a scout, but I wasn''t confident in my scouting abilities and I didn''t have any scouting skill, so I introduced myself as an archer.


    Shirzan nodded satisfied with everyone.


    - I will deploy a proper formation of our party once we approach the uninhabited lands. Now let''s move out.


    No one had horses or any other mounts. All adventurers carried their baggage in backpacks or bags, just like me. Our party left the town and started walking, taking the road that went to the east. First few days of our journey were uneventful. We passed several villages, but most of the road took us threw woods, plains and grain fields. Adventurers that were party members, mostly spend time with their party members, there were few arguments on the road, but they didn''t lead to fistfights. I spend most of the time by myself observing other adventurers, and learning their strengths and weaknesses. Several time I left the party and together with two catgirls hunted in the surrounding woods. Catgirls were named Nassy and Luara. Their wore minimal amount of close, and were armed with short swords and daggers. Nassy was part of a party together with female magician, gnoll and party leader - male warrior.


    Catgirls were excellent scouts and trackers, and together we were able to hunt several rabbits and a dear. Rabbits we eat ourselves, but we shared the dear with the rest of the party, which increased our popularity.


    On the first day we reached the current border land settlement of the Ashgrin kingdom. The settlement was surrounded by two meters high wooden fence and on both sites of the settlement, near the gates, was located a watchtower. Several kids were sitting on the watchtower and when we approached the gates villagers representative, along with several armed peasants,  came out of the village.


    Shirzan talked to the villagers and then came back to us.


    - Villagers say that they have spotted goblin bandits nearby. From now on we will have to be careful. There are no more roads after this village, and this is the last settlement that we will see. Scouts will go ahead and check the way. While the rest of us will follow them. Mages, me, and archer will be going in the middle of the party surrounded by warriors, and provide support, in case of attack, while the rest of you will protect them.


    The rest of adventurers nodded, since that was a reasonable plan, and party leaders ordered the placement of their men. I took my place in the middle of a party and we continued our journey.


    Everyone was on alert and talking was minimal. Uninhabited lands had a bad reputation, being infested by monsters and bandits.


    Nassy and Luara disappeared in the forest, and I felt relief, that I didn''t have to be one of the scouts. The day approached evening when Luara came back and approached Shirzan.


    - We located goblin camp. Nassy is keeping an eye on them.


    - What are their numbers, and do they have any mages? - asked Shirzan.


    - More than twenty, didn''t see any mages but several hobgoblins among them.


    Shirzan thought for a while, and we waited for his decision. Goblins weren''t monsters. They were one of the races who inhabited this world. They had their own kingdom in a different continent and were almost as intelligent as humans. But they were wild creatures who preferred raiding and pillaging instead of working. That''s why so many of goblins became bandits and scourge of human settlements. Many humans even classified them as monsters instead of one of the equal races. The goblin bandits in our way had numbers, but most of them were weaker than humans, and we had an element of surprise.


    - Mages, can you cast any wide range attacks? - finally asked Shirzan.


    Male mage shook his head: - I can use Magic arrow, but not a high ranking or wide area spells.


    - I can use Slow spell, but I will need to cast it twice to affect both goblins and hobgoblins, and I won''t have any mana left afterwards, - answered Myne, the female mage from a second party.


    Magic arrow was basic attack spell, so called first level spell, which most of the mages could use. It was even less useful than my bow, since it could be used to attack only one opponent and it took longer to cast it than shoot an arrow. The Slow spell used on a wide range could affect several creatures of a single species, and decreased their movement speed. In order to cast that spell at wide range, mage needed at least advanced level of Earth magic skill, which was quite high, for a low level adventurer.


    - Fine. Godrick and Evan take your parties and attack goblins from south and north sides. The rest of us will take east side. We will start our attack as soon as the mage casts her slow spell. First use your spell on hobgoblins, and only then on goblins. The archer and second mage will support us during attack. If goblins will try to escape, don''t follow them, our main goal is to decrease their number so that they don''t pose the treat anymore.


    We separated and I was left with Shirzan, lizardman and two newbie adventurers. I prepared my bow and arrow and we slowly approached goblin camp. Most of the goblins were sleeping, while several of them were sitting by the fire and eating meat. Luckily for us goblins didn''t expect an attack or were simple lazy and there were no lookouts. Goblins were dressed in dirty remnants of close, armed with rusted swords and long daggers. There were also four hobgoblins. They wore pieces of mismatching armor and were armed with maces and clubs. One of them had long sword and helmet. I guessed that it was their leader and choose him as my first target.


    We hid behind the trees until the earth started to bubble under the hobgoblins legs. Goblins looked at it with surprise, until their leader roared at them, realizing that this was an attack. Second moment my arrow pierced his neck and goblin leader fell on earth. I could call it a lucky shot, but my shooting improved a lot, after I increased my Archery skill.


    Several goblins grabbed their weapons while the rest of them only started to wake up. Two newbie adventurers screamed, what they probably thought a battle cry and attacked the goblins. Lizardman run alongside them, but Shirzan stayed behind, observing the attack.


    The rest of adventurer warriors attacked the shocked bandits and soon spilled first blood. Goblins couldn''t properly defend themselves. They panicked even more when a spear of light pierced one of them, sent by a male magician. Soon after the beginning of a battle earth bubbled below goblins legs, and their movement speed became much slower. Second Slow spell affected not all goblins, probably mage didn''t have enough mana for that, but almost two thirds of them were affected. Hobgoblin were killed by a parties leaders, while the rest of adventurers dealt with goblins. I managed to kill one more goblin, before bandits tried to run away. Sadly for them the Slow spell left them no chance of surviving. Three of the goblins, who were not slowed down by a spell almost managed to escape, but two of them died from my arrows, while the third was killed by magic arrow.


    We didn''t suffer any casualties, only few light cuts on two newbie adventurers.


    - Well done, - congratulated as Shirzan, who entered the battlefield, after bandits were defeated.


    - That was easy, thanks to Myne''s spell, - commented Godrick. He was cleaning his sword, while the rest of adventurers went through the bandit possessions.


    - Yes, yes, that was quite good. Luckily for us goblins aren''t such a big threat. We still have daylight left, so let''s take a short break and continue on our way.


    I approached the hobgoblin leader, hoping to search him for anything of value, but lizardman already removed his wallet, and was searching his body for more loot. He angrily glared at me with his vertical pupils. Technically it was my kill, but it''s not like there were set rules about robbing the dead. I took a look at hobgoblins sword. It was of a decent quality, but too heavy, and too big for me to carry around. So I removed my arrow from hobgoblins neck and went to collect the rest of my arrows. Lizardman continued searching the leaders body, putting anything of value in his pockets. I collected the rest of my arrows, sadly one of them was broken, and I had to threw it away. Arrows coasted money which I didn''t have, and I couldn''t replace them so easily. I did a mental note to myself, run to search dead enemies as soon as I can, or I will be in the red after this quest.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    We took a shirt brake and continued with our journey. Adventurers happily discussed their victory, and I was the only one in a bad mood, since I failed to acquire leaders wallet. The only thing I gained was leader life force, but I lost an arrow, and they didn''t grow on trees.


    We had to camp in the forest, and Shirzan ordered to double our lookouts up to four adventurers. We all took turns during the night, with exception of Shirzan, who spent the night sleeping. The sky was clear and moon was approaching it''s fool moon faze. I discovered that my eyesight was better at night, than it used to be, probably because of my elven blood. My supplies were coming to an end, and I hoped to hunt some animals for food. The rest of adventurers probably were planning to buy supplies from villages on our way back, but I wasn''t in a position to do that.


    Next day we approached the lands, that were chosen by the lord Gilliazar for his newest settlement.


    - We will make a camp here and search these lands, - ordered Shirzan: - For the time being we will stay together, but if we won''t find signs of any dangerous creatures, we will separate, to make observation more efficient. Scouts stay close to the party, and worn us immediately if you notice something.


    Nassy and Luara nodded and disappeared in the forest without making a sound. Their feline sense of smell increased their scouting abilities, and both catgirls felt in the forest like at home. Both of them were E class adventurers and were close to level up, and become a D class professionals.


    We searched the forest, but all I saw were animal tracks. Day was approaching the evening when our scouts returned with news.


    - We found a cave, there are big animal tracks in front of it, but it''s hard to tell what kind of creature it is, - reported Nassy.


    - Could be a bear or something worse, - added Luara.


    - We will have to check it out, and kill the creature, whoever it is. Show us the way! -ordered Shirzan.


    We silently approached the cave and took a look at it from a distance. In front of the cave was a clearing. That would make us easy to spot, from inside the cave. The entrance was almost round, and about three meters in diameter. There were some tracks in front of it, but I had no idea to whom they belonged. We retreated after observing the area and gathered around Shirzan.


    - It would be great to attack the creature while its sleeping, but there is no guarantee that we will catch it during the nap. And it is too dangerous to fight it in a cave. So we will lure it out. You, - he pointed at the female mage: - Will use your Slow spell on it, and then the rest of us will overwhelm it with your attacks.


    We nodded agreeing with this plan. Shirzan turned out be a competent leader, and I liked the side of him - keeping his own well being first. That way, as an archer, I could stay besides him, without taking unnecessary risks.


    - Understood, - nodded Godrick and we went back to the cave.


    As we approached the cave adventurers started talking among themselves, making as much noise as possible. I kept an arrow on the string, closely eyeing the entrance, but no one appeared. We walked past the entrance few more times, but still no one came out.


    "Maybe no one''s home" thought I, when one of the adventurers screamed in fear. A body flew past me and slammed into Myne, knocking female magician of her legs. I belatedly recognized male magician, his head was a mess of brain matter and bones, and he was definitely dead. I took a look behind me and saw huge, red skinned creature with fat belly. It was a troll. He was holding a huge club and used it to hit another warrior. Newbie adventurer flew away from the troll and slummed into the tree. I heard his bones breaking, and froze for a moment. The noise that we were making, worked against us, and we failed to notice the creature, who approached us from behind. Trolls were partly intelligent, and this one recognized magicians and took care of our best chance of taking him down.


    - Attack! - screamed Godrick.


    -  Scatter! - shouted Evan at the same time.


    Instead of taking charge and giving orders Shirzan took off and run away from the troll.


    Adventurers froze for a moment trying to decide whose orders to follow and it coasted us one more party member. Creature again used his club and bashed in another''s human head. For his size troll moved very fast, he was even faster than me, and I was faster than most humans. With trembling hands I released my arrow and it hit trolls stomach.


    My arrow barely pierced troll''s skin. Creature''s skin was very thick and worked as a leather armor. Godrick cursed and launched an attack on troll. His two handed sword slashed against troll''s leg and left a deep wound.


    Blood started to run down the troll''s leg and creature roared in pain. The rest of adventurers screamed in joy and joined the attack. I run away to increase my distance from them. Armed with bow I was more useful in the back, and I had no desire to fight this monster head on.


    Adventurers surrounded the creature and attacked him from all sides. Troll was covered in wounds, but none of them was lethal or serious. Troll''s skin was too hard to pierce for the low level adventurers. Even worse I noticed that the first wound inflicted by Godrick started to close. Trolls had regeneration ability, that gave them surprising longevity in combat. The only way to kill a troll was to inflict a lethal wound, anything less and they would regenerate and continue the battle. Another adventurer failed to dodge troll''s attack, and the club broke most of his ribs. Adventurers body fell on the gnoll and temporarily made him defenseless. Troll concentrated on killing the gnoll, and Godrick screamed trying to distract the creature. I also released my arrow and it went inside creature''s neck. Troll pulled out the arrow, and it gave time for Godrick to slice troll''s leg. Creature screamed in pain and turned around to face Godrick. Nassy in the meantime helped gnoll to remove body from him and dragged gnoll away from the troll. The rest of adventurers continued their attacks, but troll''s light cuts already started to regenerate. It was a matter of time since another adventurer would make a mistake and die by creatures hands.


    I run towards the Myne. Female magician was still alive, but unconscious. She probably hit her head when the dead body slammed into her. I searched her bag and find a vile with red liquid. A healing potion. I pour the liquid on her wound and it healed in front of my eyes. Myne moaned and opened her eyes.


    - Get up, we need you! - I gently shook her hand and Myne looked around. When she saw the battle Myne grabbed her staff and started to concentrate on a spell. In the meantime troll managed to grab Nassy and picked her up. Catgirl screamed in fear, but it was too late. Troll squeezed his hand and we all heard the sound of Nassy''s neck breaking.


    Myne shivered in pain and sorrow, but continued casting her magic. Troll threw away catgirl''s body and roared in triumph. Godrick cursed and squeezed the hilt of his sword.


    Then familiar earth bubbles appeared beneath troll. Godrick and Evan launched their attacks and wounded troll''s legs. Troll tried to retaliate, but his movements were too slow. Now that adventurers could concentrate more on offence, their attacks became stronger with more powerful slashes. Slower troll made also better target for my arrows. I concentrated on my shot as hard as I could and managed to pierce troll''s eye. I would never be able to do that without my skill''s assistance.


    Troll screamed in pain and grabbed his face. Creatures momentary distraction created an opening for an attack and adventurers didn''t miss their chance. Several blades pierced creatures legs and troll fell on the ground. While troll was standing, towering over adventurers, his neck was a hard target, but now he became motionless target. Godrick and Evan needed several blows, to kill the troll, but even then his head was partially attached to the body. But even troll''s regeneration ability couldn''t save him this time. Adventures fell on the ground, exhausted by the battle. Myne silently cried, over Nassy''s body.


    I looked around. Shirzan stood farther away watching the battle, from behind the tree. Seeing that it was over, he slowly approached the adventurers. I silently left the adventurers and entered the cave. This time I won''t miss my chance to gather the loot. I bravely, well fine, carefully entered the cave, ready to release an arrow the moment I saw any movement. The cave was quit big, even bigger, than it seemed from the outside. Probably troll enhanced it, to make it more comfortable for himself. It stink with the smell of rotten meat, and I wanted to vomit. Part of the cave''s floor was covered with bones. It was a mix of human, animal, beastmen and even monster bones. Among them were clothes, weapons and pieces of armor. Probably the property of unlucky adventures and other unlucky travelers who run into the troll. I dug around the bones, but all I found was few copper coins. Then I got lucky and found a dagger. Its handle was either gold or gold plated and had two gemstones on the sides. I couldn''t tell what kind of gemstones they were, can''t really tell the difference between a ruby and emerald, but dagger looked very expensive. I hid it inside my boot and went outside.


    Shirzan was walking around the troll looking at creatures body.


    - Didn''t think that group of adventurers would have so much trouble with single troll, - he commented and adventurers glared at their employer. We lost four members of our party, which was a third of our numbers. Even worse, we lost one magician and one of our scouts. Another such battle could be the end of our party. The main reason for our loses was the fact that troll launched on us a surprise attack, not the other way around. But no one wanted to hear such criticism after losing their friends.


    - Well at least we managed to kill a dangerous creature. We will spend a night here and then continue with our mission.


    - What? You still want to continue? - expressed his reservations Evan. Just like Godrick he lost a party member, and was in no mood to continue.


    - We still have enough members, and we just started surveying these lands. If we return right now, your mission will be incomplete.Adventurers grumped among themselves. Of course every time they went on the mission they risked their lives and were theoretically prepared to lose a comrade, but it was different, when it actually happened. Everyone heard about the parties who lost their members in a monster fight, but all adventurers assumed that it won''t happen to them.


    - Don''t worry. I am a level ten myself. I also have a swordsman skill and my job is a knight job.


    "Then why did you hide during the battle" thought I to myself, probably the same as the others. But the fact that he had both swordsman skill and knight job was impressive. All humans, demi-humans and creatures had jobs. But out of hundred humans and demi-humans ninety nine had a commoner job. Only one out of one hundred had more specialized job. The job improved ones natural abilities and determined what random skills will appear during leveling up. Commoners, even if they worked as adventurers or soldiers, had to choose between Cooking, Carpenter or if they got lucky something like Merchant skill. While someone with knight job, would have a choice between Swordsmanship, Leadership or Armorer skill. My ranger job also helped me to better orient in the woods, better read tracks and improved my aim with the bow. If Shirzan had high enough Swordsmanship skill, then at level ten he would be quite strong. Even stronger if he wielded magic sword. Which would be useless to us if he didn''t participated in the battles.


    Myne was still crying over catgirls body, and Godrick approached her trying to calm her dawn.


    - First we take care of our dead, - harshly said Godrick, and Shirzan agreed, with displeasure on his face.


    Several adventurers entered the cave, lizardman among them, in hopes of finding the treasure and I didn''t stop them. I had no intension of sharing my findings, and had no idea how would their react if I revealed the dagger from troll''s cave. The lizardman could even demand that I share the dagger with the rest of the party. Instead I approached the troll, in hopes of collecting my arrows, but all of them were broken. Four arrows in total lost, counted I to myself. Only twenty left. If I had enough money I would had bought myself a spare quiver, but it would be a bother to carry it around without magic bag. I sighed and helped to collect firewood for the funeral.


    Dead were usually buried or burned, but in a place like uninhabited lands it was better to burn the bodies, since there was a chance that they would became undead. To prevent the troll from becoming undead Evan severed troll''s head.


    Ordinarily every one of the adventurers would be burned separately, but we didn''t have enough time for that. So we burned all of them together. Godrick and Evan said few words about their comrades and then both party leaders lighted the funeral fire with their torches. The fire could attract other creatures, but, I doubted that nearby was someone more dangerous than troll.

 Chapter 3. Abandoned settlement.

    Next day I volunteered to scout ahead alongside Luara. Mostly because I wanted to increase my scouting skills, but also so I could hunt. My supplies were going thin, just like the supplies of other adventurers, even after we divided food of our party''s fallen members. Shirzan didn''t like that idea, but had to agree, since his status among the adventurers was very low, after he run away during the fight, and then boasted about his strength.


    - I''m glad that you came with me, - said Luara, after we left the party.


    - Well, I wanted the opportunity to catch me some food, - answered I honestly.


    - I can relate to that, - smiled catgirl: - I also wouldn''t say no to well-prepared fresh food.


    I took a closer look at her. Luara looked a little over twenty years old. She had gentle facial features, two cat ears on her head and voluptuous body. Her scouting skills were top notch, and she was skilled fighter, with her short sword. During the battle with bandits, she took down two goblins, and managed to wound a troll several times. She would be an asset to any adventurers party. After all one of the reasons why I took this quest, was so I could find me a party. Safety in numbers and all.


    - Mind if I ask you, why haven''t you joined any adventurers party?


    - I joined two parties in the past, but it didn''t worked out. Both times parties leaders were more interested in my body, more than my skills. One time party leader even tried to sell me to a noble, after a failed quest.


    That sounded even worse than I imagined.


    - And what about you, why are you a solo adventurer?


    - I just joined adventurers guild, and was looking for a party. Receptionist recommended me this quest, as an opportunity to find potential party members.


    - I see, maybe we could form a party together, once we return.


    - That would be nice.


    I smiled inwardly, seems that Avone''s natural beguiling charms worked even with catgirls. For a while we didn''t see anything interesting or threatening. Even catgirl couldn''t find any animal tracks, and my hunting plan was failing miserably.


    - That is strange. There should be many animals in the forest, but I see no evidence of animal life around here. Not even birds.


    I silently agreed with her. This was a bad omen, and I started to worry, that this was wrong place to be in.


    - This looks strange, - Luara approached a stump and looked at it.


    - Looks like it was cut down, - agreed I: - But long time ago.


    - There are more, - Luara pointed ahead and I noticed many more stumps ahead of us.


    - Lets go little further, and then report what we found.


    Luara nodded in agreement and we doubled our caution. We saw even more remnants of cut down trees, and soon we discovered an abandoned settlement. There were remnants of a wooden fence and behind it more than a dozen houses. Some of the houses looked like they were only partially built. The rest had damaged walls and collapsed roofs. We observed settlement from afar, but detected no movement inside.


    - Lets go back and report it.


    I nodded in agreement, and we went back to the party. Shirzan listened for our report and scratched his chin.


    - I heard rumors that ten or so years ago lord Uter, tried to build a village in these parts, but failed. All villagers died from a plague or were eaten by the monsters, or something like that. Let''s take a look at that village.


    - If they died from a plague, wouldn''t it be dangerous to go there? - asked one of the adventurers with fear in his voice.


    - No disease would be dangerous after all these years, - confidently said Shirzan. My earth based knowledge, told me differently, but maybe this world hade different rules in that regard. I didn''t want to go back, but could not make a compelling argument, why we shouldn''t go there. Without any other choice we shoved the rest of the adventurers the way to the settlement.


    We cautiously approached abandoned houses, but saw no movements anywhere. We entered settlement through the broken gates and searched some of the houses. We found broken furniture and some rusted instruments, like axes and scythes. But nothing that could explain what happened here.


    - Who dares to enter mine domain?


    The creature appeared in front of us. He wore a black mantle and his head was nothing more than a human skull. Creature had a bag hanging from his left shoulder and long staff, ornamented with huge blue gemstone, in his right hand. The staff gave me a chill, but I couldn''t explain why. From the holes in creature''s mantle we saw naked bones. It was a lich. One of the most powerful and feared creatures among the undead. They were powerful magicians and could raise an army of undead soldiers. Strongest among them could bring back to life even a skeleton dragon.


    No wonder there were no animals nearby. Animals could sense the death, that surrounded the lich, and would flee as far as they could.


    My arrows would be completely useless against undead, and at best they would distract him. It was possible to kill the lich with a sword or magic, but if took more strength than killing a human, and undead were immune to many spells, that affected the living.


    - Kill that thing! - screamed Shirzan in fear, and lich laughed at him. Undead raised his staff and released a cloud of black smoke.


    Death cloud - main attack of the liches, was deadly to any living creature who came in contact with it. I grabbed Luara''s hand and run to the side. Death cloud was around a meter in diameter and moved slower than an arrow. At this distance it was possible to avoid it, if we acted fast enough. Other adventurers also scattered, but not everyone acted fast enough. Lizardman and a member of Evan''s party were too slow, and Death cloud touched their bodies. They immediately fell on the ground twitching in agony.


    I grabbed an arrow and took a shot. My arrow hit the bone and fell on the ground. Lich only laughed at my useless attack. We needed to attack him in a close range, but in order to do that we needed to avoid his Death cloud and then fight him. Liches were physically stronger than low level adventurers, and some of them were skilled fighters. This was even worse than battle with the troll. And again we were caught by surprise.


    Luara and me hide behind one of the buildings, while lich slowly approached our party.


    - I''m so glad you have come. I had this all village for my experiments, but all the villagers have turned to dusk. It''s been so long since anyone visited this place, so I was planning to leave. But now I''ll have your bodies to continue with my work. Don''t worry you won''t die. I will bring you back to life and you will serve me for a long time.


    "Could you not leave before we came here" coursed I to myself. Lich was walking slowly, but I remembered the speed with which he moved his staff, he was fast, just as fast as troll was, and probably just as strong physically.


    - You won''t have my body. I will kill you before that.


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    Gnoll stepped out of his hiding place and faced the lich.


    - I am Gudrich, and I will not fall to some undead. I will defeat you with my own blade.


    Lich laughed and pointed his staff at Gudrich. Then familiar earth bubbles started boiling under the lich. I underestimated half hyena half human adventurer, he wasn''t suicidal. He was a distraction. Which meant that next attack would come from Godrick. Lets help them out.


    I stepped out into the street and released my arrow. I aimed it high and arrow flew above liche''s head. Lich followed arrow''s trajectory, with his eyes, and smirked at me. Because of that he completely missed Godrick''s attack. Adventurer appeared from behind lich and slashed at liche''s hand. Because of the Slow spell undead failed to react in time and his skeleton hand, with a staff, fell on the ground. Good. That would take care of his Death cloud spell. Lich growled in displeasure. Undead didn''t feel any pain, at most losing the hand was inconvenience to lich. The rest of adventurers didn''t miss their chance and sprinted towards the lich. I also left my bow, and unsheathed my dagger.


    Undead kicked his staff towards Evan and adventurer reflexively caught it, with his left hand. He looked at his hand and started screaming in pain. Adventurer shook his hand, but staff didn''t fell on the ground. Evan dropped on his knees and his sword fell next to him. I stopped next to Evan and saw that his left hand was rotting away. The curse was slowly spreading towards his body. I grabbed his sword and used it to cut off his hand. Evan screamed in pain, but it was the best I could do to save his life.


    Meantime Godrick struck several blows at the lich, but failed to finish him off. Lich used a dagger to parry adventurers attacks. Gnoll, warrior adventurer and me joined Godrick, attacking the undead from all four sides. We managed broke several bones on liche''s body, when he hissed some kind of a curse. Dark smoke surrounded as, and I suddenly felt much weaker. I could barely hold the two handed sword in my hands and felt a rising panic attack. Dammit, lich cast a curse spell on us. Lich laughed and plunged his dagger into Godrick''s heart. Leather vest, that protected adventurers torso didn''t stop the dagger and Godrick fell on the ground. From behind us, I heard Myne''s scream. This was bad our strongest fighter was killed and we were under the curse. Male adventurer dropped his sword and run away screaming in fear. I wanted to run away as well.


    Gnoll Gudrich screamed in anger and tried to cut off liche''s head. But under the curses influence he was too slow. Lich avoided the attack and shoved his dagger into beastmen''s stomach. Was this it? The end of my adventure? I could barely move the sword and my dagger wouldn''t be able to hurt the undead. Lich turned towards me and I saw a smile on his boned face. His dagger flew towards my neck, when somebody blocked it. It was Luara. Just in time, she managed to block liche''s attack. I glanced at her, unlike the rest of us, she wasn''t surrounded by black aura. Probably spell affected only adventurers who were close to the lich.


    Luara launched counter attack and her sword went through liche''s heart. Or the place where heart would normally be located. Undead only laughed. Sword went through him, but it did no damage to undead creature. In my subconscious, I heard Myne''s voice, but didn''t understand her words. Lich swung his hand and Luara flew away and crushed into the wall. I tried to attack, but managed only to scratch liche''s bones. Lich again aimed at my neck, but his dagger only scratched me. I was surrounded by shining wall that partially protected me from the attack. Some kind of protection spell, realized I, probably casted by Myne. Spell saved my life, but didn''t remove the curse. I dropped the sword and squeezed my dagger''s handle. Even if I die, I will fight as long as I can. And we were so close to defeating this monster, before his spell.Lich again smiled at me. We both knew, that Myne''s protection spell only partially reduced the damage from his attacks. It was just a matter of time, before he would overwhelm it and finish me. Next moment liche''s skull broke into pieces and bone fragments flew all around me. Undead fell on the ground without any traces of movement. Behind him was Shirzan. Our leader was holding his sword, which gloved a little, and stared at the twice dead creature. I fell on my knees, exhausted and relieved. Luara approached me. She was still alive, but her face was all bloodied from the liche''s attack. Myne was crying behind us. All of hers original team members were dead, even team leader Godrick.


    We barely survived, but I was glad to be alive.


    Evan was still alive. He was lying on the ground, bleeding and moaning in pain.


    Shirzan sheeted his sword and looked around.- Look likes lich was the only creature in here. We were lucky, if he would have undead minions, we wouldn''t leave this place alive.


    - The day''s not over yet, - muttered Luara, but everyone ignored her.


    Myne and Luara tended to Evan''s wound, and we decided to spend a night in the abandoned settlement. Nobody wanted to stay here, but apart from Shirzan, everyone was too exhausted to move. Warrior adventurer, who run away earlier, returned soon afterwards. He was ashamed from his behavior, but nobody blamed him.


    * * *


    Next day we decided to return. Even Shirzan agreed with that decision. He wasn''t completely satisfied with our scouting mission, but I think, he didn''t want to risk his life, with the numbers that we have left. Not counting Shirzan, there were only five of us left, and Evan was in no shape to fight. Myne and Luara used healing potions on him. Potions healed his wounds, but could not regenerate his arm. And the curse left him weak and exhausted.


    Myne went through liche''s things and collected his grimoire. I had no wish to meddle with black magic, and left it to her. Lich had several expensive looking rings on his fingers, but no one touched them. We all remembered what happened to Evan when he touched the staff, and no one wanted to risk a curse, by touching liche''s belongings.


    Everyone was depressed, and we barely talked among themselves. We had too few adventurers to send out scouts, and Luara traveled alongside us.


    When we were closer to borderland village, we made a camp and Luara and I spend half a day hunting, so we could acquire provisions and give Evan a chance to rest. He was still weak and needed rest. Without rest he could get worse and fell down with a fever. Myne and Trevor, last member of Evan''s party took care of him and helped him walk, but there wasn''t much, that they could do to help him. After reaching the town, he will need to visit a church or find himself a healer who can remove curses. Without that, Myne thought that his condition won''t improve.


    We managed to capture few rabbits and several birds. It wasn''t much, but some more hunting on our way back would be enough to sustain us. There were also villages on our way, so food wasn''t a concern. Our way back went without any new encounters with monsters or bandits. When we reached the town, Shirzan, with annoyed expression, signed quest completion forms. He wasn''t satisfied with our performance, and I doubted that he will ever hire us again.


    We collected our rewords from the guild and occupied one of the tables, in guild hall. We ordered ale from the receptionist and toasted our fallen brethren.


    - What are you planning to do now? - asked Luara Myne. First few nights female magician spent crying, but she recovered a little by the end of the road. From her looks, Myne was in her early twenty''s. Cute face and long black her, made her very attractive. Her body was hidden under magicians rob, but she looked slender and experienced as an adventurer. I remembered how she continued to cast her spells, even when her team members died in front of her eyes.


    - I think I will spend some time to myself, but I will continue adventuring. I wish to attend magicians academy, but I need to save up more money to do that.


    - Luara and I want to create our own party, why don''t you join us? - asked I carefully.


    Myne thought for a while: - I guess, I don''t mind. Why don''t we create a temporary party at first and see how it goes.


    - I would like to ask you a favor, - Evan bowed his head and looked at me and Luara.


    - Oh, what is it?"


    If he wants to borrow the money for a healer, it''s out of the question", thought I to myself. But his next words surprised me.


    - Would you please consider accepting hiring Trevor as your party member?


    Trevor, the young adventurer from Evan''s party, looked just as surprised as we.


    - I talked to Trevor on our way back. He wants to continue to work as an adventurer. I trained Trevor myself, he isn''t very strong yet, but Trevor has a warriors heart and a potential to become a great adventurer. My adventuring days all over, - Evan pointed at his severed hand: - But it will be too dangerous for Trevor to continue working by himself. And you will greatly benefit from a front row warrior, among your party members.


    I glanced at Trevor, he nervously awaited our decision. Evan was right, we needed a warrior or a ''''tank''''. Between scout, archer and mage, we would have no chances to kill a troll or lich. I personally wanted to be a powerful adventurer, with magic sword in hands, slaying hundreds of high ranking creatures, and also to use a highest level spells to obliterate most powerful monsters. But reality wasn''t that kind. Still, Trevor was young. Barely sixteen or seventeen years old. He may have potential, but it was somewhere in the future. Well it''s not like skilled, high ranking warriors grew on the trees. I wasn''t planning to create a harem based party, and the fact that Trevor was a boy didn''t bother me. Not like someone with high level warrior skill will join our rookie party. I glanced at Luara, the same way she looked at me.


    - Well like Myne said, let''s make a temporary party and see how it goes.


    - Thank you, - Trevor bowed his head and exhaled in relief: - But what about you master? What will you do?


    - Don''t worry about me kid, - Evan patted Trevor on the shoulder: - I was planning to retire anyway. Opening a school for those who want to learn how to use a sword was my retirement plan, for a long time. Feel free to visit me, there is still a lot that I could teach you.


    - Thank you master. I definitely will visit you, - Trevor happily smiled and turned towards us: - I will work hard and wont fail you.


    Well I finally had a party. Scout, mage, archer and warrior. Excellent balance if nothing more. We agreed to meet up in two days and decide on our next quest.

 Chapter 4. Forwards to next adventure.

    My reward for the quest was fifteen silver coins, or one and a half gold coins. Not that bad, but not worth the trouble for Evan''s and Godrick''s parties, who lost most of their members.


    After visiting public bath, and washing myself properly, first time in a long while, I considered my options.


    I could go to the church and find out if I can level up, but decided against it. During our travels I find out more information, how leveling worked. By collecting life force it was possible to increase once level. One level at a time or several levels at once. The difference was that adventurers acquired or improved their skills every time they used the leveling crystal. If they jumped several levels, their stats increased just as the levels, but every leveling no matter if adventurers gained only one level or several, offered them increase of a single skill. Increasing several levels at once would diminish chances of acquiring useless skills. Those who did not use leveling crystals would collect the life force and eventually evolve into stronger creatures. Like goblins evolved into hobgoblins or goblin mages, or liches who evolved into archlices. Humans, who could not evolve, instead had their job changed. Mage could become archmage and commoners could get a warrior profession or some non battle job, like a blacksmith. That was different from other creatures, who''s job always stayed the same. Of course without leveling crystal it was impossible to improve their stats. Because of that creatures who used leveling crystal were much stronger after evolution, comparing to the same race creatures who evolved without using leveling crystal.


    Also only the adventurer who finished the monster, acquired his life force. It wasn''t shared among all party members, which was very disappointing. I was hoping that all that exp from troll and lich would be shared amongst as, but no such luck.


    So I decided to visit a blacksmith quarter first. I bought myself replacement arrows and also sold the dagger, that I found in trolls cave. That earned me another five gold coins. I had more money than I counted on, and needed to decide on what to spend it.


    A magic bag costed three gold coins. Or I could visit Mage Guild and learn some new spells. Or I could renew my equipment. So many choices, but only enough money for one thing.


    I decided to visit Mage Guild and found out their prices, and my options regarding magic. Mage Guild was tall, conical - pyramidal shaped, five-story building, with small gold plated roof. It was one of the tallest buildings in town. Entrance door was ornamented with decorative magical runes. I knew that they were decorative, because real magic spells - magic circles, could only be written inside special spellbooks or parchments, which were made in the mage''s guilds. Any ordinary parchment or even wood would immediately dry out and in time turn to ash. Stone tablets could contain magic circles, but no one would carry heavy stone tablets, if they had a choice. Mages needed grimoires because casting a spell required imagining a complex magic circle and then filling it with mana and directing the resulting power towards the target. Sometimes it also required chanting a spell. Mages could remember magic circle design, but the mage would need extraordinary memory to remember more than five or six spells. In order to refresh their memories and make sure that magic circles are remembered correctly, mages used grimoires to record the spells that they mastered. Genius magicians could create new spells, but according to Myne such magicians were born once in ten generations, and most of them could only create low level spells.


    Also according to Myne grimoire had to be personalized. Drawing a spell in another mages grimoire would destroy it, the same way as ordinary book.


    When I asked Myne what was she planning to do with liche''s spellbook she told me that she was planning to sell it. It was dangerous to use another mages grimoire, especially grimoires of mages, who used black or chaos magic. Mages sometimes used traps in their spellbooks By slightly changing the magic circle, in a way that only they knew, it could change the effect of the spell. Cure spell could act as a curse, and shield spell could wound your party member. In worst cases, some spells could even kill a spellcaster.


    Anyone could learn how to use elemental spells, but in order to use chaos spells, mages needed a blessing from evil gods or chaos magic skill. Mage without them could die using those enchantments. Just like liches would greatly suffer or even die, if they attempted to use light based spells. That''s why Myne was planning to sell liche''s grimoire to Mage Guild, who would study it for academic purposes. That''s why I needed a personalized grimoire. And Mage Guild was the only place where I could buy one.


    Mage Guild was opened for customers and I went right inside. Inside of Mage Guild was lighted with many magical lanterns. The large room was empty in the middle, but at the walls were many closets, filled with books. Floor was covered with soft carpets and I worried about my dirty boots. The air was pleasantly cool and smelled like flower meadow. Unlike adventurers guild, there was only one receptionist. A women dressed in white rob was reading a book. She was sitting behind reception desk, and put the book aside, when I entered.


    - Welcome to the Mage Guild, - she smiled at me: - How my I help you?


    For a moment I felt ashamed for my dirty close. This place was nothing like I imagined it.


    - Sorry. I am an adventurer and wanted to learn some spells, that would be useful in my line of work.


    - Very well. Do you already have a grimoire?


    - No, not yet.


    - The I suggest that you first buy one, - she pointed at the shelf behind her, filled with similar red books: - A grimoire will coast you five gold coins. If you wish to learn a single spell, you can also buy mages parchment, it will cost you one gold coin. But if you are planning to learn more than one spell, then grimoire will be a better choice. How many spells and what kind, do you wish to learn?


    - Could you first tell me how much it costs to learn a spell?


    - Certainly. As you probably know there are several types of magical schools. Among them spells are separated either from level one to level five. Or from level one to highest level four. First - magic of four elements:


    - Learning level one spells will coast you one gold coin;


    - Level two, will coast you three gold coins;


    - Level three spells will coast you four gold coins;


    - Level four spells will coast you seven gold coins;


    - Level five spells will coast you twenty gold coins.


    Then Mind magic, Spirit magic, Chaos magic and Light and Dark magic spells. They have only four level spells:


    - Level one spells will coast you two gold coins;


    - Level two spells will coast you four gold coins;


    - Level three spells will coast you five gold coins;


    - Level four spells will coast you twenty gold coins.


    Finally primordial magic. It''s very rear and you can only learn it if you have primordial magic skill. The only spells that we can teach you are novice and master level spells. Novice level spells will cost you thirty gold coins, and master level fifty gold coins. But only our guild master can teach you primordial spells, and he is very busy most of the time.


    Talk about a professional, she recited her speech without pauses or hesitation. But primordial magic? I never even heard about it. Maybe it was addition to latest game releases?


    - Is it possible also to learn magic based skills? - it would be interesting to learn this primordial magic, sometime in the future.


    - No. If you want to learn skills, then you will need to attend magic academy. But even magic academy teaches you only element based magic skills. I should also warn you that anyone can use first level spells, but in order to master higher level spells, you will need a wisdom skill. At novice level with wisdom skill you the can learn second level spells, at basic level third level spells and so on.


    Wisdom skill? Probably a skill that enhanced memory and helped mages to remember and imagine magic circles.


    - Could you tell me more about cure or heal spell if it exists?


    - Cure spell is level one, water based spell. Even without any magic related skills you should be able to master it. It can heal physical wounds, depending on the amount of your mana. If you have novice level water magic skill it will also remove all negative spell effects from you or your party member. At basic level it will also cure curses. At advanced level it will remove status ailments such as petrifaction or detoxify poisons, and at master level, as our records say, it will be possible to regenerate lost limbs or eyes. Currently there are no mages in our guild with master level magic skill, but I heard that most powerful mages, who can regenerate lost limbs, live in the capitol.


    That sounded amazing and very useful, but I didn''t have water magic skill. Still a healing potion costed one silver coin, more powerful potions costed between three silver coins or even several gold ones. In the long run my investment in Cure spell would be a wise choice. I hope.


    - If I decide to learn a Cure spell, how fast can you find me a teacher, and how long it takes to learn a spell?


    - We can provide a teacher for you right away. Ordinarily it takes one or two days to learn a spell. That depends on your skills and experience with magic. A teacher will be with you until sundown. If you can''t master a spell in two days time, you will need to pay three more silver coins for every additional day. We do not give refunds if you can''t master the spell, but such cases are very rear. One in a hundred, as I heard.


    - What if I decide to learn a different spell. How fast can you find me a teacher? - I remembered Myne''s Slow spell. Without it we all would already be dead, and I could imagine many more spells, that could be useful in most of adventures.


    - With exception of primordial magic, we can find you a teacher almost immediately. You may need to wait if they are busy teaching someone else, of course.


    - So fast?


    - Yes. Almost all members of the guild are scholars. They live here and teaching the young is the way they pay for living apartments and other benefits. You need only tell me what spell you wish to learn, and I will summon an appropriate teacher.


    Sounded like they were leaches, who were forced to work as payment for their comfortable life. I had two days before we were suppose to meet with my party. That was exactly the amount of time, that I needed to learn a single spell.


    - In that case I would like to buy a grimoire and learn a Cure spell.


    - Excellent. It will cost you six gold coins.


    I handed over five gold coins and ten silver ones. Most of my money was already gone, and this was just the first day in the city.


    She took one of the red book and put in on the table. Please mark the first page with your blood. I pricked my finger and let several blood drops fell on grimoire. It gloved for a moment and receptionist nodded in satisfaction.


    - Now this grimoire is yours. You will be able to draw magic circles in it.


    - Is it possible to have many grimoires.


    - Of course, you can have as many grimoires as you need. Many adventurers by additional spellbook, when they run out of pages for their spells.


    - I see.


    - Now, please wait here, I will bring one of guild''s masters.


    Receptionist left me in the room and exited through the door, located on the left side of reception desk. While I waited, I took my time looking at the books. They all were for sale. Every book had a price tag, and was related to magic in one way or another. There were no books with magical circles, but many books described magic schools and history of magic, as well as different uses that magic had in common life.


    One of the books attracted my attention. It was very large and heavy. Books name was - All spells and they uses. I opened it and looked inside. Book described magic spells of all magic schools and their uses. I wanted to have it. I looked at the price tag. Ten gold coins. Probably there will be a long time before I can afford it. I turned a few pages admiring the amount of magic spells that this world had. No wonder magicians needed several grimoires.


    I was still studying the book, when receptionist returned. Behind her was a tall, old man, with a long white beard. He had long blue robe, decorated with silver stars. His hands were hidden in his sleeves, and he looked at me from above.


    - I am master magician Luminos. I wield advance level water magic and also advanced level wisdom skill. You may address me as master Luminos. Sally informed me that you wish to learn the Cure spell?


    - Yes master Luminos, - I bowed at him and mage nodded his head in approvement.


    - Your willingness to learn magic is commendable. Many adventurers rely on potions instead of mastering magic. For that reason their death rate is so large. No potion can replace a spell, and no artifact is as powerful as level four or five spells. How many spells have you mastered already.


    - This will be my first time learning magic.


    - Well, everyone starts somewhere, - sighed magician: - But do not worry. You are not first rookie magician that I have trained. Have you any experience, in drawing magic circles?


    - No master Luminos. I have not.


    - In that case Sally, sell her few paper pages. That way you will have chance to practice, before drawing magic circle inside your grimoire. I have seen grimoire filled with failed magic circles. Your spellbook is a sacred artifact, not some book for dirty drawings. Remember that child and treat your grimoire with respect.


    - It will cost you a copper coin. For five pages. If you are not shore in your drawing skills, I suggest, you buy at least twenty pages. If you won''t need them I will return your money.


    That was additional expense, but I decided not to argue and handed over four copper coins. After all I will get my money back, if I don''t use them all.


    Sally nodded and handed me twenty paper pages.


    - That''s a wise choice child. Sally, I will need a Cure spell parchment.


    Sally handed him over the parchment, which she already held in her arms.


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    - Good, - nodded the mage: - Now follow me.


    I obediently followed old magician. We passed several corridors and went up the stairs. Every room and corridor, in Mage Guild, had magic lantern and all floors were covered with soft carpets. On the walls, I saw several paintings, with faces of old magicians.


    We went up, to the second floor, and went through one of the doors. There was a small room. It contained only small table and chair. On the table was a magical lantern, ink, several feathers and small bell.


    - This will be your work place, - he opened the parchment and put it on table. Inside the parchment was drawing of a magical circle. To me it looked like a vial surrounded with several complex circles and some kind of rune.


    - Now practice drawing this magic circle and memorize it. Every single detail. You will now that you draw it correctly, if the paper turns to dust. Once you are confident in your drawing skills, draw the magic circle inside your grimoire. Size doesn''t matter. It could be small or as big as the page of your grimoire. The important part is details. It must be exact copy of a circle. Once you are finished, ring this bell.


    - Yes master Luminos, - I took the feather and mage left the room. He closed the door behind him, and I was left alone.


    I started drawing, and failed to make exact copy of a drawing. Drawing with a feather was much harder than using a pen or pencil, and the drawing itself was quite complicated. You needed to be an artist to copy it exactly. The only good part was the fact, that slowly I started remembering the magic circle, and every detail of it. Paper pages were big enough for me to draw two attempts, on every side. So I had four tries for a page. At this rate I will need more pages than that. No wonder adventures bought several grimoire, they probably run out of pages, drawing imperfect magic circles. It felt like I was drawing for several hours, when someone opened a door, and young girl appeared inside doorway.


    - Hello, my name is Nelly, - she entered the room. Nelly was dressed in simple cotton dress, and had a happy smile on her face. Girl put a cup of water, on the table, and a plate with a piece of bread on it. The bread was freshly cooked and smelled really good. The smell made me realize how hungry I was.


    - Sally told me about you. I am an apprentice mage here, and tend to our students, - girl stared at my ears: - Wow, your an elf. I''ve never seen an elf before.


    - My name is Avone, - I smiled at the girl: - Thank you for the food.


    - No need for that. That''s part of our services, for students. If you need to use a bathroom then feel free to use the bell, it will let me now that you need something. Old guys always forget to inform people about simple things, no matter how many times Sally reminds them. Also, it will be sunset in an hour or so. You will need to leave the tower then. No strangers all allowed to stay for a night. But you can come back tomorrow and continue. I will come after you, when it''s time to leave. You won''t be able to open the door yourself.


    Girl looked at my drawings and wrinkled her nose.


    - You''re not very good at drawing are you? But you''re getting closer, - she studied my pages: - This one''s wrong, and this one, and this one really wrong, - she commented going through my pages.


    The girl was annoying, but it was hard to get mad at her. I smiled and let her look at my pages, while I eat the bread. Unlike the bread in the tavern, this one was soft inside with a hard crust. Just as I liked it.


    - Do you live here?


    - Yes. I study magic under the masters. I was born with archmage job, and they brought me here, when I was very small. "One day you will master ten thousand spells and become an S class mage", - Nelly changed her voice and imitated someone: - That''s what they tell me.


    I laughed and Nelly also smiled. But born with an archmage job? That must be one in a ten millions. Archmage job greatly enhanced magical abilities and during level up nine out of ten skills were magic based. The girl has the greatest potential for a mage. Especially if she manages to evolve her job to the next level. Of course the more powerful job someone had, the higher level they needed to change it. The same was with monsters. One of the reason why so many goblins evolved into hobgoblins, was that they were some of the weakest creatures, and needed to obtain less life force to evolve, comparing to other creatures.


    - Have you mastered already this spell?


    - Yes I can use all level one spells, of the four elements. I also memorized first level spells of other magic schools, but I am not allowed to use them. Not until I learn necessary skills for them. Soon I will be old enough to go to the dungeon and level up, so that I can obtain those skills. Then I will be able to use those spells as well, - Nelly proudly straightened her chest.


    - Oh, I was also planning to go to the dungeon. Maybe one day, we will meet there.


    - Do you want to obtain magic skills as well?


    - Yes, that''s the plan. Will your teachers plan to go with you?


    - No, they barely ever leave the guild. I am not allowed to leave the guild too. Guild master told me that when I am old enough, he will hire adventurers, to accompany me. Are you an adventurer?


    - Yes. Now, I am. But I am quite new at that.


    - Really. I''ve never seen an elf-adventurer. Didn''t know, that they existed. Why did you become an adventurer?


    - I want to be the most powerful elven adventurer in the world, and also master magician, like you.


    - Really? I haven''t decided if I want to be a master magician or not. Guild master is nice, but the rest of them are really boring. Do you have any magic skills already?


    - No, not yet. That''s why I am studying magic.


    - You would have learned faster if you had them. I have novice skills in all four elements. That''s why I can learn first level spells really fast. I also have novice Wisdom skill. Guild master says that it helps too. He instructed me personally, so I could learn them.


    All those skills at novice level, without leveling up? In a way that made sense. People could learn skills from a teacher, but only at novice level. Then, in order to increase them, they needed to level up. No amount of learning could increase skills above novice level.


    - Well good luck with your drawing. I need to go now. Let me now if you need something, - Nelly collected dishes and waved her hand at me.


    I concentrated on my drawings, but could not perfectly finish the magic circle, when Nelly came to escort me outside.


    - Still not finished? Well most people can''t finish it, without magic skills, during their first time. You can leave everything here and continue tomorrow.


    I nodded and followed the girl. I wanted to talk to Nelly some more, but felt too exhausted. No wonder most adventurers didn''t learn magic. It was boring and dull work, and also expensive. Probably, by the time adventurers could afford learn spells, they had filled their skill slots and felt no need to learn magic. It was more fun to learn battle related skills and improve their skills using weapons, than spend hours or days studying spell circles.


    I spend the night in the Silver shield tavern and after breakfast returned to Mage Guild. Sally escorted me to the same room and I continued my work. After reaching eighteen page, I finally managed to draw a perfect magic circle. I proudly looked at my drawing, when it suddenly turned to ash, right in my hands. Well, at least I now that it was perfect. Just in case, I practiced on the rest of the pages. But two out of four drawings were a miss. I was glad that I continued my practice, since the drawing in my grimoire seem to be perfect.


    I ringed the bell and waited for a while. Then the door opened and Nelly came inside.


    - Do you need a bathroom break or something?


    - No, I am finished, - I proudly showed girl my grimoire. Nelly expected it and nodded her head.


    - Not the most beautiful magic circle, but it will do. It is almost middle of the day. You should take the bathroom break, and I will bring you some food, before the next lesson.


    I agreed and Nelly brought me the bread and water. Bread was just as delicious as yesterday. That was the best food, that I tasted since my reincarnation. At this rate I will come back just so I can eat the bread again.


    - Well, if you''re ready, I will call master Luminos. Next lesson won''t be so easy, but more fun, - she warned me.


    Nelly returned with master Luminos, and he expected my grimoire.


    - Not the most elegant magic circle, but it will do, - he repeated Nelly''s comment, and I felt bad about my drawing. And not so long ago, I felt so proud about it.


    - Have you ever channeled your mana?


    - No, I haven''t.


    - I thought so. Since it is your first spell. Give me your hand.


    I did as told, and he took my hand into both of his. Luminos closed his eyes and for a while nothing happened. I started to think that old geezer just wanted to hold my hand, when I sensed something worm, passing from mages hands to mine.


    - Did you sensed that?


    - Yes, - I nodded. The feeling was strange, but also pleasant.


    - Remember this feeling, it is the flow of mana. All humans and creatures have mana, except animals. Before you can learn how to cast spells, you need to learn how to channel your magical power. Nelly bring me the crystal. You know which one.


    Nelly nodded and run away. Soon she returned with small fist sized crystal, on a small pedestal.


    Master Luminos nodded and placed the crystal on the table. Put your hand on this crystal and channel your mana inside it. Once you succeed it will shine. I can''t help more than this, since for everyone channeling mana is different. Especially for creatures, from different races. Just remember the feeling from before and concentrate on it. Call for Nelly once you are finished.


    Luminos left the room and Nelly closed the door behind him.


    "That should be easy" I thought to myself and put my hand on the crystal. After an hour or so I still couldn''t make the crystal glow. Several time I was close to throw the damn thing at the wall and brake it. No matter how much I concentrated nothing happened. My sense of time told me that already two hours passed.


    Maybe the damn thing was broken or defective? I really wanted to break it. I took a deep breath and concentrating on my feelings from before, for a hundred time. I was trying to relax my body. I imagined water flowing through me when it finally happened. Something worm came down from my heart, threw my hand and into the crystal. It glowed and I set on a chair.


    Yess! I did it.


    I relaxed myself and practiced several more times. After few more successes and failures I got some confidence in my mana channeling ability. I rested a little bit and then called Nelly. Girl came in the room happily smiling.


    - So, how did you do?


    - I did it, - I proudly demonstrated her my mana channeling ability, and girl screamed in surprise.


    - Wow, I don''t think I have ever seen someone with such low mana pool!


    Geez, that girl knew how to kill all my accomplishments.


    - But you did succeeded. I will call master Luminos right away.


    She run out of the room and then came back with my teacher.


    - Good you finally managed to channel your mana. Now, that the easy part is over, we can finally learn how to cast the spell. Take your grimoire and follow me.


    Easy part?! I hate to think what awaited me now!


    I followed master Luminos, and we went downstairs, to the guild''s basement.


    Basement was a huge hall, with high ceiling. It was round, painted in light blue color. Master took me to the part of the hall with several wooden statues.


    - These practice dummies are made from enchanted elven wood. We use them to practice spells. You need to imagine the spell circle and channel your mana inside it. Once you do it you will feel magical power. Send it towards the doll. It you are successful it will glow with light yellow color. How much mana do you have?


    - Twenty mana points.


    - Really? That''s it. Barely the amount that children have. Well, at least you are adventurer, and if you survive, you will be able to increase your mana pool. Very well, begin.I thought that he will leave, and tell me about the bell again, but Luminos stayed with me.


    - Remember it is important to imagine magic circle with every single detail. You can put your grimoire in front of you. Most of the newbie mages, usually hold grimoire in front of them. That helps them to imagine the proper magic circle.


    I did as instructed and tried to imagine magic circle in my head.


    - You can keep your eyes close, if that helps, or look at your drawing in grimoire. You can open your eyes, once you feel a magic power. In the beginning you will need to see your target to channel healing spell.


    I tried to imagine the spell with closed eyes, and looking at my spellbook. It was easier to imagine it, with closed eyes. My biggest problem was my inability to imagine a complete magic circle. Similarly to drawing I imagined parts of it. Finally I managed to visualize the circle in front of me and channeled my mana, but doing that, I lost part of the circle in front of me. Spell broke, and I silently cursed. I continued again, but imagining the complete circle and channeling mana inside it, was very hard.


    - What''s holding you back?


    - I can imagine magic circle in front of me, but as soon as I start channeling mana, I lose part of the image.


    - That''s a common problem for beginners. Practice, practice and practice is the only way.


    I failed for the fourth time and then suddenly I fell on the ground. I had no strength left to stand. Did I made some kind of mistake?


    - What''s happening?


    - You used up all of your mana. If something like that will happen during the battle, you will have to drink a mana restoration potion or rely on your comrades. Well, if you used up your mana it means that you are doing something right.


    Luminos put his hand on my shoulder and I felt his mana flowing into my body.


    - Now continue!


    - What did you do? - I asked in surprise.


    - I channeled some of my mana inside you. I have two thousand mana points. This way you can continue your practice. It will allow you to continue right away. Otherwise we would need to wait until your mana restores itself, and you would need weeks or even months to learn the spell.


    I nodded and continued with my lesson. Four failures again, losing my strength, receiving mana and continue the practice. I lost count how many times I repeated this circle. To my surprise, master Luminos patiently stood by me, sharing his mana every time I exhausted mine. Few times the wooden doll started to glow, but only part of it - left side, and right arm mostly.


    - That''s, not good enough. If only part of the practice dummy glows, it means that your magic circle is imperfect. It could harm a person that you are trying to heal, instead of helping them. Continue.


    Continue. Easy for him to say. Before the lesson I thought that I remembered the magic circle perfectly, but I needed to refresh my memory many times. My drawing of a circle in grimoire turned out to be a lifeline to my memory. I must have repeated my attempts hundreds of times. I lost count after Luminos shared his mana with me for a tenth times.


    Why couldn''t spell acquisition be more game like. You went to Mage Guild, paid money and spells appeared in the grimoire. But no. This turned out to be boring, hard work, that required all of mine concentration abilities.


    I lost all sense of time, and started to think that I wasn''t cut out to be a mage, when at last the cursed doll glowed. It was barely noticeable glow, but it covered the doll completely.


    - Good, - nodded Luminos: - You finally casted your first spell. Congratulations young one, you made a first step to becoming a mage. But with your amount of mana you will only be able to barely stop a bleeding, from moderate injury.


    - That will be enough in the beginning. Thank you master, - I gasped at breath. I should feel happy, but I was so exhausted, that I only wanted to sleep.


    - Remember how you did it, and keep practicing, or you won''t be able to cast a spell when it matters. But since you successfully casted the spell, your lessons with that are over.


    I nodded and Luminos escorted me to the reception room. He left me with Sally and she smiled at me.


    - Well, did you succeeded or will you need more time and more of the masters help?


    - No, thank you. I was able to cast the spell.


    - Congratulations. For a beginner, you did it in just two days. That is a good time.


    I nodded and left the Mage Guild. Time was approaching sunset and all I wanted to do, was get some food and fall asleep. I barely was able to drag my legs to the tavern, and fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.


    * * *


    Next day I visited Adventurers guild. I woke up later than I planned, and the rest of my party was waiting for me. I apologized, but Luara waved her hand.


    - That''s fine. It''s not like we agreed on the time.


    - So, have you already discussed some ideas about our next mission?


    - We were discussing if we should take one at all, - Luara took the initiative: - I asked receptionist about party registration. According to her, if we register our party it will be an E rank one. That''s the highest rank that our members have. Except Trevor, who still has rank F, the rest of us have E ranks. So at most we will be able to take D rank missions. They are not very attractive to a party. Pay is too small, if divided by four, and risk is high. E rank missions are mostly herb gathering, again, not too big profits. I think that we should increase our levels first. The best way to do that will be dungeon diving.


    Monster hunting in the dungeon, ha. It was one of the first things that I wanted to do. Dungeon diving was one of the best ways to increase levels. The profit would be made by gathering magic stones and selling them. And if we get lucky we will be able to find a treasure - an artifact or actual treasure like precious stones.


    - I like that idea.


    - Master always told me that dungeons are dangerous, - objected Trevor: - And to be honest, I''m not so shore about my sword skills. Maybe we should hunt some weaker monsters, around the town?


    - It could take days to find a monster around Grimsburg. And dungeons first floor isn''t that dangerous. What do you think Myne? - Luara turned towards magician, who drunk her ale, while deep in thought.


    - I''ve been in dungeon upper floors, with my previous party. They are dangerous, but I think that we could handle them.


    - I also visited them, and totally agree.


    - What kind of dungeons are here?


    - There is only one. It is called Grimsburg dungeon. It''s not very famous and not very liked, among the adventurers.


    - That''s because there are many monsters, comparing to other dungeons, - interjected Trevor, who clearly was hesitant about dungeon diving idea. If he still had an F rank, then he was still below level five. That could explain his hesitation. Well, I was level two, that could be the lowest level of our party.


    - The amount of monsters is related to the low number of adventurers, who visit the dungeon. And it is not very popular, because the chances of finding artifact in there are quite low, comparing to other dungeons, - objected Luara.


    - Guess its settled then, we go dungeon diving.


    I looked at my party members and everyone seem to be in agreement.


    - What about party registration? - asked Trevor.


    - There is no need to do it now. Besides it coasts twelve silver, - answered Luara. Everyone averted their eyes, after hearing about the money. Guess, I wasn''t the only one who was broke. Well my next adventure will be dungeon diving. Fun, fun, fun.

 Chapter 5. The Dungeon.

    Grimsburg dungeon was located an hour walking distance south of the town. Dungeons were a danger to countries because of possible monster stampede, but also were a valuable resource. Monsters created by the dungeons magic had magic stones inside them. They had many uses in everyday lives. Starting from magic lantern, creating of magic staff, and magic weapons. They could be used to produce fire, clean water, and all kinds of artifacts.


    One of the ways to earn money for adventurers was dungeon diving and selling magic stones. As I understood from Luara''s comments, popular dungeons were those with high probability to find an artifact, and in unpopular dungeons artifacts were rare.


    Well not ideal dungeon for getting rich, but we were going there to increase our levels, not to get rich. Which still would be nice.


    On our way we discussed our disposition. Trevor''s role was clear. And Luara was the only other member of our party who was at least partially qualified to fight in a front row. While Myne and me will support them from behind. Luara also had experience with traps, so the front row was hers.


    From the information that I gathered, most of dungeons monsters were animal or insect like creatures, while floor guardians, or as I would probably call them - bosses, were mythical beasts. Meeting floor guardian was the worst thing that could happen to us. But there shouldn''t be any, at least on the first four floors. Our best strategy, in dealing with powerful opponents, was running away. As our mission in uninhabited lands showed us, we could defeat strong opponents, but the cost of that was lives of several party members, and we all wanted to avoid that.


    Dungeon entrance looked like a huge cave. It was dark, with wet air, smell and well - scary. There were no guards and no human made signs. Anyone would recognize it at the dungeon entrance, because of the sense of subconscious fear that leaked out of it. Until then I imagined a dungeon dive like a fun adventure, were we killed monsters, leveled up then, and repeated the process. But shivers that went down my spine, told me that this adventure, will be nothing like I imagined it.


    - Won''t we need torches?


    - No. I brought a magical lantern, - answered Trevor Luara, and took out of here backpack a magic lantern. She lighted it and we went inside the dungeon. So, no magical walls that casted lights inside the dungeon. I will have to remember that. Never needed artificial light source in the game, so I kind of imagined that dungeon will be slightly darker place than town in the evening.


    The dungeon was dark, wet place with many branching corridors. The only good thing was that they were quite spacious. Corridors led to many caverns. They were different in sizes some of them were dozen meters large, while others were hundreds of meters long, with ceilings so high, that I didn''t even see them. Luara used the map to navigate in the dungeon. At least one of us came prepared. Corridors led us further and further underground. Just how huge was this place? We were walking for more than an hour, but didn''t encountered any monsters. The wait for the attack, was getting to me, and I wished for the monsters to appear already.


    Then it happened. We were passing a huge cavern, when I felt a presence and dogged to the side. That saved my life. A huge at least a meter long spider fell on a spot, that I was standing on a moment ago. It happened in complete silence. I somehow imagined that monsters will scream before the attack, and only attack from the front, were Trevor and Luara would stop them.


    Monster turned around and looked at me with his eight eyes. That was creepy. Myne screamed to worn Trevor and Luara, and at the same time, I released my arrow. It pierced monster''s eye and it screeched in pain. Trevor screamed and bravely attacked the monster. The swung of his blade cut off one of monsters legs. Spider tried to turn around to face the new opponent, but lost limb made him slow and clumsy. Myne stepped further away, while Luara run around the monster to attack it from behind. Trevor''s second attack cut off another of monster''s legs and it fell on the side. Luara plunged her sword in monsters body and it screeched in pain. My second arrow pierced it''s neck and monster fell on earth with blood flowing out of his mouth. Ordinarily the adventurer who delivered finishing blow received monsters life energy. But there was a trick, to go around this rule. If two or more adventurers delivered finishing blow at the same time, then monsters life force was shared among them equally.


    - Two, three, - screamed Luara, and Trevor, me and catgirl at the same time  attacked the monster. I used my dagger to shove it inside monsters eye, while Trevor and Luara used their swords. Monster twitched for the last time, and stopped moving.


    I wiped the sweat from my forehead.


    - First one down, - commented Luara and used her dagger to cut open monster''s belly. Usually magic stone was located near the heart, but it wasn''t set rule, and sometimes adventurers needed to cut monsters to pieces to find the stone.


    Luara''s movements were precise and without hesitation. Soon she took out the small magic stone and cleaned it, rubbing the stone against the monster. I glanced at the monsters corpse. So the monsters could attack from above, probably some species from below, and all sides as well. No wonder Luara so easily agreed to be a front row fighter. At least I survived my first lesson in dungeon diving.


    Luara placed magic stone in her backpack. It was different one than she had during our journey to uninhabited lands. Luara told me back then that she was saving money for magical bag. A bag enchanted with magic that could be used to carry much more things than its size suggested. The more expensive magic bag, the more things it was possible to place in it. I wanted one as well, and it was on my list of first things to buy.


    We agreed to share all profits equally, so no one objected, to Luara taking the stone.


    - We are deep enough in dungeon for monsters to appear. From now on we will see more of them, - warned us catgirl: - Most of the monsters live in caverns, but they could attack in passageways as well.


    We continued our descend. Taking bathroom breaks was really awkward, since we couldn''t go far from our single lantern. Magic lantern only lighted an area of twelve steps around it. It was unnerving to realise that the darkness contained possible hordes of monsters.


    Next monster attack happened three caverns later. First we heard hissing, and then several shining dots appeared around us. Eyes? I was surprise that they were on my knee level.


    - Snakes! - Screamed Luara: - Don''t let them bite you.


    I released my arrow towards snakes, but it hit the ground. Next moment snakes appeared inside our light circle. There were more than a dozen red reptiles. Snakes were between one and two meters long, with venom dripping from their fangs.


    Myne screamed in fear and disgust and released Magic arrow. Several reptiles were blown to peace by the cluster of magic energy.


    I dropped my bow and unsheathed the dagger. Trevor unleashed his battle cry and attacked the snakes. His sword knocked out sparks, when it hit the ground, after cutting the snakes.


    One of the snakes jumped at me and I cut off its head. Myne panicked and waved in front of her magic staff. Several snakes flew away from her, and I started to worry, that she will send one off the snakes right at us. Luara almost danced around the snakes, her movements were agile and precise. Unlike Trevor her short sword cut off snake heads without hitting the ground. I managed to kill two more snakes when the battle ended.


    Trevor wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at his sword. It looked that sword will need maintenance after returning to the city.


    - Is everyone all right? Was anyone bitten? - asked Luara.


    I checked myself, just in case, but I seemed to be all right.


    - I hate snakes, - whimpered Myne, holding her staff close to her chest and shaking.


    - Get yourself together, - sighed catgirl: - If everyone is fine, then get to work.


    For a moment I didn''t understand what she meant, but the Luara sat down next to one off the snakes and cut open its belly. Magic stones, remembered I and sighed. This wasn''t part of adventure that I will enjoy. We all got to work collecting stones, when I heard something.


    - I think I hear something,- I sad unsure, but Luara immediately perked up her ears. Sounded like someone was walking while dragging their legs.


    - Get ready, - ordered catgirl and we immediately dropped our magic stone collection and prepared our weapons. Luara lifted a lantern higher, to make more light. I hoped that monsters in here don''t have ranged attacks, or we will be done for. The sounds were getting closer. There was more than one monster.


    I saw a shadow and released my arrow. It hit the target, but didn''t slowed it down. Shadow was human shaped and slowly approached, dragging its left leg. Second arrow also had no effect. Monster didn''t even release a sound, after second arrow went inside its chest. Then I saw its face and understood why my arrows didn''t do anything.


    It was a corpse. Lantern light illuminated rotting human flesh, dressed in remnants of adventurers close. Zombies - former adventurers who died in the dungeon and then came back to life us undead.


    Myne screamed again, but her magical abilities didn''t fail her and another magic arrow blew apart first zombie. I dropped my bow again, archery was really useless in this cavern, and squeezed my dagger. This will be dangerous. Several other zombies appeared. They were holding weapons, which they probably used when they were alive. Spears, swords, an axe, one of them even had a shield. Trevor pierced his opponents chest, but that didn''t affect the undead. Monsters attacked distracted adventurer and Trevor barely dogged the attack. He avoided serious injury, but received a nasty cut on his left arm. He moaned in pain and jumped back, to create a distance between himself and zombie.


    - Cut off his head, arms or legs! - screamed I to Trevor and faced my opponent. Great - Trevor and Luara had their swords, but what was I supposed to do. Luckily for us zombies were slow and not so strong physically. I jumped to the side and grabbed zombies sword arm. It was disgusting, but best strategy that I came up with. Several hits wits my dagger severed zombies hand and I armed myself with his sword. Zombie tried to grab me with his left arm and I cut it off. Next attack send its head flying, and monsters body fell to the ground. Good, decapitation can finish them off. A least I won''t have to hack them in pieces.


    Trevor and Luara in the meantime slashed in pieces four zombies, and Myne released two more magic arrows, that finished the last of our attackers.


    - Is it over? - asked Myne, who was in slight state of panic.


    - I hope so, - Luara shrugged: - Let''s finish collecting the magic stones from them, while we have time.


    She cut open zombie''s chest and took out the magic stone.


    - How come they have magic stones? Weren''t they humans before? - asked Trevor.


    - Corpses come back to life, when surrounding mana solidifies and turns into a magic stone, - explained Myne: - That''s why the dead come back to life in mana rich places, like dungeons. I heard theories, that dungeon monsters are created in similar manner.


    - Can we collect their gear, - I asked looking at the sword in my hands. It was hand and a half, straight, double edged steal sword.


    - I think we should, - answered Luara: - Just don''t touch anything, that gives you a bad feeling. Some things could become cursed weapons or artifacts, after spending long time in the dungeon.


    I nodded, but, since the sword didn''t felt like magical weapon, I decided to keep it. I also collected zombies sword sheath and equipped it to myself.


    - Found magic bag, - sad Trevor, who also was going through former adventures equipment. After collecting all magic stones we put everything else of value in one pile. There were several swords, two axes, spears, rings, necklace and couple of bracelets. Among them were also half a dozen bottles with potions.


    Luara gave Trevor one of the healing potions, so he could use it on his wound. Trevor wanted to refuse, saying that he didn''t want to use a valuable potion on not so serious wound, but Luara''s comment, that the smell of the blood could attract monsters, convinced him to use it. He poured the red liquid on his wound and it immediately healed.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    - Should we sell the rest? - asked Myne.


    - I want to keep a sword, - I also really wanted the magic bag, but I needed the sword more, to survive.


    - I think that we should also keep a magic bag and potions, - said Luara. Among them were several vials with blue and red color. I already knew that red potions were healing ones, and blue ones could restore mana: - Myne, you should take a magic bag. You can carry it, since you move the least among all of us. Does anyone else want something?


    I looked at weapons, but nothing else cached my eye. Trevor decided to take a spare sword, and put it on his back.


    Luara nodded and put the rest of the things and adventurer wallets inside magic bag, and then handed it to Myne. She left behind two spears, since they were too long to put them inside magic bag.


    - Not a bad start, - commented Luara, and I agreed with her. Not good for the dead adventurers, but the guild rules said, that anyone who found the deceased adventurers equipment was allowed to keep it. We were obligated to show these things to adventurers guild, so that the dead people families could buy them, for the fair price of course. To avoid a dispute adventurers guild usually took the part of a middleman, between deceased relatives and adventurers. Adventurers could also ask, instead of the money, the same piece of equipment. So keeping the magic bag won''t be a problem. We could keep it or ask a magic bag of the same quality in exchange for this one. Such rules allowed the dead people families to get there families members equipment, and prevented the adventurers from hiding their founding''s. But I heard that such cases were rare. Usually people wanted to buy the equipment only if it was a family airlume or rare valuable piece of equipment. Luara also collected dead people adventurer tags, so that later she could return them to the guild.


    - I noticed that you have a grimoire. Did you learn any spells too? - asked me Luara.


    - I learned a healing spell, but I will need more practice before I can use it. Until then my master warned me, that it''s use could be dangerous for the wounded and can make things worse.


    - I see. It will be very useful in the future, and we will be able to spare some money on healing potions.


    - I thought so too myself. I wondered if I ever will get use to hunting in dungeon. My hands were shaking after a fight, and darkness scared me now. I expected monster attack from every corner and only the presence of my party members gave me courage.


    Next attack happened without any warning. Several wolf sized rats jumped out of the darkness and attacked us. I managed to kill one with an arrow but then had to threw down the bow and unsheathe the dagger. Monsters attacked us from three sides, and it happened so fast, that I didn''t even had a time to take out the sword. Giant rat jumped at me and I pierced its neck. It killed the rat, but didn''t stop it. Rat slummed into me and threw me on the ground. Rat''s body landed on me and I lost my breath for a moment. I threw away it''s body and managed only get on my knees when second rat attacked, and I landed on the ground again. I managed to grab rats neck with my left arm and stopped it from ripping off my face. Monster''s teeth clicked near to my nose. I stabbed the rat in the side several times, before it stopped moving. Someone bitted my leg and I screamed in pain. Barely overcoming pain and shock I pushed rat''s body on my attacker. Rat released my leg and I tried to stab its head. My dagger hit its skull, but I failed to pierce its bone. I only left a scratch on the rat''s head. The rat shook it''s head, momentarily disoriented. I didn''t miss my chance and stubbed its neck.


    I had a moments reprieve and looked around. Myne didn''t have time to use her magic and used her staff as a club to protect herself. Luara and Trevor were more successful, they were standing back to back, surrounded by half a dozen dead bodies. That way they had no blind spots, and were able to successfully protect themselves. I managed to take out my sword and joined Myne, copying our comrades. Several rats managed to get past my defense and I suffered several bites and cuts. Myne''s longer staff protected her better, than my sword, which I was complete rookie in using. Maybe I should take a few fencing lessons?


    I was worried that the blood loss will weaken me, when finally attack ended. We managed to kill all monsters and were surrounded by almost two dozen corpses.


    - Is everyone all right?


    - I felt better, - wounded leg hurt a lot and I could barely stand.


    - You should use a healing potion.


    - I don''t have one.


    Luara sighed, and I felt like a complete fool.


    - Myne give her one, that we collected from the undead adventurers.


    Myne nodded and handed me one of the red potions.


    - You should drink it. That will heal all of your wounds.


    I nodded and drunk the potion. It tasted horrible. I understood why Trevor poured it on the wound, instead of drinking it. I wanted to vomit, but managed to keep it down. My wounds started to heal, but much slower than Trevor''s. Maybe it was because I drunk it, or maybe it had lower quality.


    The rest of the party meantime collected magic stones. We were getting use to it, and didn''t need Luara''s remanding to do our job.


    - Not a bad loot, - commented Luara, after looking on the pile of corpses.


    - I hate rats, - sighed Myne, and we laughed.


    - Get use to it, - shook her head Luara, but she was smiling saying that. No matter how much our mage panicked, she always managed to act, and didn''t need our protection. Maybe, I was the weakest one her.


    - Let''s take a short rest, - said Luara: - You must feel mentally exhausted, at least I was during my first time.


    Trevor nodded and sat on the ground, after we walked away from rat corpses. I drunk some water, hoping that we will be going back soon. As much as I wanted to get stronger, the darkness and fear of monster attack, was getting to me. All I wanted was to get back and hide in my bed. And to think that just a day ago I thought that learning spells was bad. In comparison to dungeon, magic lessons were a vacation.


    After a short while we continued our journey, deeper into the dungeon.


    - How far are we from the entrance to the second floor? - asked Trevor.


    - We crossed around the third of the way, by taking one of shortest passages.


    I wasn''t so shore, that I wanted to go to second level. Monsters there were supposed to be more numerous and stronger. It also meant higher profits, but for the first time since I woke up in this world, I didn''t care about the money.


    Our next encounter was also a surprise attack. Familiar spider jumped on us from the ceiling, except this time he chosed Trevor as his victim. Unlike me Trevor didn''t avoided the attack and monster landed on his shoulders. Spider weight pushed Trevor on the ground and he screamed, when spider bitted his shoulder. My arrow wounded monster in its back and spider screeched in pain releasing Trevor from its fangs. Luara stabbed monster in the side, using her attack speed and body to push the spider off Trevor''s body. Myne prepared an attack, but didn''t use it since we were too close to the monster. Luara with her sword tried to pin the monster to the ground. I unsheathed my new sword an joined her attack, hacking monster into pieces. My attacks were more panic stricken, than professional like, but with Luara holding down the monster, I finally managed to deal a final blow, and spider stopped moving. I stabbed spider a few more times, just in case, and Luara released it.


    Trevor was moaning in pane, holding his wounded shoulder. Myne took out one of the healing potions and used it on Trevor. Wound healed, but not completely. I noticed some blue liquid mixed with Trevor''s blood. Was it poison? Trevor opened his eyes, but still looked weak.


    - Should I use one more potion?


    - No, - answered Luara: - Looks like he was poisoned. Does anyone have potion, that can cure poisons?


    We looked at each other and shook our heads.


    - That''s not good. We will need to go back, or Trevor will get worse, - Luara looked at her map and bitted her lip: - Our best option is to get back the same way we came. Since we already killed all monsters there, we should be safe. Except that all the blood, could also attract other monsters. But I still think that it is a better choice, than taking an unfamiliar route.


    I had no idea what is a better choice, so I agreed with Luara. Myne also nodded her head, so we decided to take Luara''s advice. Trevor could walk by himself, but Myne offered him her shoulder to lean on. Trevor nodded in gratitude and put his hand around her shoulder. Luara took the lead, while I stayed behind, putting Trevor and Myne in the middle.


    Luara walked faster than before. We made more noise and were more vulnerable to an attack this way, but getting faster out of the dungeon, was safer than walking more carefully and risking that other monsters will be attracted by their fallen brethren corpses. Darkness was even more depressing than before, now that we lost our front row fighter, but we got lucky and were able to leave the dungeon without anyone attacking us. Trevor was barely able to move his feet, when we exited the dungeon, and Myne was almost carrying him.


    The sunlight slightly blinded me, but I was happy to get out of the dungeon and breath  fresh forest smells. Trevor was pale and heavily panting. Luara looked at him with worry in her eyes and raised her walking speed.


    On our way back we took a short break near the stream. I washed my close, thinking that it will be ruined from all of the blood that covered it after the magic stone extraction. But to my surprise blood easily washed out of my close. That never happened in my previous life, were blood was hardest liquid to get rid of.


    Trevor was getting delirious. He was sickly pale and getting physically weaker. Myne and me helped him walk, but he needed professional help and fast. After a while I wanted to switch with Luara, but we needed our scout un-distracted, so she could worn us in case of an attack. Town surroundings were usually safe places, but there was no such guarantee as complete safety from monsters and bandits. We almost carried Trevor and I was barely holding on when we finally reached the town. To my surprise Myne was in better state than I was. Probably higher level and higher stats made her much stronger than me. I wondered what levels did my friends have.


    Guard looked at Trevor and grabbed his spear, when Luara explained him what happened. Guard nodded and pointed his spear to the town. We entered Grimsburg and Luara guided us to the nearest apothecary. When we entered, the man in white garment approached us and looked at Trevor.


    - What happened?


    - Monster poison from the dungeon, - explained Luara, and the man nodded. He examined the wound and pushed it from the sides. Several blue drops appeared out of the wound.


    - What kind of monster was it?


    - A giant spider.


    - I see, - apothecary nodded and approached one of the shelves. He chose an orange potion and opened the bottle.


    - Open his mouth, - ordered he to Myne and poured the liquid into Trevor''s mouth. Trevor coughed, but swallowed most of it.


    - He should be fine. Let''s see, - apothecary took another bottle, small one with red liquid and used few drops of it on the wound. Wound gloved and immediately healed. Trevor opened his eyes and looked around.


    - What''s happening? Where am I?


    - It''s all right now, - Luara patted him on the shoulder: - You were poisoned by a spider a little, but we are in Grimsburg now, and apothecary healed you.


    - Thank, thank you.


    - It will cost you seven silvers.


    Luara looked at Myne and mage took out undead adventurers wallets. She used the collected money to pay apothecary. We only had a silver coin and few coppers left after that. There goes our profits - sighed I.


    - Did you collected some of the monsters poison?


    - No.


    - That''s a shame. If you have an opportunity, please collect it next time. Some of the monster poisons can be used to brew some useful concoctions or even anti-poison potions.


    - Thank you for the information. We will keep that in mind, - nodded Luara. Damn, some profits were lost because of our ignorance.


    - Well, we survived and came out with some profits, - cheerfully said Luara: - What do you say if we go to the guild and cash in our stones?


    We thanked the apothecary and went to the guild. Receptionist counted our magic stones and after appraising them gave us three silver and seven copper coins. Most magic stones, like the one from the snakes and rats, were worth only a single copper coin. That was less than I expected. Without the dead adventurers gear we would be in the red by now.Luara also handed over adventurer tags.


    - We found some dead adventurers in the dungeon.


    - I see. Were you able to salvage their equipment as well?


    Luara nodded, and receptionist continued: - Very well, please wait then. I will need to check if the adventurers have registered their family members in the guild. If they have, you will need to leave their possessions with the guild for the time period of at least ten days, so that their families have opportunity to buy it.


    Luara nodded and receptionist left to the back of the guild. We waited a while until she came back.


    - Sorry for the wait. These adventurers haven''t registered their family members, so you are free to sell or keep their possessions. Thank you for bringing the adventurer tags.


    Luara nodded and we occupied one of the tables. After dividing the money, we all received a single silver coin.


    - We will sell the adventurer possessions, but I think that we need to use the money to buy some equipment, like potions, that can cure poisons.


    I agreed with Luara. Running back every time someone was poisoned would be problematic. Or even worse, this time we got lucky, but stronger poison could have easily killed Trevor.


    - Very well, Myne and I will take care of it then. Should we meet tomorrow and continue with the dungeon.


    - I''ll need to visit blacksmith. My sword needs some maintenance. Sorry.


    - That''s all right. How much time will you need?


    - A day or two.


    - Fine then we meet again three days later, - look likes Luara was becoming our party leader. That was fine by me. In the beginning I was considering becoming a party leader myself, but this dungeon dive, made clear how inexperienced and knowledge lacking I was.


    We said our goodbyes and agreed to meet in adventurers guild on the third day. I went back to the silver shield tavern and rented a room. Like usually I ate in my room and after washing myself, with wet towel, I tried to go to sleep.


    I was lying in my bed remembering the events of the past day. I was really lucky that I didn''t decided to go to the dungeon by myself. Without source of light I would be completely blind there. Even with light, without a map I would easily get lost. Not to mention that my weapons wouldn''t even be able to kill some of the monsters. Our first survival of dungeon dive was more of the luck thing. We acted like some rookies. The only one who came semi prepared was Luara. Without here we would definitely be lost or dead. But even so, we needed to be more prepared. We needed spare lantern, or better two. We needed potions - healing, mana potions, potions that could cure poisons, and probably some more, that I couldn''t imagine right now.


    We needed to get better. We needed to be prepared for the dangers of the dungeon. Until now I thought that dungeons were a way for adventurers to get stronger. To raise their level and then acquire an artifact and get even stronger. But now I started to re-evaluate my opinion. Maybe I was wrong and dungeons were traps, with artifacts acting as bate. Traps designed to lure in and kill adventures, greatly reducing their numbers. With these heavy thoughts I finally fell asleep. My dreams were nightmares, were I was alone surrounded by complete darkness and invisible monsters roars.

 Chapter 6. Hard decisions.

    Next day I woke up without felling rested. I dragged myself out of bed and forced myself to go downstairs and have some breakfast. After the breakfast I went back to my room and trained with Cure spell. Imagining magic circle and pouring mana inside it was still very hard. Without releasing the magic power I was able to cast spell eight times, before I collapsed on the bed. I was able to cast a spell successfully four out of eight times. Guess I was getting better at it after all.


    I counted my money. After setting aside the coins, that I needed to pay for the room and food in the tavern, I counted my remaining funds. If I skip lunch I will have three silver coins left. At least I wasn''t completely broke.


    After resting a while, I went outside and find a shop that made close for the adventurers. My shirt, pants and boots were torn in places by rats fangs and claws and needed fixing. Inside the shop was an old woman, who was sowing a shirt.


    - Hello adventurer. How can I help you?


    - My close were damaged during a fight, can you fix them, and how much will it cost? I took off my cloak an she examined my close. Old woman walked around me and nodded.


    - I can fix them. Will you need a Close potion as well.


    - Close potion? What''s that? Does it make close more durable or something?


    - Never heard about that, but it will make your close resistible to blood stains. Makes it easy to wash the blood out of them. A common problem for people in your line if work.


    So that''s why I could clean my close so easily.


    - The boots too?


    - Can''t help you with that, but there is a shoemaker, one shop down. He should be able to help you. Fixing your pants and shirt will cost you six copper coins, three coins for each. It will be done by tomorrow.


    - Can you lend me something to wear until then.


    - Hmm, I guess I can, but nothing fancy. Nothing that will survive an adventure.


    - That''s fine. I''m resting for a while, so I only need something to wear in town.


    Shopkeeper nodded and gave me simple pants and shirt from one of the close piles.


    - This should fit, you can change in the back.


    I thanked her and changed my close. At least my vest didn''t need fixing.


    Next I visited shoemaker, he costed me five more copper coins and lent me some sandals.


    A silver and copper coin spent. Oh, well. Next place to visit - Adventurers Guild. I used its training grounds, well huge room in the basement, that reminded me the Mages guild training room. Light came inside it from small windows, that were located at the ceiling. There were several targets near the walls and also a stand with wooden and dull metal weapons. I started with running circles until I dropped from exhaustion. Then for an hour I practised my archery.


    To my surprise people in this world new time. They had several sun clocks builded in the town, and also used sandglasses. One such hour glass was left in the adventurers guild''s training room. For more efficient training purposes, I suppose.


    After training with my bow, I thought about practising with a sword. But I only had rudimentary knowledge about sword play. And doubted that swinging around the sword will be useful. Maybe I should visit a martial arts school and get few lessons? I could visit Evan. Former adventurer party''s leader mentioned opening a school. I could even get a discount from him. But I had no idea where he lived. I should have asked Trevor about it. Still getting some knowledge about sword use before my next dungeon visit sounded like a good idea. Maybe I should try my luck with adventurers guild.


    I went upstairs and approached one of the receptionists.


    - Excuse me. Is it possible to hire a Swordsmanship instructor in the guild.


    - Yes. One of our staff members is a former adventurer and works here as a martial arts, and weapon use instructor. He is available during the day.


    - And how much does his instructions cost?


    - A silver coin for two hours. But you should now that his instructions won''t help you acquire skills.


    - I understand, - I considered my options. Silver coin was a lot for me, but surviving was more important: - I would like to hire him, for two hours.


    - Very well it will cost you a silver coin. He should be free and available right now.


    After I handed over the money she went after the guild''s instructor. The instructor was a tall man, covered with huge muscles. The only thing that told me his age was long, gray beard. I heard that increasing one''s level would also grant longevity. So if this man had high enough level he could be more than a century old. Longevity wasn''t concern for me. Elves have naturally long lives, and if I will manage to evolve into high elf, that will grant me eternal youth. Or eternal life I suppose, if I evolve as an old woman.


    - I''m Gord. So you''re the one who wishes to receive an instruction?


    He had a deep voice, but it sounded kind of friendly to me.- Yes, sir. I would like to receive a swordsmanship instructions.


    - Very well, follow me.


    We went downstairs and entered guilds training grounds.


    - You''re an E rank adventurer as I see, - he nodded at my adventurers tag.


    - Yes I have basic archery skill.


    - Any battle experience? And have you leveled up already.


    - Yes, both.


    - I see. Usually a newbie adventurer starts with running and exercises to increase his strength and stamina, but we will skip that since you already increased your level. Still you should now that stats won''t increase your stamina, so you will need to work on that yourself. I suggest running in the mornings, at least in the beginning. Have you ever used a sword, or had instructions how to do it.


    - Not really, that''s why I need instructions. After my last adventure I realized that I am lacking in my skills of weapon using.


    - What kind of missions are you planning to go on.


    - Well we were concentrating on dungeon diving for now. Is there a difference?


    - Yes, you need to learn a different way to use your sword, depending on your opponent. Fighting humans or demi-humans requires different sword style, than fighting monsters. But dungeon, ha. Not many adventurers go there. I am former C rank adventurer and my party managed to go only as far as sixth floor, and even then we barely managed to survive and get out. Strongest adventurers in Grimsburg only go as far as fourth floor. And only because it''s the first floor, were you could get lucky and found an artifact. You look surprised. Don''t you now that our town have only few C rank adventurers. Rest are mostly F ranks. They survive by taking simple jobs in the town or gathering herbs. And they are the smart ones, if you ask me. Take it slow, with as low risk as possible, if you want to survive. But enough about that. Show me your sword first.


    Gord examined my sword and nodded.


    - Not bad. Is this the sword that you are planning to use.


    - Yes. This one or similar.


    - Good. We can begin then.


    Gord handed me back the sword, and turned the hour glass. It measured time by one hour, so we had two turns for my lesson.


    Next two hours Gord spend by teaching me how to hold a sword. How to stand, and attack using my whole body mass, for more efficient slash. He showed me basic attack movements and ways to block an attack. Second hour we spend sparing, using training blades. I remembered seeing movies were people were sparring with real blades, that they used also in battles. In real life that was unwise, since such practice would dull and damage the blade. By the end of the lesson he shoved me exercises that I was suppose to practice every day, to improve my swordsmanship.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    I thanked Gord and he invited me to hire him for more lessons. My body hurt all over, but at least I gained some confidence in my sword skills. Time was approaching noon, so I had a half day left. I decided to visit guilds reference room and learn more about skills.


    I spent the second part of the day reading books, with skill related knowledge. To my surprise I learned that there were more ways to learn skills. Anyone could get lucky and get a swordsmanship skill by practicing, even by themselves, from a childhood. The same was with archery skill. Poison resistance skill could be acquired by drinking small amount of poison every day. For a while I considered getting poison resistance skill. It would be very useful, considering the amount of venomous monsters in the dungeon. I probably could buy some weak poison in the apothecary. But high level water magic skill would let me use Cure spell, to heal poison attacks, and also greatly enhance other water magic spells. Finally I decided against it. There were hundreds of useful skills, much more than I knew from the game. But the problem was that, at most I could get ten of them. I found a skill that could double skill slots. It was amazing. Even if it had only a single level it would double the number of skills that someone would normally have. The problem was that, according to the book, nobody knew how to get it. Book mentioned, that someone with Hero of Demon lord job had a high probability to get it during level up. Some high ranking adventurers also possessed this skill, but book didn''t mention how they were able to get it.


    Also not all skills had levels of novice, basic, advanced and master. They still were divided by four, but poison resistance skill was weak, good, strong and finally poison nullification. Fast mana recovery skill was weak, basic, normal and fast.I kept studying the skills, until guild worker informed me that it was getting dark. I went back to the tavern and after dinner and another spell casting exercise fell asleep.


    Next day I practiced Cure spell only seven times. That way I was able to finish my practice without exhausting my mana. My use of spell rate improved buy five successes and two failed attempts.


    Again I spend the morning running, practicing my archery and training with the sword, using the moves that Gord shoved me. After collecting my close and boots I decided to visit church. Guilds receptionist told me that the leveling crystal will be available in a weak, but until then I needed to go to the church in order to level up. I didn''t want to increase my level because of the risk of getting useless skills, but I needed to get stronger in order to survive in the dungeon.


    After showing familiar priest my adventurers tag, he took me to the leveling crystal. Familiar numbers appeared in front of me.


    Elf, LV 2 - LV 4


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:


    Health: 5 - 9;


    Mana: 20 - 40;


    Strength 1 - 3;


    Defense 1 - 2;


    Spell power: 0 - 1;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 6;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Archery (Advanced)


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Scouting (Novice);


    - Night vision (Novice);


    <u> Please choose one skill!</u>


    Good, I jumped two levels. But no magic or battle skills. Adventurers guild books said that Scouting would enhance my far sight, help me to read tracks, and also improve my five senses. Night vision was obvious. I probably should choose scouting, but then I remembered the dungeon. As an elf I could see better in the dark than humans, but it was useless in dungeons total darkness. My decision may be dictated by fear, but I chose the Night vision skill.


    After exiting the church I still had some time before nightfall. I could go read some more, but before that, I decided to visit apothecary.- Oh, it''s you, - recognized me the owner: - How is your friend feeling?


    - Should be fine. I wanted to by some potions, but before that my I ask you some questions?


    - Certainly. What would you like to know.


    - We started to hunt in the dungeon, and I wanted to know what potions would you recommend to take with us?


    - Rookie adventurers? I see. Well basic potions for you would be healing ones. Since you have grimoire you will also need mana restoration potion. Then there are also stamina restoration, anti-venom, and potions that are used to reverse petrifaction. In case of petrifaction you will be dead if your heart or head will be turned to stone, but in case if your leg or arm are petrified, it will be lifesaver. Then there are potions to counter curses, harmful spells or help with magic resistance. But they are mostly useless in dungeon and used to deal with enemy mages or liches. There are plenty more potions, but these are basic for the adventurers.


    - Could you tell me more about potions to counter monster venom.


    - Worried about last time I see. There are many such potions. They are more effective to counter specific monster venom. Some anti-venom potions will completely nullify for example snake venom, but will be useless against other monsters venom. Of course there are elixirs that can counter any poison or venom, but they cost starting with five gold coins, depending on the quality. So not many adventurers can afford them. I heard that the most powerful elixir also called Gods mead could cost at least fifty gold coins. It supposedly is powerful enough to restore even lost limbs, but I never saw such miracle for myself. Neither I have a skill to make one myself.


    - What can I get for a single silver coin? - I glanced at my wallet. If a spend a silver coin I''ll have to go without dinner or breakfast in the tavern.


    - A silver coin, hmm. You can buy cheapest anti-venom potion. It will work against weakest venom, if you are poisoned by a small quantity, but will be useless against stronger ones. At most you won''t die immediately and if you get lucky, then your friends will bring you to town, just like the member of yours adventurers party.


    Well that was better than nothing. I bought one healing potion and spend the rest of the day reading books, related to the Grimsburg Dungeon. My evening spell training got me to seven successes and single failure.


    Next morning my spell training was finally success - seven out of seven. I skipped breakfast, and went to meet my adventurers party. On my way to adventurers guild I stopped by street merchant and spent my remaining money on three loaves of bread. Even then I needed to bargain. I ate one and left the rest for later.


    Luara was the only one waiting, so at least this time I wasn''t the last one to arrive. Luara was drinking diluted ale, but I didn''t order anything. Not with my wallet. Myne and Trevor arrived soon after that and we discussed our plans for today. This time Trevor was armed with two swords. One on his waist and one behind his back. Myne also had a short sword on her waist. Not a typical mage weapon, but I approved.


    - Are we planning to go to the dungeons second floor today? - asked Trevor. He was nervous, clearly not sure that he can handle that. He wasn''t alone in that regard.


    - Not today, - shook her head Luara: - Myne and me were able to sold our loot and bought some more things that we will need in the dungeon. We bought spare lantern, some potions and better map. I also wanted to buy a warning crystal, but we didn''t have enough money.


    - What''s a warning crystal? - asked I, after hearing name of unfamiliar artifact.


    - It''s a magic stone that creates a barrier, that will warn us if anyone will approach as. Some adventurers use it when they make camp, during the night. It''s the only way to use, because the crystal only works when it''s stationary.


    That was a shame. Just as I started to imagine, that we could use that crystal during our walk through the dungeon.


    - I think, that we should explore dungeons first floor, to get use to it. Increase our levels a little more and save up enough money for warning crystal. We might need to spend a night in the dungeon, if we go deeper, and we will be much safer with warning crystal.


    We agreed with that. Maybe because no one wanted to go deeper in dungeon, because of unconscious fear of the dungeon.


    But Luara did well. She again thought of several things that I completely missed.


    Dungeon entrance scared me even more than first time. Now that I knew what awaited me there, I didn''t really wanted to go there. But I had to man up. So I bravely entered the beasts belly.


    The difference this time was obvious as soon as we got deep enough to lose the sunlight. It was my Night vision skill. Not like I could seen as good as during the day, but I at least I was able to see surrounding shapes. I could see the same way the human eye sees during a night, using a moon light.


    We went deeper in the dungeon and encountered first monster. It was in the cavern, with ceiling so high, that I couldn''t even see it. Judging from the shape, it was our familiar spider-monster. It hung between ceiling and the floor waiting for the prey. Above it I saw a thread. So it didn''t jump from the ceiling, the way I imagined, and used web, like a proper spider. I released my arrow and monster screeched in pain. It fell on the ground and probably broke some of his legs. My second arrow finished it. My party members looked at me in surprise. Spider was still outside the lanterns light bubble, and they didn''t see anything. They heard monsters scream and the sound of his fall. So at least I didn''t look like a crazy person, who shot in the dark.


    - I got a Night vision skill, - explained I: - It''s safe to collect the stone now.


    - Sounds useful, - nodded Luara and went ahead. She find the spiders body and everyone glanced at me in surprise.


    - Let''s hope that things will be easier this time, - smiled Luara. She collected magic stone and gathered some of the spiders venom. She used an empty potion bottle to fill it with monsters venom. Guess we are becoming seasoned adventurers, one step at a time.


    Our next encounter was with the rats. Except this time I noticed them much faster, and killed four of them with my arrows. Myne also had enough time to cast a Slow spell. And we easily finished the rats using our swords. Thanks to my night vision skill and advance warning, our second dungeon dive went much better. We continued exploring the dungeon, an collected more stones. We didn''t encounter any undead, but at least no one was injured. We encountered more rats, two spiders, snakes, and dog sized lizards with huge teeth. I dealt with spiders using my arrows, and Myne successfully casted her Slow spell when we encountered monsters who hunted in packs. We decided to return, when Myne started to get low on mana. She could use mana restoration potion, but we decided to keep that option for emergencies. Next day we returned to the dungeon and our dungeon dive was just as successful. We encountered usual monster and also some flying insects, that looked like a giant mosquitoes. Luckily for us Myne''s Slow spell worked just as good on flying monsters. After returning to Grimsburg, we decided to rest for a day and then visit second floor. Our two days earned us enough money for warning crystal, and some spending money for ourselves. We had one day to prepare, and then dungeon''s second floor awaited us.

 Chapter 7. Dungeon again.

    My morning started with usual spell practice exercise. I was able to cast seven times without failing once, and finally started to feel confident in my casting abilities. Afterwards I visited adventurers guild and after my morning practice, hired Gord for more swordsmanship lessons. He taught me some new moves, and told me about basic strategies in sword arts. Then we spent the rest of the time sparring, which allowed me to improve my sense of distance. In the afternoon I went shopping to buy myself new arrows and stamina recovery potion.


    I also visited the church, but was disappointed when instead of usual numbers appeared only my basic information:


    Elf, LV 4


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger.


    I already knew that it meant, that I don''t have enough monster life force to level up. Thanks to my Night vision skill I killed more monsters than other party members, but it still wasn''t enough to level up. I wondered how much monsters I need to kill before reaching next level. I knew that with every level I needed to kill more monsters and killing weak monster gave too little life force, but still, after jumping two levels previous time I expected increase of at least one level. That was disappointing, since I wanted to increase my levels, before going to dungeon''s second floor. Rest of the day as usually I spend in the Adventurer guild reference room.


    * * *


    Next morning everyone felt a little nervous. Luara had previously reached floor two, and Myne was the only one among us who went to the dungeon third floor. I wondered how strong we were comparing to her previous party. Well Evan was D rank adventurer, so probably we were weaker than her previous party.


    We managed to get through first floor without any surprises. We dealt with usual monsters the same way as before and successfully reached level two. Levels were divided by a long stairs. They led to another dark cavern, and I didn''t see any difference from the first floor. We crossed half of the cavern when something started falling on us from the ceiling. Many, many of them.


    - Watch out! - I screamed to warn others and shot one of the shadows. That was all that I managed to do since they were falling really fast. Thanks to my warning we managed to avoid direct hit from the monsters, when they reached us. First one fell on the ground near us and Luara hissed in disgust. It was a huge leech. At least meter long, fat and covered with slime it started to crawl near us. Trevor kicked it away, to free more space. Several dozens of them were falling on the ground all around us. Can''t imagine what would happen to us, if one of those things would fall on our shoulders.


    After the fall leeches needed several moments, before they started to crawl towards us. There sky attack turned out to be their most dangerous feature. On the ground they were quit slow, and we started to hack them in pieces as soon as rain of leeches ended. First we killed the ones in the middle of our formation, and then easily disposed of the rest.


    I wiped the sweat of my forehead and looked at the corpses. We needed to remove the magic stones, but nobody moved. Leeches were really disgusting, and nobody wanted to touch them.


    - Trevor could you handle magic stone gathering, while we stand watch? - I glanced at the boy. He was the only guy here and we were three cute ladies. Myne and Luara expectantly looked at him, and Trevor sighed.


    - Fine. Stand watch, while I do it.


    We nodded and watched surroundings, while Trevor cut out magic stones. Mostly I watched the cavern because I didn''t want to see those leeches. Brrr.


    They had tough skin and Trevor had to work hard to gather all stones. I think this was the first time when we all felt grateful to the boy. Good for him.Second floor was similar to the first one. Many corridors with different size caverns. We crossed few of them, when I finally noticed next monster. It was big, at least three meters high.


    - Get ready?


    - What is it?


    - Donno, something big, - I answered Luara and shot the shadow. I didn''t miss, but monster didn''t slow down or reacted. My second arrow didn''t have any effect either. I put down my bow and prepared a sword.


    - Don''t think my arrows are working.


    Luara took a step closer to us and we prepared for battle. Monster was slowly approaching, at least it wasn''t very fast.


    - Troll, - exhaled Trevor in surprise. To be precise it was undead troll. What was it doing here? Did trolls also visited the dungeon to level up or evolve? I set aside my questions and concentrated on the fight. Myne casted her slow spell and we attacked the monster.


    We attacked him from three sides, trying to cut off its legs. Troll was unarmed, and in response to our attacks tried to grab us with his hands. At least it was slow and didn''t regenerate. But it had thick skin, that was hard to cut threw.


    Myne shot him with magic arrow and it blew up part of its fat belly.


    - Aim for the head! - screamed I to Myne, remembering that undead could be killed by cutting of their heads. Troll turned towards Myne and we all screamed and attacked him, trying to distract troll from our mage. Undead troll turned out to be much dumber than its living counterpart. It concentrated on us again, and Myne managed to release her spell. Troll''s head blew off and it heavily fell on the ground. I wiped out sweat. Finally it was over. Undead troll was slow, but hard to kill, and unlike us undead never got tired. Prolonged battle could led to mistakes, that we couldn''t afford. We also were lucky that he was alone, and that we had mage on our side. I realized just how much balanced party was important during adventures.


    Luara cut out magic stone and we went deeper into the dungeon.


    - My sense or time tells me that it''s night already. We should make camp, - unlike Luara my sense of time didn''t tell me anything, but I learned to trust catgirl. Myne took out of her magic bag red crystal. She placed it on the ground and channeled mana inside it. Crystal gloved and released a light barrier around it. It grew in size until it became at least twenty meters in diameter. It gloved for a while and then disappeared.


    - Don''t go outside the barriers range or you will set off the alarm.


    So that was warning crystal. Useful. We sat down on the ground and I eat some smoked meat. We prepared for sleep, but I doubted that I will get much of sleep here. Most of our preparations was taking off our cloaks, so we could use them as blankets.


    - Feels weird to sleep in dungeon, - Trevor looked around, too afraid to go to sleep.


    - You need to get use to it. Imagine that you are in Grimsburg, were you can sleep all day long.


    - Is that what you do in town?


    - Meow, cats like to sleep. I sleep when I have free time.


    - That sounds nice, I spent my time training. By the way Myne, your spell speed increased. Do you practice a lot?


    - Yes, every day. Until I run out of mana.


    - So do I, except that I have only small amount of mana and my magic practice ends really fast.


    - Oh, I have a mage job. My teacher told me that thanks to that I need less mana points to cast a spell, than other people.


    - What about you Trevor, do you spend all day practicing with your sword?


    - Only first part of the day. After that I usually take herb gathering quests. I want to save enough money, so I could go to school, were they teach Swordsmanship skill.


    - Doesn''t Evan teaches you? - I was surprised that Trevor wanted another teacher.


    - Master Evan can only teach me how to use a sword and techniques. If I want Swordsmanship skill I need to visit school were they teach how to get a skill. Most of the teachers there have Teaching skill, that''s why their lessons are special, and I will be able to learn the skill from them in several month, half a year at most.


    - I want to save money, so I could go to Magic academy. I have advanced level of Earth magic skill, but I also want to learn Wisdom skill, and more magic related skills.


    - Why bother, you can get a skill when you level up. I use leveling crystal after every mission, and have already six skills.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    - You do now that you can get only ten skills? - Luara surprised me. I thought that everyone wanted special skill set, not randomly gained ones.


    - Master Evan told me not to level up until I get Swordsmanship skill. That''s why I''m only level three now.


    - Really. Don''t you want to increase your stats as fast as you can? Catpeople always try to level up as fast as we can.


    - I also try to level up, as rarely as possible, - added surprised Myne: - I already have two useless skills for mage, like Knitting and Agriculture. Are all of yours skills useful Luara?


    - Well guess they are. I have Foresight and Scouting at novice level. Also novice Hunting, Tracking, and Butchery skill. My Martial arts are at basic.


    Well I guess that was useful. But only single offense skill, with only four skill slots left. Well maybe two counting Hunting, but not the skill set that I would want. Still that''s the skill set that I could end up with, if I''m not careful.


    - Wow, you''re like a perfect scout. Mind if I ask you what job you have? - Myne seem to be impressed, which made me feel strange.


    - I have a Scout job, so feel free to call me perfect scout. I''m also at level nine, and soon hope to reach level ten. But it is hard to reach. I heard that to reach level ten you need to kill at least ten times more monsters than before, and after that leveling up is just as difficult. What level are you at?


    - You have a specialized job. That''s amazing! I only have a commoner job. That''s why master Evan always tells me not to level up thoughtlessly. Guess it''s different from your people.


    - I''m at level four. But I had basic Archery skill, so guild gave me rank E as soon as I registered.


    - I''m at level seven. But I haven''t leveled up in a while. Like I said I want to save money for Magic academy first.


    - My advice level up as much as you can. Stats will make you strong. And strong survive, - Luara yawned: - Think on that, but try to sleep now.I spend most of the night trying to do that, bet fell asleep only after a long while.


    Next morning we were woken up by a loud chime. At first I was disoriented, but then realized that it was warning crystal. We were under attack.


    Next moment I saw a giant snake. When it lifted its head and hissed its eyes were at my eye level.


    - Myne Slow spell! - Luara threw a knife and bolted aside to distract the reptile. I also grabbed my sword and run to the other side. Facing this monster head on was suicide. Trevor also avoided direct attack, we scattered as much as lantern''s light allowed us. I tried slashing the snake, but only managed to cut out few of its scales. Monster was distracted by the loud sound of warning crystal, and then it had to decide who to attack first. Trevor managed to cut it and drew the first blood. That angered the snake and it turned towards Trevor. Monster prepared for the attack, but it was too late. Myne''s Slow spell manifested as bubbles below it, and snake got distracted again. Luara stabbed it, and her sword went deep inside monster''s body. Snake hissed again and launched her head towards Luara. Catgirl jumped back, but had to leave her sword inside snake''s body. We got lucky that Myne managed to cast her spell. At full speed it would be nearly impossible for us to avoid it''s attack.


    Trevor again managed to cut the monster. Snake was distracted by Trevor, and that created an opening for me. I swung my sword putting all my strength and body mass into my attack. I managed to break reptile''s scales and left deep wound in its body. Snake shook her head, annoyed by her prey. Then I saw Myne, she was sitting on the ground, going threw her magic bag. Dammit, she used up her mana to slow down the big monster. She was defenseless right now and needed mana restoration potion to regain her strength. Snake also noticed her and prepared for an attack. Defenseless prey was too big of a prize for her to pass up. Luara had only her dagger, and it was useless to attack. Luckily Trevor also noticed that and slashed snakes body. But he made a mistake he got too close to snakes tail, and monster used an opportunity for an attack. Trevor tried to block snake''s tail with his sword, but flew away from the strength of the blow. Snake again turned towards Myne, who only now managed to take out mana restoration potion. She was defenseless, and I was the only one who could do something to protect her. Dammit, that was bad.


    I had only one chance, or Myne will die. Luara screamed something to distract the snake, but monster ignored her. I run towards snake''s head and the moment it attacked Myne stabbed her neck, using monsters speed against it. Sword went deep inside and blood gushed out like a fountain. Snake hissed in pain and shook her head violently. I tried to hold on to my sword and take it out, but it was too deep inside snake''s body. Snake''s movements lifted me up and then threw me away. Monster violently trashed around and it was impossible to get near to her.


    Myne managed to drink the potion and crawled away from the snake. I was lying on the ground, the fall knock my breath out and I was half unconscious. Finally snake movements became slower, and she fell on the ground. Huge blood loss finally killed the monster. I got up, but my legs were shaking. That was close. We got lucky that snake was distracted by the warning crystal, otherwise we could have lost this battle.


    - Everyone all right? - asked Luara from the other side of the monster.


    - Alive at least, - I answered checking my body for injuries. I was fine, just a little shaken from the fight.


    Myne and Trevor also avoided serious injuries. Trevor had some cuts and bruises, but nothing serious.Luara needed some time to cut out monsters magic stone, while Trevor and me collected its venom. Magic stone was two centimeters in diameter, biggest one that we got until now.


    Catgirl showed as the stone, when she lifted up her ears.


    - I hear something. That direction.I followed her finger. There was something running at as. Was it a giant centipede? One, two, dozen, more, two dozen. Then I saw them. Almost a hundred.


    - Run! - I grabbed Myne''s arm and started running, dragging her after me: - Run!! - I screamed as loud as I could.


    Luara looked at me with surprise, but seeing my back immediately started running after me. I released Myne''s arm, when she started running by herself. Trevor was the last one to follow. I glanced back. Centipedes were getting closer, but slowly. With enough light and on the even terrain we could outrun them, but in the surrounding darkness, when we needed to watch our steps, we had no chance. I took the lead hoping that my memory won''t fail me. Two caverns back I noticed a small hill, I hoped that no one lived there. That was our only chance, but if we run into a monster until we reach it, we were done for.


    - What''s happening? - asked Luara.


    - Run! - I screamed. Explaining would take my breath, and I already was panting. They followed me, scared and worried. We again got lucky, well we reached the hill. I run up the hill and took a look back. Centipedes were approaching but we still got time.


    - Get on the hill! Myne get ready Slow spell and all your mana potions! Use only Slow spell! Trevor, Luara we will protect her.


    - What''s happening? - asked Luara again.


    - No time! - I panted, exhausted by the previous fight and running. I should listen to Gord and exercise more. I took out my stamina potion and put it inside my pocket, were I could reach it easily. Then I started shooting. Luara put her lantern higher on the hill and prepared for a fight. She could hear the centipedes, but had no idea who they were and what was happening. Trevor prepared his sword, peering into darkness. I managed to kill five centipedes using my arrows, when they entered our light circle.


    Myne squealed, but managed to cast her spell. Centipedes who run in front slowed down and other monsters slammed into them. Myne''s slow spell could affect dozen centipedes at a time It wasn''t perfect, but good enough to give us a chance. Third row centipedes crawled over the backs of their slower brethren, and we used our swords. Myne drunk a mana potion and started casting again. She had six vials placed at her feet, and I hoped that it will be enough. Centipedes were tough, but our stats gave us advantage, and we were strong enough to slice them apart. We killed them creating a wall of body''s in front of us. I cut down must be ten centipedes, and could barely hold my sword. Myne casted a fourths spell and centipedes slowed down, that gave me a moment reprieve and I drunk the potion. It tasted nasty, but some of my strength returned. I lifted my sword and continued defending Myne. They attacked in waves. Luckily centipedes acted as mindless insects and didn''t surround us. That was the only reason way we had a chance to survive. With Myne behind our backs, we could count on her magic, and she could cast her spells without interference. Trevor screamed in pan when centipede bitted his leg. He cut her in two, and Luara protected him from second centipede, who tried to jump into his face. I mindlessly waved my sword in front of me, praying for this monster wave to finally end.


    We all, except Myne, had bruises and cuts, left by centipedes legs and teeth. We were forced to slowly retreat to free the space in front of us. Myne casted her spell for the tenth time, and joined us in front. She used her staff to hit centipedes heads. That meant that she run out of potions, and had not enough mana to cast Slow spell. Without Slow spell centipedes moved faster. One of them jumped at Trevor and bitted his arm. He screamed in pain and Luara again saved him by killing the monsters. Myne smashed the head of the next centipede, who tried to use Luara''s momentary distraction. I cut off the head of my opponent. Six left. God, why don''t they run away!


    Trevor lost his sword after centipede bitted him, and used his left arm with his spare sword. Luara killed one more, I pierced another one, but I slipped on the monster''s blood and fell on the ground. Next monster jumped on me, and I caught it with my hands, trying to hold its teeth away from my face. Around us battle continued, but all I saw was ugly insects head with huge fangs. Monsters legs moved in the air cutting my arms, and I was slowly weakening. Dammit! I concentrated and casted on myself Cure spell. It worked. Magic circle in my mind''s eye filled with mana and I send magic power towards my body. It gloved and my cuts healed. Monster got distracted by the glow, and I was able to threw it to the side. Centipede fell on its back, and this time I got on it. I unsheathed my dagger and started stabbing the centipede, holding it down with my left hand. It trashed around, waving its legs and cutting me all over, but I didn''t stop. Finally centipede stopped moving, and I sat on the ground. I had no more strength left. No one jumped on my back, and everything was quiet.


    I looked around. Myne and Trevor were sitting on the ground, covered by blood their own and ugly green insect liquids. Myne was the only one standing, using her staff as a crutch.


    She made sure that there were no more monsters and then run to her magic bag. She returned with healing and stamina potions and distributed them among us. I gratefully took my share and drank them down. They were disgusting like always, but at least my wounds started to heal and some of my strength returned. Myne fell on her knees and started vomiting. If she had to drink six or seven mana potions, and they tasted the same, I understood her well.


    - Gather the magic stones, and let''s get out of here, - ordered Luara. After drinking stamina potion catgirl was full of energy.


    I sighed, but followed her orders. We needed to work fast. We gathered most of the magic stones, when Luara ordered a retreat.


    - That should be enough. It''s too dangerous to stay longer. We are out of potions, and need to get back.


    We all agreed, and hurried to get out of there. We didn''t travel too far into the dungeon''s second floor and reached the stairs without any more encounters with dungeon''s second level monsters. On the first floor we run into several monsters, but nothing that we couldn''t handle. To my surprise it was only midday when we exited the dungeon. I felt like we spent many days inside the dungeon, not a day and a half.

 Chapter 8. New skills.

    On our way back we washed ourselves in a stream and finally reached the town walls. Our first visit to dungeon''s second floor went just as bad as our first visit to upper floor. At least we survived, and no one was dying this time. Our clothes were torn and full of holes, but it wasn''t such an uncommon sight for the adventures in Grimsburg.


    We entered Adventurers guild, and after handing over our loot, occupied one of the tables. Usually I didn''t drink, but this time we all ordered a cup of ale. We silently drank our ale, when the receptionist brought as our earnings.


    - Congratulations, - she smiled at us It was Leone, the receptionist who registered me as adventurer. She was slowly becoming our exclusive receptionists: - Look likes you earned a lot today.


    She left us three gold coins and a pile of copper ones. We sat for a while and looked at the money. This was the first time we earned a gold coin.


    - Sings are going up, - I muttered, and everyone agreed.


    - But we were too weak for second floor, unless you level up.


    I sighed and agreed with Luara. At least few more times I needed to risk leveling up, or I will definitely die, before collecting enough money. Myne and Trevor agreed and we all asked receptionist to take as to the leveling crystal.


    She smiled and took as to the room, that was similar to the one that church used. Leone unlocked the door and let us inside.


    - I will wait for you here.


    I nodded, and we entered the room. Luara was the first one who run towards the crystal. But she sighed in disappointment, soon afterwards. Only her name and race appeared in front of her:


    Catgirl, LV 9


    Name - Luara;


    Job: Scout;


    Even after our last battle she couldn''t level up to level ten. She told us herself, that reaching level ten was really hard, but was clearly disappointed. I also heard that reaching levels 20 and 30 was just as hard, or even harder, comparing to previous levels. Probably why guild ranks were related to adventurers levels, to separate those who had more accomplishments.


    Trevor was hesitant, but he straightened his shoulders and touched the crystal. He gasped in surprise:


    Human, LV 3 - LV 8


    Name - Trevor;


    Job: Commoner;


    Status:


    Health: 1 - 2;


    Mana: 10 - 30;


    Strength: 0 - 2;


    Defense: 0 - 2;


    Spell power: 0;


    Luck: 0 - 1;


    Speed: 3;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Lumberjack (Novice);


    Herb gathering (Novice)


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Herb gathering (Basic);


    - Increased strength (Novice);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    He was clearly surprised, but I was disappointed. His stats grew, but so little. Guess commoner stats are really the worse. At least he received Increased strength skill. At novice level it will increase his overall strength by 10 %, which was a lot for someone with his stats.


    Trevor happily chose Increased strength skill, and stepped aside happily grinning.


    I was next. I put my hands on the crystal and was just as surprised as Trevor.


    Elf, LV 4 - LV 9


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:


    Health: 9 - 13;


    Mana: 40 - 80;


    Strength: 3 - 8;


    Defense: 2 - 4;


    Spell power: 1 - 6;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 6;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Archery (Advanced);


    Night vision (Novice)


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Leadership (Novice);


    - Night vision (Basic);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    I already was at level nine. Didn''t expect that. My spell power improved by leaps. That will increase my spell effectiveness. Now using less mana I will be able to heal more serious injury. Leadership skill would increase my leadership abilities and party''s or armies morale. But I decided against it. Night vision proved to be a great asset in the dungeon, and I wanted to improve it even higher. So I choose Night vision (basic), and let Myne go next.


    Trevor was surprised by my stats, and probably felt disappointed by his own weakness. As far as I know weak human strength measured in stats would be six. That meant that I, with my increased strength stats, was at least two times stronger than peasants. Guess Evan never told Trevor the difference between commoner growth, and those who had battle or magic oriented job.


    Myne''s stats were just as impressive as mine:


    Human, LV 7 - LV 9


    Name - Myne;


    Job: Mage;


    Status:


    Health: 19 - 23;


    Mana: 80 - 100;


    Strength: 8 - 10;


    Defense: 6 - 7;


    Spell power: 6 - 9;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 5;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Earth magic (Advanced)


    Knitting (Novice)


    Agriculture (Novice);


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Knitting (Basic);


    - Wisdom (Novice);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    - Wisdom, amazing! - Myne jumped from happiness. I would probably too. Wisdom will let her cast spells more easily and also learn more advanced spells. No surprise for someone with a mage job. Our party just became much stronger. Dungeons second floor shouldn''t be as big of a problem from now on. We celebrated our successful mission and agreed to take two days of rest, to fix our gear and clothe. Luara kept one of the gold coins, to buy more potions for our party, She was also in charge of selling monster venom or trading it for potions. That left us all with five silver coins of profit.


    * * *


    My head hurt from last night''s celebration. We separated last night and I had hard time getting to the tavern. I already knew that Luara rented a room in a place that was located in the part of the town where most inhabitants were beast people. Myne lived in a tavern, that was close to the Mages guild, and Trevor rented a room in a house that was bordering the poor part of Grimsburg. He started living there, when he still earned only coppers as a payment for his adventurers work, and still stayed there, saving money for the future. So after celebration, we separated and went different ways.


    I was in no shape to train, so I casted a Cure spell on myself. To my surprise it worked, and I was good to go. Fixing my close and boots costed me thirteen copper coins. I also bought myself some new close and sandals, which I could wear in the city. I spend first half of the day training in the Adventurers guild, and hired Gord for additional lessons in swordsmanship. Rest of the day I spend reading, and next morning I repeated my routine. The second part of the day I decided to spend shopping. I visited apothecary and bought me one more stamina potion. Afterwards I visited blacksmith quarter.


    I went inside weapon shop and greeted the owner. It was a dwarf. He only reached as far as my shoulders, but had broader shoulders and much bigger muscles than any human. Dwarfs name was Ashurga, he was a weaponsmith and also a shop owner. I visited his shop several times, to buy more arrows and was a regular client by now. Dwarf liked me and always gave me a discount.


    - Hi there laddy. Came to buy arrows again?


    - Yes. I always seem to need them.


    - I see, I see. When you will finally level up your gear. If you wish to fight stronger monsters like dragons, then you''ll need an orichalcum or adamantium arrows.


    - Orichalcum arrows? Sounds interesting. How much they cost?


    - One gold piece for each, - chuckled dwarf.


    I sighed: - That''s a bit pricee for me. I''ll take regular ones for now.


    - Just a bit ha, - laughed Ashurga: - To be honest, I only sold them once. Still have one quiver of them lying around, but doubt that I will sell them soon. Maybe in ten years or so, if I get lucky. Not much orichalcum to work with in this town anyway. That''s a bloody shame. Have myself an advanced Weaponsmith skill and Blacksmith job, but not much use for my skills here. Have to make kitchen knives, to put food on the table, if you believe it.


    - Is orichalcum the best metal for swords?


    - Almost. Orichalcum is crafted from magic ore, that you can find in the dungeon. One of the blacksmith secrets, how to make it. But adamantium is better. Can forge a sword that be as good as any artifact with adamantium, but you can only get adamantium in dungeon, and not on upper floors. Small fry adventurers here, no go deep enough to find it. Posted several quests for it in adventurers guild, but no one took the job.


    - Can''t you forge a magic sword without it?


    - Sorry laddy. Can''t forge a magic sword at all. Blacksmith need Runesmith or magic skill as well as Blacksmith or Weaponsmith job, or similar skill for that. Can only forge you a sword with glowing stone if you plan to go to the dungeon.


    - What''s a glowing stone?


    - Never seen one, ha? Those are stonies that you can find in the dungeon. In the light they look like ordinary crystals, but glow in the dark. No need to carry a lantern if you have a sword with glowing stone in its hilt. Heard that adventurers who work alone, use them in dungeons. You can also use potions, that let you see in the dark, but potions work only short amount of time, while glowing stone always gives you light.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    - Sounds useful, - maybe my Night vision skill wasn''t so useful after all, but too late to regret it now.


    - I''ll take six arrows for now. But I''ll bring you your magic ore or adamantium, if I ever found one. What''s the difference between them?


    - That sounds like a deal that will get you a discount cutie. Adamantium is found as pure metal. But orichalcum is forged by mixing several metals with magic ore that can be found in a dungeon. Magic ore is also used to make artifacts, alchemists are crazy for it. Good luck of finding it. Well six arrows it is.


    I thanked the dwarf and went outside. Adamantium sword - that sounded like a dream. I spend the rest of the day shopping, but nothing cached my eye. Well not much I could buy with a single silver coin left. In the evening I went to pick up my close and boots. Next day we were supposed to go to the dungeon again. I hoped that I was as prepared as I could be.


    * * *


    We took familiar route and chose one of the shortest way to the second floor. By now first floor monsters weren''t a problem for us. Luara had maps of the first five floors. Fifth floor was our goal, there we had a chance of finding the artifacts, and that was one of our goals, besides increasing our levels and making a lot of money.


    My night vision let me see even better. It''s not like I could see colors, but surroundings were clearer to me and I could see the ceiling. There were many stalactites hanging from upstairs. It made me worried. Fear that they will fall on my head, wasn''t something that I needed.


    We carefully entered the dungeon''s second floor, but this time there were no leeches falling on our heads. Like usually we left the decision of our route in Luara''s hands. First we wanted to find out if we could handle monsters from the second floor. If we could, we would take the next step by going deeper - to the third floor. Receptionist Leone told as that centipede army that we encountered last time was something unusual. At least no one has ever reported it, or survived the encounter to report. It could also mean that monster numbers in the dungeon have increased, and could be the sign of monster stampede. Still we decided not to change our plans. Probably three gold coins and increase in our levels influenced our decision too much.


    First we decided to explore cavern, where we fought the centipedes. We didn''t collect all the magic stones, and it''s not like the monsters needed them, so there was a good chance, that they still were there. We were approaching the cavern when Luara raised her hand and signaled us to stop.


    - I hear something, - she whispered.


    I peeked around the corner and saw something big eating the centipedes. Dungeon monsters rarely attacked each other, but they didn''t hesitate to eat corpses. Monster looked like a bear, but with horns on his head.


    - Looks like a big bear, - I informed my party members.


    - Let''s go with usual, - said Luara. Which meant that we let the monster attack, slow it down with Myne''s spell, and then kill it, by attacking from all sides. I attracted monsters attention with my arrows. It roared in anger and run towards us on his four legs. I took a deep breath and aimed at him. My arrow pierced his eye and monster fell on the ground, without even reaching light circle from our magic lantern. Since Myne needed to see the monster to cast her spell, she didn''t even had a chance to use it.


    - It''s over, - I told others and we approached the monster.


    - Your skills can be such a cheat, - complained Luara, while she was cutting out bear''s magic stone. We also collected its horns, since they could be use by the blacksmiths to create weapons. We searched the centipede corpses and found ten magic stones. Centipedes already started to decompose, so finding the magic stones turned out to be quite easy. Next we found the giant snakes body and collected its fangs. Just like with centipedes, we didn''t have time to collect this monsters materials. I wanted to say that it was an easy start, but stopped myself. Didn''t want to jinx it. We spent the night in the dungeon and returned to Grimsburd late evening. Thanks to our increased stats we were able to defeat second floor monster more easily. We encountered two giant snakes, but they weren''t such a big problem this time. Thanks to her Wisdom skill and increased amount of mana, Myne was able to cast Slow spell on them without losing all of her mana. Snake scales also didn''t look so tough to me as last time. I managed to kill a second snake by cutting of her head, while Luara killed first one by stabbing her in the eye. Even Trevor wasn''t such a rookie anymore and started to resemble his teacher Evan.


    Just like on the first floor, monsters resembled animals or gigantic insects. Giant snakes were the most dangerous monsters that we encountered there. We visited second floor two more times, and thanks to monster materials we increased our profits. Finally we were able to set aside some money, not just spend it all on basic necessities.


    Luara finally managed to level up and reached level ten. She and Trevor updated their ranks. Now we had three rank E adventurers and one level D adventurer. We were sitting in the adventurers guild and discussing possibility to go to the third floor, when Leone approached our table.


    - Hi, there. I see you spend a lot of time together and visit Grimsburg dungeon frequently. Why don''t you register as a party? That way you could take a dungeon cleaning quest.


    - What''s a dungeon cleaning quest? - I asked. We all were so used to our dungeon diving routine, that we didn''t even bother to check the quest board.


    - Because of your report about large centipede monster colony, guild master and town lord decided to post it. Dungeon cleaning quests are posted when there are signs of possible monster stampede. Only adventurer party''s can take them. Reward for the quest is a gold coin.


    - What is required on such a quest? - asked Luara. Just like to the rest of us, words gold coin peaked her interest.


    - You will need to visit the dungeon and hunt monsters. Quest will be accepted as completed if you bring two hundred level one monster magic stones or hundred level two monster stones. You can also bring fifty level three monster magic stones or twenty level four. You will of course receive a payment for magic stones as well.


    - Can we take this quest more than one time? - I asked, thinking of a way to increase our profits.


    - Of course. It is an open quest, that any party can take. You will receive a gold coin as soon as you accept the quest and have one week to complete it. Quest will be posted until guild master is satisfied that sufficient number of monsters is killed. If you fail to kill the specified number of monsters in one week you will need to return the reward, but there will be no penalty, if you can prove that you actually spent time hunting monsters. In other towns quest can be completed by killing small amount of stronger monsters, but in Grimsburg, even current strongest adventurer parties don''t go lover than floor four.


    We exchanged glances. That sounded interesting. In the beginning we wanted to register as a party, but decided against it, because of the twelve silver coins, that was the price for registering a party. But we could get that money back, after a couple dungeon visits. We already hunted monsters, so accepting this quest will increase our earnings.


    - Can we think about it? - asked Luara.


    - Of course, - answered Leone, but she already saw, that we won''t say no.


    That day we finally registered as an adventurers party. We voted for Luara to be the party leader. We didn''t register our party''s name since we couldn''t decide on it, but it wasn''t necessary for party registration. We were rank D party, since Luara already had that rank, and took our first quest - dungeon cleaning.


    * * *


    I used my sword to cut off centipedes head and looked around. That was the last one of the monsters. This centipede colony had only twenty monsters in it and we successfully killed them. This was our second dungeon visit after accepting the quest. Turned out that all monsters on first floor were classified as level one monsters, even spiders. On level two all monsters who hunted in packs were also only level one monsters. Horned bears were level two, and only giant snakes were level three monsters. After our first visit we only managed to turn in sixty level one magic stones. This quest turned out to be harder than I imagined. Because of our raids, and several more adventurers parties, who accepted the quest, monster population on first two floors, was quite low. We had to explore the second floor for three hours, until we run into these centipedes. That was the beginning of our second day in the dungeon, and we managed to collect only fifty stones. In my mind gold coins were flying away from us.


    - Don''t think we will find anything on the second floor, - voiced my thoughts Luara: - Guess we''ll need to go to the third floor after all.


    Trevor and Myne were little hesitant to do that in the beginning, but now Myne had to agreed.


    - We will spend too much time walking around and risk to go back with empty pockets, if we don''t do that.


    - Third floor it is, - sighed Trevor. Even after reaching level nine, he still was the weakest member of our party. Even our mage Myne was physically stronger than Trevor, even with his Increased strength skill. He got wounded more frequently that rest of us and took it quite hard. Well, at least I could practice my Cure spell on him.


    We finished gathering magic stones from centipedes and Luara guided us to the third floor.


    Just like second, third floor was separated by stairs. We entered it for the first time, and to my surprise it wasn''t as dark as the upper floors. On its walls grew glowing moss, that gave enough light for us to see. Luara finally could hide her lantern inside magic bag, which allowed her to move more freely.


    We scouted our new hunting grounds, but didn''t find anything so close to entrance.


    - Maybe some adventurer party already cleared this area? - asked Trevor.


    - No corpses, - I answered him. Trevor looking at me with question in his eyes, but then he understood.


    - Oh.


    - We have to go deeper, - Luara took out the map and studied possible routes: - That looks good, - she commented and pointed forwards. We entered huge cavern, we needed to cross at least two hundred meters to get to the other side. We were approaching the exit when Luara stopped us. At first I didn''t see anything, but then adventurer run into cavern. He was covered in cuts and clearly running from something.


    - Run! - he screamed: -  Ru-un!!!


    He tripped and fell on the ground. He didn''t had a chance to get up when rat jumped on his back and bitted him. It was huge, at least as big as a wolf. Adventurer screamed in pain trying to shook it off. My party members couldn''t see anything. Glowing moss allowed them to see in the dungeons third floor, but not as far as I could. They only heard adventurer''s voice. I wanted to help him, but more rats appeared from the corridor. They attacked adventurer and bitted him from all sides.


    - Run! - I turned around, and run away. This time my party members immediately followed my example, starting to run as soon as I did.


    - What''s happening?


    - Rats, - I answered Luara, and looked back. Dozens of rodents swarmed adventurer and dozens more appeared out of the corridor. Soon they were finished with adventurer and followed us. I bet they didn''t leave behind a single piece of him. I turned pale: - Hundreds of them.


    - What do we do? - asked Trevor squeezing the handle of his sword.


    - Stairs, - I answered: - That''s our only chance.


    Luara immediately understood and increased her speed. She started running in front of us showing us the way, and took out her magic lantern. None of the glowing moss grew on the stairs, and she quickly realized that we will need lanterns light in them.


    We needed to reach the stairs that led to the second floor. That was the only position that we could protect. Rats were approaching us. We were lucky, that they took their time eating the adventurer before following us. We barely made it. Myne was falling behind, and I threw her upstairs. I turned around, but didn''t have a chance to use my bow. I threw it behind me and took my sword. First rat already jumped at me and I narrowly avoided death. Didn''t even had a chance to use a sword, instead I punched the monster with my left fist. Rat flew back and crushed into monsters behind it. That gave me chance to take a stance and prepare my sword. Luara had to drop the lantern on the stairs, but luckily for us it didn''t break. Stairs were around two meters width. That meant that all three of us had to protect it, but we were close enough to each other, to stop rats from getting to Myne. We already spilled first blood, when Myne casted Slow spell. Front row rats became slower and our chances of survival increased. No one needed orders or discussion about our strategy. We already experienced such battle with centipedes. We created a first line, that protected Myne, and our mage casted as many Slow spells as she could.


    Rats were faster than centipedes, and there were more of them. I couldn''t even see the end of the rodent army. But we were also stronger than last time and in better position. Rats were so numerous, that they would definitely surround us, if they had a smallest chance. Even now, those who were further behind tried to claim the walls to get to us faster. Luckily for us, rodents weren''t meant to claim on the walls, and they fell on their brethren heads, getting in the way of other rats. We killed closest rats and slowly claimed up the stairs. Stairs were long enough for us not to run out on them. Rat bodies created defensive wall in front of us and other rats had to slow down, even more to crawl over them. Some of the rats started eating their dead. That was disgusting.


    We killed more than fifty of them, but there still was no end of them. Myne was slowly retreating behind us. In one hand she had a lantern, holding it as high as she could. In other hand she had her staff, that helped her to increase the strength of her spell.


    - Stamina potions, - ordered Luara. Myne understood and the moment anyone of us had time, passed us opened vials. I drunk the potion in one gulp and threw empty bottle at rats. That allowed us to restore some of our strength and continue to fight. We were at least half way up the stairs, when the endless sea of ??rats got smaller. Less than two dozen rats were still pursuing us, when Myne run out of mana. Things got more dangerous, but we managed to hold our position. Finally Trevor killed last monster, and I sat down on the stairs. My sword was covered with rats blood. I could barely hold it, for even the hilt of the sword was covered with blood. Again we were covered in scratches, this time from rat fangs. My clothe were in worst state ever. Wonder if I will be able to fix them.


    - I hate this place, - sighed Luara. Myne nodded and handed each of us one more stamina potion. I winced, I really hated its taste. We sighed, but drank the potion. We still needed to collect the magic stones, and fast. At least we had enough stones to collect to keep the quest reward. Stone collection took us more time than the battle. But since stairs were kind of safe space, we risked and finished collecting all of them. Myne managed to restore some of her mana during our stone collection, and could cast her Slow spell again.


    On our way back we were attacked several times. Probably the smell of blood attracted all nearby monsters. But there were no huge monster packs, and we already could handle bears even without Myne''s help. We encountered even a snake, and Myne collapsed after using last of her mana on it. Trevor had to carry her till the first floor, where she finally was able to move herself. First floor was mostly cleared by adventurers and we exited it without a single encounter with the monsters.


    * * *


    Leone gasped and run towards us as soon as we entered the guild. Luara gave her short explanation about our adventure, and gave her our latest loot from the dungeon. She left us to count the stones, and needed more time than usually to do that.


    We were drinking juice and waiting for news, when Leone returned.


    - Excuse me for taking so long, - she apologized and put three gold coins and four silver ones on the table. Luara asked her to change two gold coins for silver ones. We each will keep five silver coins, but the rest she needed to replenish party''s potions.


    - I have a favor to ask of you, - told us Leone, after coming back with silver coins.


    - What kind of favor? - carefully asked Luara.


    - Could you all come tomorrow morning to talk to the guild master? He will have some questions about your encounter with rats. There were huge rat monster signings before, but never more than fifty rats were seen in one place. Such huge numbers of the rats is unusual.


    Luara looked at us, and I shrugged.


    - Its fine by us. We would take few days to rest anyway.


    - Thank you. Is there anything else I can help you with?


    - Yes. I want to use leveling crystal.


    - Of course, please follow me.


    The rest of us also decided to increase our levels, and we followed Leone to the leveling room.


    We used leveling crystal, but still couldn''t reach level ten. To my surprise Luara was the only one who leveled up and reached level eleven. Must be true that getting to levels ten, twenty and thirty is much harder than other levels. But to my surprise her stats turned out to be not that impressive.


    Catgirl, LV 10 - LV 11


    Name - Luara;


    Job: Scout;


    Status:


    Health: 10 - 11;


    Mana: 10 - 20;


    Strength: 3;


    Defense: 3;


    Spell power: 0 - 1;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 5;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Foresight (Novice);


    Scouting (Novice);


    Martial arts (Basic); Hunting (Novice);Tracking (Novice);Butchery (Novice);


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Trap Detection (Novice);


    - Tracking (Basic);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    - Oh, Trap Detection, that sound useful, - carelessly said Luara and chose Trap Detection skill.


    Geez, seven skills out of ten already. Well it did sounded useful especially in the dungeon, but beastmen really didn''t care about skills as much as humans did.


    We congratulated her on leveling up and agreed to meet tomorrow, for our meeting with guild master.

 Chapter 9. Guild master.

    Next morning, after my usual spell casting practice and breakfast, I visited familiar clothe and shoemaker shops and then went to the adventurers guild. This was my first time meeting Guild master. Leone took us to his room, which was located on the third floor. We entered spacious room with big window, and Leone invited us to sit on the couch. In front of us were table with tea cups on it. Guild master took a seat in front of us, in a big seat covered with sheep skin. Guild master turned out to be a dwarf. He had huge beard and was covered with scars. His presence was the kind that only high ranking adventurers would have. I heard that most guild masters were former adventurers. That was the way the guild took care of retired adventurers, and adventurer guilds also needed someone strong, who could keep adventurers in check.


    - Greetings adventurers. My name is Fiord, Guild master of Grimsburg Adventurers Guild branch. Please feel free to drink some tea. That will be all Leone.


    Receptionist nodded and left the room.


    - Thank you for coming. I would like to ask you few questions, about your latest encounters with dungeon monsters.


    We drank tea, while Luara described our encounter with centipedes and rat monsters.


    - I see. The magic stones that you brought confirm your story. One encounter with huge centipede pack could be an anomaly. But two such encounters mean that dungeon will soon cause a monster stampede. The emergency quest for all adventurer parties will be issued, to reduce the number of monsters in the dungeon. Also there will be a special reward of ten gold coins to any adventurer party who will be able to reach floor five, to scout it and kill some monsters. As an adventurers party who discovered possible monster stampede you will receive a reward of four gold coins. One for each of you.One gold coin! I was rich! Well kind off. But still better than nothing.


    - Do you plan to take another dungeon cleaning quest?


    Luara looked at us and I and Myne nodded.


    - We will take two days to rest, but then we will risk and take one more quest. But we won''t go to fifth floor, no matter how big reward will be.


    - Of course, I wasn''t counting on it. Sadly our town has only few C rank adventurers, and they aren''t young anymore, most of them have families and also won''t take such a risk. If things will go bad, then as usual we will have to beg the mages guild for help. But those geezers rarely leave their comfortable guild house. Well thank you for everything, and continue your good work. Just don''t forget to be careful and don''t take unnecessary risks on purpose.


    We thanked Guild master and left his room. Leone waited for us and handed us our reward. We agreed to meet in two days and left the adventurers guild. Usually I would spend my morning in the guilds training grounds, but today I had different plans. I have saved one gold coin and five silver ones, and with additional reward I now had two and a half gold coins. That was enough to learn some new spells.


    Instead of Sally behind the reception desk was sitting Nelly.


    - Hi, there, - I smiled at her.


    - Avone! What brings you here! - she jumped out of her chair and greeted me in her own way.


    - I wanted to learn one more spell.


    - Really? What kind of spell do you want to learn?


    - I was thinking about Magic arrow.


    Magic arrow did not belong to any particular magical school; instead it was classified as a spell that belonged to all four elemental magic schools. It gained increase in power with every elemental magic skill and its level that adventurers or mages received. That made it very unique, and it was also first spell that most mages learned when they started to learn spells. It was one of the most powerful attack spells that I could learn, with lowest mana requirement.


    - That basic one. That''s all?


    - Well I am not at your level yet.


    Nelly seriously nodded, and I handed her one gold coin.


    - Very well please wait me here.


    She run away, and soon returned with familiar figure.


    - Master Luminos said that he did not mind to teach you that spell.


    Luminos sighed and nodded his head.


    - Nelly did you bring Magic arrow spell scroll?


    - Oh, that''s right. I will bring it right away, - Nelly run away and master Luminos shook his head.


    - That girl can be such an airhead.


    Soon Nelly brought the scroll and I also bought some paper pages for practice drawing. Master Luminos took me to the same room and I started my drawing attempts. Magic arrow spell circle resembled an arrow inside complex magic circle. My drawings were better than before, but still not perfect. I still was not finished with it when Nelly came inside with my usual lunch.


    - You still not finished? Taking it slow and steady as Guild master says.


    - It is not as easy as it seems. By the way, why were you working downstairs?


    - Sally had a day off, and I was the only one qualified to replace here. Are you still an adventurer? Did you complete any quests yet?


    - Yes. I am a party member now. We completed our first dungeon cleaning quest.


    - Really! I heard rumors about possible dungeon monster stampede. Was it scary?


    Nelly bombarded me with questions until I finished my lunch. Bread was as delicious as before.


    This time I finished magic circle before evening and master Luminos took me to the training room. Since I already knew how to channel mana, we skipped that step this time.


    My task was the same, to imagine magic circle, fill it with mana and release magic arrow towards the wood dummy. Master Luminos as before stayed behind and shared his mana. To my shame I failed to complete the spell, and I had to return next morning. Only closer to midday I finally was able to fill with mana complete magic circle. I aimed at the target and manifested magical arrow flew towards the target. I was aiming at doll''s chest, but barely hit its arm.


    - Good, - nodded Luminos: - You finally succeeded. But your aim needs improvement. Most adventurers practice this spell in the forest. I suggest you do the same, before using this spell in battle. It will be the waste of mana and your time if you use this spell and miss your target.


    I thanked master Luminos and left Mages guild. I considered buying some magic potions and practicing Magic arrow spell, but felt too tired for that. I returned to the tavern and went to sleep, before our next dungeon dive.


    We took another dungeon cleaning quest, and completed it in two dungeon visits. We spend two days in the dungeon each time with two rest days in the middle. These times we didn''t encounter such huge monster packs. Instead we hunted several small rat monster packs, several horned wolf packs, and many insect like monsters. After our second dungeon visit we took two rest days, and agreed to meet in the Adventurers guild, to decide what we should do next.


    During our rest days, I as usual practiced archery and swordsmanship in the mornings, but afternoons I spend in the forest practicing my Magic arrow spell. I was getting better at it and thanks to my increased amount of mana could shoot sixteen Magic arrows, before exhausting myself. I was finally confident in my abilities to use it during the battle. My success rate at manifesting it was one hundred percent, and I could hit the target located ten meters from me.


    All our party members finally reached level ten, and increased our adventurer ranks. Myne also got basic Wisdom skill. Trevor''s hard work paid off and Swordsmanship appeared among his skills. He also got basic Herb gathering, since his other choice was Carpentry.


    I received a choice between Farsight or advanced Night vision skill. Farsight and Archery skill could make me a middle-ages sniper, but I decided against it. I was aiming for magic skills, and had no wish to become an S rank archer. So I got myself an advanced Night vision skill.


    Two days later our party met in the guild hall and we were discussing the possibility to take third dungeon cleaning quest, when Leone came to our table.


    - Hello. Your party received a personal request for the job.


    - Personal request? - Luara sounded surprised. Well, I could understand her. Our party just registered and we did not have any connections or famous accomplishments. We still did not even choose a name for our party.


    - Yes, it is from the Mages guild.


    We all looked at Myne, but she was just as surprised as we were.


    - Our strongest veteran party scouted dungeons fifth floor. They discovered a pack of drakes. They are wingless creatures that resemble dragons. Some adventurers call them lesser dragons. As level 4 monsters they are quite strong and usually hunt alone. But pack of them is a big threat, especially if they escape the dungeon. Guild master negotiated with the mages guild and they agreed to send a representative, to help us kill them. Your job will require escorting and protecting the mage. For additional security our town strongest adventurer''s party will join you. If you agree, your reward will be ten gold coins for every member of your party. And of course you will receive payment for all the magic stones and monster materials that you will get in the dungeon.


    Ten gold coins sounded great. I wanted to buy a magic bag that costed twelve gold coins. It was more expensive than the one that Myne and Luara had, but could hold a hundred more things, than its size. It had also two more magical features. While Myne had search her magic bag to find something in it, all I needed was to put my hand on it and imagine the object that I wanted and it would be the first one that I found after putting my hand inside the bag. That feature was added because of bags huge capacity to hold objects. I could also put my hand on it and all the objects inside it would appear in my mind. That was handy incase if I forget what I put inside it.


    I already saved three gold coins and some silver ones, and with additional ten I would have enough money to buy it. But still, dungeons fifth floor. We did not visit even the fourth yet.


    - Our ranks are not that high yet, - doubtfully said Luara: - And we will need better equipment. Can we get payment in advance if we agree to it?


    - That can be arranged. Mission is scheduled in three days from today. Could you let me know today if you decide to accept the quest or not?We nodded and Leone left us, so we could talk among ourselves.


    - I''m not sure if we are ready for it, - doubtfully said Trevor.


    - We are not, - agreed Luara: - But if town strongest party joins us and a powerful mage too, we just may be able to pull it off.


    - Do you know anything about this adventurer''s party? - I asked.


    - I heard that they have only three members, and all of them are C rank adventurers. They are three of the four C rank adventurers who live in Grimsburg. And if they already managed to scout the fifth floor and get out without casualties, then they must be good.


    Myne had her doubts, but she knew how powerful mages can be, so she voted yes. I was hesitant, but decided that with additional help and considering the reward it will be worth a risk. Luara also voted yes, and we decided to take the quest. Our party leader negotiated for the advance payment, and we decided to take next days off, to prepare for the quest.


    I bought myself the magic bag and put inside it one more quiver with arrows, two stamina potions, and my anti-venom potion. I also bought the cheapest mana restoration potion. To improve my sword use I paid six silver coins to the guild and spend six hours every day, practicing my swordsmanship. Gord forced me to do exercises to increase my stamina and strength, and taught me new techniques. Second part of two days I spend practicing my spell casting and archery in the nearby forest. By the third day I was confident in my abilities to cast Cure and Magic arrow spells.


    We met in the Adventurers guild on the third day. Trevor bought for himself sword with the glowing stone in its handle and short iron chainmail. My vest acted as leather armor, but I also was thinking about buying armor, that was on my things to buy list.


    Myne spend her time in Mage guild and learned two new spells and bought for herself new staff. Her new staff was made from an oak tree, with a large crystal embedded in iron on its tip. While Luara chose new boots. Her boots were an artifact that increased her speed.


    I ordered myself a bowcase that was attached to my back along with my quiver. That way I did not have to carry my bow in my hands all the time. On my belt was sword scabbard with my trophy sword, dagger and my new magic bag. We were as ready as we could be.


    Leone greeted us and introduced to the Sword of Vigor adventurers party. Their party had three members. They all looked similar. Around fifty years old by normal standards, with iron armor, armed with big, two handed swords. They had bracelets with crystals that reminded me the glowing stone in Trevor''s sword hilt. Probably those also were glowing stones. That was handy. That way they all had light sources and did not need to carry a lantern.


    Sword of Vigor consisted of three C rank adventurers. They all were master swordsmen and the oldest and strongest adventurers in Grimsburg. There leader''s name was Hancho, while other swordsman were Sordwin and Theo. We just introduced ourselves, when familiar voice from guilds entrance greeted me.


    - Hello Avone, and Myne too! So you agreed to accompany and protect me inside the dungeon.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    It was Nelly. She was dressed in traveling close. Short dagger was inside the sheath on her belt, along with what looked like a magic bag. Myne and I were too surprised to answer. She was accompanied by elderly mage. He nodded towards us and looked at Leone.


    - I assume that these are the adventurers that will accompany Nelly.


    - Yes, - nodded Leone, and he turned towards us.


    - This is Nelly. I see that some of you are already familiar with her. Nelly is an apprentice mage in our guild. Your guild master requested our help, and we decided that Nelly''s skills will be suited and sufficient for this extermination quest. Make shore you protect her with your lives.


    He nodded towards Leone and exited the guild. Nelly smiled and took my hand.


    - I''m so happy that you agreed to accompany me. This is my first quest to the dungeon, and I am a little nervous.


    Geesh, what''s wrong with this girl? And was I the reason why our party received the personal request? And what was wrong with those old geezers in the mage guild. Why did they send Nelly? I was hoping that some high ranking mage with advanced magic skills will accompany us. Where they so lazy and arrogant, that they decided that this work is beneath them. Sure, Nelly had archmage job and knew bunch of spells, but she still was level one, and inexperienced.


    - We will be counting on your magic, - bowed Hancho.


    - I''ll do my best. You must be from Sword of Vigor. I heard a lot of stories about your heroic deeds.


    - Thank you young magician. If everyone''s ready, then we should depart.


    We all nodded and left Adventurers guild. Leone wished us good luck and safe return. Drake''s were very strong monsters. They were qualified as level four, and hunting even a single drake was listed as a mission for a C rank party. As rank D party we could take such a quest, but usually D rank parties rarely completed such a quest without casualties.


    On our way to the dungeon Nelly asked me a lot of questions about our successes in a dungeon, but I sensed her nervousness. I tried to calm her down as good as I could, but I was never good at such things. Entrance to the dungeon did not impress her.


    - Wow, that''s it? - she asked and looked at me with questions in her eyes.


    - Yes, I felt the same way, when I first saw it.Luara took out her lantern and veteran adventurers looked at her with hesitation.


    - You are planning to use a lantern? - asked her Hancho.- Don''t have a choice. Need light to see.- It''s not very handy, - Hancho scratched his cheek, and put his hand in his magic bag: - Here, - he handed Luara bracelet similar to the ones that his party members had: - Take our spare one. It''s a bracelet with glowing stone. This way you will have light and your movements won''t be restricted by a lantern. I''ll need it back afterwards.


    - Thank you, - Luara hesitantly took a bracelet and put it on her hand. Hancho looked at me, but I shrugged.


    - I''m fine. Have a Night vision skill.


    - Good then, - Hancho nodded and we entered the cave.


    When we went deep enough to lose all sunlight, I stepped forward and looked around. My Night vision skill worked great. I still could not see colors, but I saw the shapes and surrounding area. If I did not knew better I would think that this is southern summer night, with bright moon and clear skies that surrounded me, and not the complete darkness of the dungeon.


    Glowing stones shined brighter the darker it got. They were not as bright as lantern, but several of then gave more light than a single lantern.


    - We will take the lead, - Sword of Vigor party stepped forward and took the first line. Myne Nelly and I stayed in the middle, while Trevor and Luara protected us from behind.


    - Stay close to me and try to stay quiet. Some monsters are attracted by the sound, - I whispered to Nelly and she nodded.


    - Don''t use the magic until we tell you to. Spare your mana and strength until it is really needed. We will handle the small fry in the upper floors, - ordered Hancho. As a senior adventurer he took the lead. Not that I minded, since he also was taking most of the risk.


    Hancho was not kidding, when he said that they will handle "small fry". Several monster packs were no match for the swords of C rank adventurers. Even the giant snake and horned bear were easily hacked to pieces. All I managed to do was shoot two giant spiders, and only because they were outside light range of glowing stones.


    After dead spider fell to the floor, Hancho looked at me and nodded.


    - Not bad. Your Night vision skill looks handy. These pests sometimes cause even us trouble.


    Nelly was prouder than me about the compliment. I mostly regretted all the monster life force that we were losing. To spare time, we did not collected magic stones, but continued our way as soon as veteran adventurers finished killing everything that got in our way. Just like third flour, dungeons fourth floor walls, had glowing moss glowing on them, making the floor bright enough for human eyes to see in it. We took the fastest and safest route through the fourth floor that Hancho knew of. It spared us time and we encountered only two packs of giant ants. They reached as high as my waist, and would cause trouble for us, because of their hard shells. But inhuman strength of three swordsmen allowed them easily cut even through ant''s natural armor. When we reached stairs that led to level five, Hancho ordered us to take a short brake. Time was approaching the night, but Hancho wanted to finish the mission as soon as possible. Even if it meant that we take our way back during the night time.


    - There is no glowing moss on the next floor, and there are pitfalls in it. So watch your step, - warned us Hancho.


    We again entered complete darkness. Even veteran adventurers proceeded carefully, watching their surroundings. We crossed two caverns and entered one of the corridors, when Hancho made a sign for us to stop.


    - Last time we encountered the drakes in the next cavern. They are so called lesser dragons. Most of the time they spend sleeping, so there is a good chance that they are still there. There night vision is really bad and mostly they hunt using sound or touch. But they attack any source of light, that they see, and they have good daylight vision. Last time we had to sacrifice one of our glowing stone bracelets in order to distract them and get away. Those monsters can run fasters than humans, and have tough skin. If you are not sure about your strength then you should better stay behind, - he looked at me and Luara: - We should separate. We will handle fighting, while your party will protect mages. What spells can you use to aid us?


    - Our usual strategy is to cast Slow spell, to decrease their speed, and made it easier to kill monsters. But I do not have enough mana to affect all of them, especially if they are strong monsters, - answered Myne.


    - What level of earth magic skill do you have? - asked Nelly.


    - Advanced level.


    - Wow, that''s great. Then we can cast a conjunction magic. That way we will be able to unite our power and should be able to cast spell on all of the drakes at the same time.


    - Well, I heard about it, but never learned how to cast conjunction magic.


    - That won''t be a problem, I can take the lead, and you just follow me. But it will take some time to cast a spell. Can you distract those monsters long enough?


    Hancho shook his head:


    - Probably not. Drakes will attack us as soon as we will go inside the caver and they will see light. There were more than ten monsters, and we won''t be able to distract all of them.- That could be bad. Especially since we need to see the monsters to cast a spell on them. And casting spell on all of the drakes will use up all of our mana. We will be defenseless for a while.- Then it will not be possible. Cavern is too big and even if we use the lantern you won''t be able to see all the monsters simultaneously. Can''t you use the spell without seeing all of them? - asked Hancho.


    - We can use magic artifact, - Nelly took out small fist size crystal orb from her magic bag: - This was made by the alchemist. All we need to do is throw this in the middle of the cave and for a short while it will create light that will allow us to see all the monsters at the same time.


    - But you will still need time to cast a spell, and we will not be able to protect you, while you prepare, - disagreed veteran adventurer.


    - That''s right, - Nelly crinkled her nose.


    - Casting Slow spell could be our best strategy, - I sighed: - Will the monsters sense us if we enter the cave without light and can you prepare the spell and them immediately cast it when we use your artifact?


    - If they are sleeping, then we could have a chance, but it will be nearly impossible to approach them in darkness. All it will take for one of us to trip, and they will be on us like fly''s on a cow droppings.


    - And we will need to stand still while we prepare, but then we cannot cast the spell as soon as we see them.


    - Then I will go ahead and scout the place. If drakes are inside and sleeping I will guide you to the cavern. Then you cast your spell. Hancho you and your men will have to kill drakes then, while Trevor and Luara will protect our mages. I will act independently and distract monsters, while you fight them.


    - How will you do that without a light? - doubtfully looked at me veteran adventurer. He was not eager to put his life inside the arms of a rookie adventurer.


    - Night vision skill. I can move quietly, and your battle should make enough noise for me to stay completely invisible for drakes.


    - I see, - Hancho thought for a while.


    - Once we recover our mana with potions. We will be able to support you using our magic, - added Nelly.


    - Fine then, - Hancho sighed: - It won''t be easy, but I do not see another choice. Be ready to run at moment''s notice if things go bad. We can try again exterminating drakes, but not if we are dead.


    - Very well. Wait for me here then.


    I went ahead, hoping that I am not making a huge mistake. When I went farther I looked back. That was the distance at what I was invisible to my party members. But I could see them clearly. Never considered that our lantern and glowing stones made us such good targets for any dungeon monster. But no other choice, since I was the only one with Night vision skill.


    I moved as quietly as I could. I was approaching the entrance to the cavern when one of the stones attracted my attention. It had metal gleam to it and more smooth edges, than the rest of the stones that I saw in the dungeon. I touched it and if felt like a metal, and not a stone. Just in case I decided to put it in my magic bag. It was nearly as big as human head and I could barely fit it in my magic bag. Magic gad could hold inside it many objects, but they needed to be small enough to fit through its opening. But luckily once they were inside I did not feel their weight anymore.


    I looked through the corner and saw the drakes. They were there, just as Hancho said. Drakes were sleeping and I stayed longer to count them. Fourteen wingless, dragon like monsters. They looked like a huge lizards, but instead of scales they had thick, grey looking skin. They were three to four meters long, and looked like they would be at least meter and a half high. Most of them gathered in the middle of the cavern, sleeping in its middle. Cavern was big, circle shaped and more than one hundred meters long. More than enough space to try to play cat and mouse with fourteen drakes.


    I slowly retreated and came back to my party members. They were nervous, jumping at every sound. I silently announced myself before coming into view. I described what I saw, and asked Nelly for her magic light artifact.


    - Now put away your glowing stones, and put your hands on each other''s shoulders. Be quiet, and slowly follow each other. I will guide you, choosing the smoothest path, but if you fall then do it quietly. And remember no talking until I throw the artifact. As soon as I do get to work. Nelly give me a sign when the spell is ready, and I will throw the artifact then.


    Nelly nodded and everyone put away their glowing stones. Trevor had to give his sword to Luara, so she could put it inside her magic bag. After everything went dark they needed time to create a line behind me.


    - Everyone''s ready? - I asked after Nelly put her hands on my shoulders. After confirming that they were ready I guided them to the cavern. I needed much more time to reach it than before, but everything went smoothly. I stopped at the entrance and slowly positioned Nelly and Myne in the middle of the entrance. I put Nelly''s hand in Myne''s. Nelly closed her eyes and they started concentrating on their spell. Sweat covered Nelly''s forehead, but finally she nodded. I stepped forward, making shore that I do not cover their vision and threw the artifact. It flew to the middle of the pack and shattered to pieces. I was smart enough to close my eyes when a bright light shone even through my eyelids.


    Few moments later I opened my eyes and saw drakes. They jumped in their sleep and turned towards us. Threatening hissing escaped their fang filled mouths. Next moment familiar earth bubbles appeared under them. Spell worked on all the drakes, first part of our plan was success. Nelly and Myne fell on the ground completely powerless. Spell took out of them more than I counted, but that was according to our plan. Trevor and Luara stepped in front of them, with their sword in hands. Trevor was using his spare sword. They stayed in darkness, making shore not to attract drake''s attention after beginning of the battle. Luara threw her bracelet and Trevor''s sword to the cavern creating light spots that our mages could use to attack monsters.


    Sword of Vigor members needed few moments to equip their glowing stone bracelets, and attacked the drakes, luring them away from mages.


    By that time I was already gone. I run near the cavern walls shooting at the drakes. Most of my arrows missed, but my goal was just to attract their attention. Several drakes made few steps towards me, but light created by the artifact was fading fast, and soon they lost me from view. That gave me opportunity to stop and aim more precise.


    One of the drakes tried to bite Hancho. He bolted to the side and slashed drake''s neck. Blood spilled on the ground. It was a fatal wound. Drake took a few steps and fell on the ground. Hancho''s party members Sordwin and Theo used similar strategies and soon three monsters were already dead. Rest of the drakes tried to follow them, but adventurers now were fast enough to outrun them. I shot closest monsters that followed them. My arrows could not cause a serious injury, they were like pinpricks to drakes, but it distracted monsters giving adventurers opportunity to regroup and preventing drakes from surrounding them.


    Theo had to run circles around them, but Hancho and Sordwin managed to kill two more drakes. Then lightning struck one of the drakes. Drake could not even make a sound. He fell on the floor with blood coming out of his mouth and smoke rising from the skin.


    That was a Lightning spell - level two air magic spell. Nelly joined the battle. Myne soon also used two Magic arrow spells. One of them hit the ground beneath drake, but second one hit drakes leg and blew if off. Drake screeched in pain and fell on the floor. That was ruthless, but effective tactic. Myne''s Magic arrow was not powerful enough to kill the drake with a single attack, at least not without hitting a vital point, which was impossible at such distance. But aiming at drakes legs would incapacitate them. Good for her.


    Nelly''s lightning killed another drake. Drakes panicked, not knowing who to attack, but soon after that they went after closest adventurers that they saw.


    With Nelly joining the battle, it was seven down and one barely able to move. Time for me to earn some monster life force as well.


    I concentrated on nearest drake. He needed four arrows to realize that he is attacked. Two more to understand where he needs to go. Monster turned to my location and run towards me. I shot his leg and drake opened his mouth, getting ready to eat his attacker. I waited a little, until he got closer and used my own Magic arrow. It went right inside his mouth, and blew up inside his head. Drake fell, with blood pouring from his mouth and several smaller wounds on his head.


    My arrows were faster and had longer attack range, but Magic arrow was more powerful. To unite my long range attacks I practiced shooting my ordinary arrows and Magic arrow at the same time. Now my practice bore fruit. I changed my position and concentrated on one more drake. Nelly in meantime finished one more and Myne incapacitated another. Sword of Vigor members killed one more. I attracted attention of my next victim and killed him the same way as previous one. Thirteen.


    With only one uninjured drake left, he was easy prey for our veteran adventurers. Hancho and one of his friends killed wounded drakes, who could only hiss at them, barely able to crawl. Battle was over. To my surprise it went much easier than expected. Sordwin was the only wounded on our side. Drake pushed him and adventurer suffered few bruises went he rolled across the ground.


    - That went well, - Hancho stroke his beard: - We should collect their magic stones and also fangs and claws, those are good materials for blacksmiths. Also, if you can, then skin them. Drake hide is used by the furrier to make leather armor and also by the boot makers.


    - Won''t the sounds of our battle and their blood attract other monsters, - asked Trevor.


    - Unlikely. Other monsters try to stay away from drakes. They are the only monster that I know who will attack anyone in their proximity. Probably because they are as blind in the darkness as we are, and attack everything that makes a sound. Won''t hesitate to eat other monsters as well. One time we were chased by a drake and run into the horned wolf pack. Drake killed several wolfs, who got in his way. We got away, because he decided to eat them first, before following us. Even guilds bestiary says that drakes are loners, and it is very rear for other monster to be near their den.


    Because of their tough skin, removing monster materials and magic stones was hard work. Nelly and Myne did not participate, too tired by their use of magic. Among my party only Luara could successfully remove monster skin, probably because of her experience and Butchery skill. Trevor and I left that job to others, after damaging monster hides. Instead we concentrated on magic stone removal. Even between six of us working, we needed more than an hour to finish gathering monster materials.


    We took a shirt brake and then went back. Sword of Vigor adventurers took the lead. On our way back we encountered only three little monster packs. Hancho again decided not to collect their magic stones. Now that our mission was over, he wanted to leave the dungeon as soon as possible. There is no need to take additional risks when the task is completed - as he told us. It was late night when we exited the dungeon. We all were tired, but Hancho decided to return to the town, instead of spending rest of the night in the forest. Nelly was falling asleep, and I carried her for the last kilometers. We reached Grimsburg before sunrise, and had to wait a while, before guards opened the gate. I took Nelly to the Mage guild, while the rest of adventurers went to the Adventurers Guild to report the mission completion and sell the monster materials.


    After splitting the reward for magic stones and other materials, each of us received six gold coins and three silvers. That was most successful quest that our party ever took. Guild master congratulated us personally and declared that with this success threat of the monster stamped is finally over.

 Chapter 10. Worm.

    After resting the rest of the day and the night, I decided to visit the blacksmith quarter. I only remembered about the ore that I found, after waking up, and since we and Sword of Vigor party agreed only divide monster loot equally, I was free to do with that as I pleased. Well technically - probably.


    I entered my familiar dwarf''s weapon shop and he greeted me cheerfully.


    - How''s my favorite elf? Heard you took on a big pants job, and killed some lesser dragons. Proud dragon slayer, ha!


    - Where did you hear that?


    - Sword of Vigor, spend last day celebrating and buying ale to half of the town. They boasted with their success. Mentioned an elf, which killed two drakes, all by herself, and knocked down spider monsters by the dozens. Those pests are reason why rarely any solo adventurer goes to the dungeon, not even D rank ones.


    Those god damned drunkards. I wanted to stay quit and unnoticed. Every time I went to the town I kept my hood on, to avoid other people seeing my face, but now thanks to those old geezers most of the town will be talking about me. Hope that soon something else will happen and everyone will forget about our raid.


    - How come you not celebrating?


    - Spend the day resting and sleeping. We spent whole day and most of the night in the dungeon, needed to rest.


    - You elves with your weak constitution. Always said that elves can''t drink. But what brings you here? Again arrows? Your my best arrow buyer in town, - dwarf laughed, holding his belly.


    - I found something, and want you to appraise it, and tell me how much it''s worth.


    I took out stone and showed it to dwarf. Seeing it in daylight I was sure now, that it was some kind of metal. The sun''s rays reflected off its surface, casting light spots on the walls.


    Dwarf gulped and carefully took the ore. He looked at it with trembling hands and almost dropped it.


    - That''s a magic ore. Haven''t seen one in years. You weren''t kidding when promised to bring me some. Block this big can be used to forge several orichalcum dwarf axes. Could be worth somewhere between seventeen or twenty gold pieces. Would by it immediately if I knew it true worth and had coin on me. Perhaps I could borrow some, from loan shark or two?


    I laughed: - Hold your horses old man. I''m not even sure that I want to sell it.


    - Oh, wanna take it to alchemist, or trade it for an artifact? - dwarf sighed and his shoulders slumped down.


    - No, not that, - I shook my head: - Was thinking about a deal with you.


    - Sure, - dwarfs eyes brightened and he hugged the ore piece: - What have you in mind?


    I thought for a moment. Orichalcum sword would be nice, but not as good as adamantium sword. Something else maybe.


    - How good is orichalcum, comparing to steel?


    - Hmm, - Ashurga finally put the magic ore on the table and stroked his bushy beard: - It''s much lighter and more durable. Takes a lot of strength to pierce orichalcum armor, more than any low ranking adventurers have. Good protection against mid ranking monsters. As a weapon it rarely needs maintenance, hard to sharpen, but worth the trouble, since it''s hard to dull it afterwards.


    - I see, - I thought some more: - Can you make me a chainmail that I could wear beneath my vest?


    He looked at me deep in thought. I was wearing my town shirt and pants, but dwarf saw my adventuring close several times before, and he remembered them well. Made a few comments about them, when I first started visiting his shop.


    - A short one, ha? Something light that won''t restrict your movements. And won''t get in the way of using bow. Maybe without sleeves even. Hmmm. Tricky to make the armor for woman. Men chainmail usually the same size all length. As wide as men''s chest. Easily to put on. But in your case that won''t do. Not with your breasts and tiny waist. I''ll think of something. But chainmail don''t take much metal. What about the rest.


    - You can keep it as payment for the work, - I smiled.


    - Really?! Don''t you worry laddy, make you best chainmail in town. Count on me, - he hit his chest with his fist.


    I laughed and nodded at the dwarf: - Counting on you master blacksmith.


    He smiled with satisfaction, and looked at magic ore block, probably impatient to get to work.


    - How long will it take?


    - Let me see. Have first melt it and add other metals to make orichalcum. Chainmail take long time, every piece will have to be perfect. Give me ten, no two weeks at least. Will be ready by then. Promise you that. Will have to take measurements first.


    I nodded and took of my cloak. Dwarf stared at my almost waist long, thick hair, that previously was always hidden beneath my cloak. Then he shook his head and made professional face.


    - Let''s see now.


    Dwarf measured my shoulders, chest width, and waist. I was curious about my breast size, but was embarrassed to ask him. He wrote down the numbers, but I could not see them. I sighed inwardly, guess it will stay a mystery for a while.


    - All right then, come back in two weeks, and it will be ready by then. Count on Ashurga the weaponsmith.


    I nodded and left the shop. Our scheduled meeting with my party was only tomorrow, and I had all day for myself. I sighed and went to Adventurers Guild. Training, training and training. As much as I hated it, I needed to train to become stronger.


    * * *


    When my party gathered I explained them how I find magic ore and gave each one two gold pieces as their part of the profits. Trevor wanted to refuse, but I insisted. After all we had an agreement to share all loot from the dungeon. After that I was almost broke again, but we gathered to find work, and I hoped to earn something, for my next expenses.


    We checked quest board, but didn''t find anything interesting. Lord Gilliazar posted a quest for peasant protection. He planned to proceed with his plans to build a village in the uninhabited lands.


    I thought how we would manage such quest now, comparing our abilities to the ones that we had before. We were stronger now, but not by much. Evan and Godrick were better swordsman than Trevor or me. Could we do something about the lich now? Maybe using the Magic arrow, but there was no guarantee that lich could not protect himself from it. After all that was basic attack spell, and there were many spells to counter it. We were stronger physically, but not strong enough to make a difference, not against liche''s black magic.


    The day before I used the leveling crystal, but to my surprise killing two drakes was not enough to increase my level. And I was hoping that it will increase at least two levels. I will have to go dungeon diving several times to increase my levels. If every level increase got harder and harder, then it was clear why most adventurers who took jobs only around town rarely earned even rank D by leveling up.


    We were discussing what we should do next. I was getting restless. I desired to get higher level and evolve into ever young and also more powerful high elf. In order to do that I needed to kill greater number or stronger monsters. Trevor like always was cautious. His goal was to save up enough money for learning swordsmanship skill. Now that he got it, thanks to his hard work, he was living a dream and saw no need for additional risk. Luara also wanted to increase her stats before going to more dangerous level four. She was not sure that we will be able to handle enemies at the level of giant ants. Myne was also hesitant.


    Unlike me the rest of my party had spare cash. They earned more than ever before, and rank D was good enough for them. Finally I had to back down and agree to postpone our visit to floor four until Luara could increase her strength to five or higher.


    We spend two days in dungeon, but recent dungeon cleaning quests diminished monster number. We encountered only four small monster packs, and only one level two monster - horned bear. Our hunt earned each of us less than a single gold coin. To my comrades that was a lot, but to me that was not nearly enough.


    Myne decided to learn a level two spell and needed at least four days for learning and then practicing the spell until she could confidently use it. So our next dungeon dive was postponed for four days. I had just enough money to wait for that, with my usual training routine, but decided to take another more reckless path.


    I visited Mage Guild and asked Sally about spells that could increase my strength or speed.


    - There are several. You still can learn only level one elemental spells? - I nodded, and Sally continued: - There are two spells that can increase your strength. Fire school magic spell will greatly increase the damage that you inflict, but only if you deal in unarmed. Water magic spell will increase your strength, but at level one, just by a single strength stat. Air school magic will increase your speed.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    That sounded impressive.


    - Can you tell me about the spell that increases the speed of the caster?


    - Certainly. It is called a Haste spell. At your level it will increase your or one of your party members speed stat by 1. At novice Air magic skill it will increase speed stat by 2. At basic by 3. At advance level you can increase single species stat by 4, and at master every species creature stats will increase by 5. How many party members speed you can increase depends on your mana, and the length of the spell depends on your spell power.


    That sounded impressive.


    - I would like to learn that spell.


    - Very well. It will cost you one gold coin.


    This time my master was wielder of advanced water magic skill master Ferguson. The fact that he only had advanced level skill did not surprise me. I already knew that in order to get master level skill, creatures needed to fill all their skill slots, and increase them to advanced level. That is why people with master level skills were so rare.


    Master Ferguson reminded me of Luminos. Similar rob, just light blue, long beard and arrogant attitude. But he also turned out to be a patient teacher and I learned the spell in a day and a half.


    I hoped to meet Nelly, but she was busy and another girl was taking care of her duties.


    After learning the Haste spell I spent my remaining money on food supplies and three mana restoration potions. Second part of the day I practiced Haste spell, and after running out of mana restoration potions I went to the dungeon. I spend the night near the dungeons entrance and, after sunrise woke me up, entered the dungeon.


    * * *


    It was reckless, but I got too impatient with what to me was slow progress. Besides I decided that I was strong enough to handle dungeon monsters on my own, especially with my advanced Night vision skill. I already memorized the way to the fourth floor after traveling the same passages several times.


    On the first floor I killed one spider monster and encountered six rats. Four of them I killed using my bow, and only two got close to me and forced me to use my sword. Traveling through second floor I only encountered a single horned bear. I attracted his attention with my arrows and when he got closer, finished him using my Magic arrow. Bear''s horns, will bring me two silver coins, it made a good start for my hunt.


    Third floor was "cleaned" by the adventurers more scrupulously, and I went through it without encountering any monsters.


    Finally I reached my destination - floor four. I hesitated for a moment, but benefits were too tempting. I went down the stairs and looked past the corner. Thanks to the glowing moss I could see almost as good as in daylight. I was not familiar with this floor as good as with the first three, and planned to investigate nearest caverns. And run away to the third floor, in case of encountering something more than I could handle.


    First caverns had two exits. I chose the left one and went through the corridor to the second cavern. It was empty and I decided to check one more and then go back and check the other passages. Third cavern was occupied. Near its ceiling was a huge wasp nest. Several monster insects were flying around the cavern, gathering something from the glowing moss that grew more richly in this cavern. Wasps were almost a meter long. They had sword like stingers and their color was much darker than their natural brethren possessed.


    I went back to the corridor and casted Hast spell on myself. I felt magic power going through my body and felt much lighter. Then I returned to the cavern''s entrance.


    I took a deep breath and aimed my arrow at the wasp. I counted six of them, but there could be more in the nest. If I cannot kill the monster wasp with a single shot, I will have to run away as fast as I can. My arrow went deep inside wasp''s body. Monster''s wings quivered and then wasp fell on the ground. Even if my arrow did not kill her, the fall definitely did. I killed two more wasps, before they finally noticed me. Their bussing became louder and ten more wasps flew out of the nest. They flew several circles around the nest, before realizing what was happening. That gave me an opportunity to kill the rest of the wasps that were flying around the cavern. At least I did not see any queen monster. In a way that made sense, since these wasps were born from mana, so they did not exactly need the queen-mother. Ten wasps and I still had eighteen arrows in my quiver. My chances were quite good.


    Wasp colony turned towards me and started their charge. I killed five of them and one more using my Magic arrow, which I used alongside my bow. Four left, but too close to use the bow. I threw my bow on the ground and unsheathed my sword. At the same time I jumped back, deeper into the corridor. It was too narrow for wasps to surround me. Even better two of them collided and fell on the ground. Remaining two slowed down and bended their bodies, so they could use their stingers. I jumped to the side and sliced of the wing of the closest monster. Wasp fell on the ground and rolled forward, breaking its remaining wing. The last wasp turned around, but I did not wait for it. I run towards the two wasps that started to take off the ground, and cut of wasp''s head while running past it. Then I turned around and pierced the second wasp, just as it turned its side towards me.


    Remaining wasp was flying towards me, and I did not have enough time to remove my sword from dead wasp''s body. I jumped to the side and rolled on the ground until I crashed into the wall. Wasp flew past me into the cavern. I stood up and took my dagger. Wasp turned around and again aimed at me with her sting. I jumped towards the wasp, little on the left and managed to slice her wing. Wasp fell on the ground, and I run towards her and jumped on her back. Her working wing hit my face several times, while I was stabbing wasp''s body. Luckily I was outside wasp sting''s range, and her wing was not very strong. I stabbed her six times, until wasp stopped moving. I stood up breathing heavily.


    My Haste spell was still working, which was good. Thanks to the spell, I moved little faster, and wasp movements looked slower to me, what allowed me to predict their movements.


    Well, my gamble paid off. I gathered wasp magic stones and cut out their stingers. Wasp stingers were worth at least four copper coins. Blacksmiths could use them to make spears or daggers that were sharper than steel ones, and almost as durable. Five of my arrows were broken, but my income from these monster materials will be greater than my expenses.


    After gathering my arrows, I looked at the wasps nest. It was around dozen meters above me, but in reach of my magic arrow. Haste spell used ten of my mana point, and even after using Magic arrow, I had plenty of my mana left. I relaxed and aimed my Magic arrow at the base of the nest. I used up four Magic arrows, when nest finally fell on the ground. I hoped that wasps were similar to crows and gathered some treasure in their nest.


    The nest fell on the ground and broke into many small pieces. To my surprise, honey like substance leaked out of the nest. I carefully look and smelled it. It smelled like honey. I still had my anti-poison potion, so I carefully licked it. It was honey. This was my first sweets in this world. I used one vial before, collecting spider poison, but still had three empty bottles left. I quickly filled them with honey.


    I had hard choice before me. To sell it or eat it myself. I was still imagining about how much I can sell honey for, when ground shook below me. I almost lost my balance, and stepped away from the honey. Falling into it and then washing it off my clothes and hair was not something I wanted to do.


    Ground shook again and then it opened up. Stones flew around the cave and long, rock covered body appeared out of the hole in the floor.


    Something leaned towards the honey and then a huge mouth opened. Monster gulped down honey and then shining mouth encircled by three horns turned towards me. I paled recognizing the monster.


    It was floor guardian lava worm. A floor guardian that bestiary described as rookie adventurer party killer. Unlike the other floor guardians, who stayed on their floors, lava worm travelled between floors by borrowing through the ground. It was the only floor guardian who could appear on the upper floors, and was too strong to any low ranking adventurer party. That is why it was called rookie adventurer party killer.


    Worm''s body was covered by big, rock like scales, and even with only part of its body coming out of the floor it towered too meters high. Monster was rear, and Adventurer guild''s bestiary noted that it appeared only during the special circumstances. I guess possible monster stampede, counted as special circumstances. It was likely attracted by the tremors caused by the falling nest, and then by the honey. My greed brought the monster right to me. Bestiary also said that monster sometimes swallowed still living adventurers and digested them in its stomach for a long while, until they finally died.


    As a floor guardian it could survive injuries that would kill any ordinary monster, and continue to fight, thanks to higher life force that was reflected by the Health stat, which was numerical representation of human and monster life force.


    I curse inwardly. Running away from it will be impossible. Worm will chase after me no matter what floor I am on, and it never stopped until it killed its prey. Monster leaned backwards and then spitted a lava ball at me. I tried to evade it, but was too slow. Several hot liquid rock drops fell on my back. It melted my clothe and burned hair before reached my skin. Pain was worse than anything I experienced before. I felt my skin burning, but continued running. My magic practice paid off. Fighting trough the pain I casted Cure spell. It eased the pain and I swallowed healing potion. I had no time to worry about the potions taste. Monster crawled out of the hole and followed me. It crawled like an earthworm, bending its body and then straightening it. Lava worm was slowly approaching me.


    I casted Haste spell and it allowed me to keep the distance between us. At least the worm could not use its lava spit, while it was moving.


    I used stamina potion on the run and counted the amount of mana that I still had. I should be able to use one more Haste spell and two Magic arrows, without running out of mana. Third Magic arrow will deplete my mana reserves, and without mana potion I will be completely defenseless.


    I prepared Magic arrow spell and run into the second cavern. After reaching its middle I turned around and used Magic arrow spell. It reached the monster, but managed only to crack two of his scales. Worm did not even notice it. I run to the side and worm slowed down, he was not as fast when he needed to turn. Good to know. Suddenly my Hast spell expired and I had to cast it once more.


    I considered running towards the stairs. They could slow the worm, but for how long? Without Haste spell it will catch me. Scholars who wrote bestiary theorized that lava worm could track its victims using land vibrations. Worm was relentless hunter, who enjoyed the hunt. Also as a creature that lived in darkness he had a great sense of smell. That honey smelled really good, and there was a lot of it. Dammit, dammit, dammit. Will my greed literally be the death of me?


    I had a single chance to kill it, aim for its open mouth, the same why that I killed the drakes. I started to grow tired and swallowed my last potion. It restored some of my stamina, and I prepared Magic arrow spell. I slowed down and worm opened its mouth. The moment it happened, I used Magic arrow. It flew right into monsters mouth, but before it reached it, worm spat out another lava ball. It collided with my Magic arrow and they blew up. Most of the lava splashed worm''s head. He screeched in pain and violently shook his head. One of the horns that covered worm''s mouth was damaged, and several of his scales melted down. Monster turned its head towards me. He looked really angry. I stepped back, and tripped against the rock. I fell on my ass and worm towered over me. He opened his mouth and prepared to swallow me. Being digested in worms stomach, was a worth way to go. Worm lunged towards me and I used my last spell. This time Magic arrow went right inside worm''s mouth. It blew up inside it and monster''s attack changed trajectory. One of his mouth horns slashed my arm, and monster''s head hit the ground. Small rocks flew around it, hitting my body. Worm shuddered, and I saw green blood, coming out of its mouth. The worm twitched in its death throes. Lava worm hit my defenseless body and I flew ten meters threw the air. I rolled on the ground and hit my head. My eyesight darkened and I lost conciseness.

 Chapter 11. Rich again!

    I had no idea how much time passed when I woke up. I looked around. Worm''s corps lay on the dungeons floor. Near its mouth was pool of green blood. Lava worm was dead. I stared at it for a while, not believing that I actually managed to kill him.


    Then my senses came back. All my body hurt. I touched my head. I had large bump, but at least my skull was not broken. My hand got the worst of it. It was covered with blood, and I did not even want to look at it. I tried to cast Cure spell, but managed it only after second try. I used Cure spell to heal my arm, and managed to heal most of it.


    I approached worm''s body. Adventurer guilds records mentioned that no monster will approach a floor guardian''s lair. So I should be safe for a while. I needed rest. I needed to restore my mana and cure at least some of my wounds, or I will not be able to leave the dungeon alive. I can barely walk. One of my legs badly hurts, and I am limping. That''s really bad. God dammed worm.


    Well, no use to just sit around and wait. My mana will restore regardless of my physical activities. I used my dagger to break off some of worm''s scales and cut out his magic stone. It was bigger than my fist. Am I rich again!


    I heard that strongest monster had magic stones as big as human head. It could be used to illuminate a capitol for at least ten years. They costed hundred orichalcum coins, and one orichalcum coin was worth hundred gold coins. Level one monster magic stones were as big as my pinkie''s phalanx, and costed single copper coin.


    It took me some time to get acquainted with money in this world. Now I knew that smallest amount of money were small copper coins. They were a little bit bigger than one centimeter. Then there were middles sized copper coins that were one and a half centimeters large, and were worth two copper coins. Largest copper coin was the size of one ounce gold coin, and was an equivalent of five copper coins. Silver and gold coins hade the same size, with the same value. Smallest silver coin value was ten small copper coins or two large ones. The same was with gold coins. Smallest gold coins value was ten small silver coins. Most commoners earned less than ten gold coins in a year. Orichalcum coins had only one size. As big as smallest copper coin, their value was ten small gold coins, or two one ounce gold coins. Most valuable coins were made from adamantium. Also only the size of small copper coins, their value was ten orichalcum coins, or one hundred small gold coins. Adamantium coins were rear and most of them ended up in kings and nobles treasuries.


    Wonder how much this magic stone will bring me, if I can manage to escape dungeon alive. I also tried to cut off worm''s horns, but managed to get only damaged one, when my sword broke. Crap, my greed will definitely be the death of me.


    An hour or more passed before I felt rested enough to try my attempt to leave he dungeon. I again used up all my mana to heal my leg. At least I should be able to run now. It will still hurt, but I will be able to do it, if my life will depend on it.


    All my arrows were broken or damaged by lava, so I took out my spare quiver. At least my magic bag survived the fight, unlike most of my close. I expected my bow. It was not broken, but had a crack in it. I guessed that it will be good for two or three shots, before it breaks.


    I waited a while longer till some of my mana restored and I could move again. I needed to leave. Do not know how long dead floor boss will scare of other monsters. Better leave, before I found out. I limped to the stairs. Climbing them was a torture. I looked at the third floor. At least for now it was empty. I hope, I will get lucky and leave the same way as last time, without monster encounters. I was half way through when rat monsters run towards me. They were holding their noses high, smelling the air. Dammit, they smelled my blood, like sharks in the water.


    With wounded leg, I cannot outrun them. I had to fight. I killed two of them using my bow, before it broke down. I risked and killed one more using Magic arrow. I did restore some of my mana since I still was able to fight. I took my broken sword in one hand and dagger in another. Second rat jumped at me and I used my broken sword to lunge it in its mouse. Rat monster fell on the ground, coughing blood. Last rat bitted my leg, and I cut my lip, trying to suppress a scream. I hit monster rat with my dagger and severed rat''s spine. Rat fell on the ground, but not before biting out piece of meat from my leg. That was my good leg!


    I finished last wounded rat, but left my broken sword inside its mouth. I was too tired to take it out, and I have little use for broken sword anyway. I cut off peace of my cloak and used it to bandage my wounded leg. After a short rest I continued my escape. Now I limped on both legs.


    Somehow I reached the stairs to the second floor. I rested in the middle of them. Blood continued to drip from my wounded leg. I again used Cure spell and managed to stop the bleeding.


    Just two floors left. A short break on the stairs and back on my way. Second floor I managed to cross without any monster encounters. Guess I was lucky, that I killed all monsters on my way down. Again short break on the stairs and Cure spell. At least I stopped limping. One of the caverns had snakes in it. Four or more they were resting in caverns left side. I stayed as far away from them as I could, but they still smelled my blood. Snakes started crawling towards me, but exit was not too far away. I run as fast as I could, and managed to get out of the cavern. I continued running, until I could barely move my legs. I need stamina potion. I stopped, heavily breathing. Just a short rest. Then going again. Never was so happy to see the exit before. I walked farther from the dungeon to make shore that my blood does not attract any monsters.


    I washed myself in the stream and felt little better. Then I used all my mana on Cure spell, and fell asleep.


    * * *


    Bird chirping woke me up. I moved and discovered that my body still hearts. I took last of my food out of magic bag and had some breakfast. Or lunch, judging from suns position. Cure spell healed rat bite on my leg, I checked it out. Not even a scar. I was worried about the scars, on my cute little body, but apparently Cure spell could take care of it.


    My spare clothe were in my magic bag, so I changed to them. After that I expected my hair. They looked bad, lava burned half of them, and with heavy heart I had to cut them. I loved my long hair, have no idea how long it will take to grew them back. Burn in hell worm!


    I was rested and food helped me get more strength back. I drunk water from the stream and returned to Grimsburg. At least I looked worth than I felt, when I returned to town. Gate guard looked at me, but did not say anything. I was not first adventurer who returned after a really bad day.


    I wanted to rest in the tavern, but did not have a single coin on me. So first let''s visit the Adventurers guild. I saw Leone and waved to her. After seeing my bruised face she immediately approached to me.


    - What happened? Why are you alone? Is anybody hurt? Do you need help?


    I waved her off.


    - I''m fine. Looks worth than it actually is. I was alone so no one else got hurt, but I need to talk to you, in private.


    I looked inside her eyes and Leone nodded:


    - Come with me, - she took me to the back room and I took a seat in front of her.


    - Well, can you tell me what happened to you?


    - Forget it. I wanted to ask you something. If I sell you something, will the guild keep my involvement a secret?


    - If that''s what you want, then of course. We can keep our dealings with adventurers confidential in such cases.


    - Good, - I took out the worm''s magic stone and passed it Leone. Her eyes widened and she loudly swallowed.


    - Please wait here I be right back.


    She hastily exited the room, and I put the stone on the table.


    Leone returned with the guild master and he sat down and took the stone. He carefully studied the magic stone and placed it in front of him.


    - Leone tells me that you wanted to keep the selling of this magic stone confidential, - I nodded and he continued: - Understood. My I ask you, how you got it?


    I grimaced: - No, don''t even want to remember it.


    - Very well, - he smiled, - I see that you had quit an adventure. Do you have anything else to sell?


    I nodded and took out my loot. I started with the small staff, and then took out the honey.


    - Can you tell me how much it is worth?


    He opened the bottle and smelled it: - Is this the honey - bee honey?


    - They looked more like wasps to me, but guess so.


    Fiord nodded and closed the bottle: - It is worth at least four gold coins. It''s very valuable and rare. Nobles use it as a remedy to restore their lost men''s strength or to increase it. Do you have more?


    Men''s strength? I wanted to ask if they have a sleeping disease or something, when I realized what he meant. If I would have been a proper girl, my face would be bright red by now. Instead I decided to pretend that I did not hear anything and took out one more bottle. I decided to keep one to myself.


    - Not bad loot. Are you sure that you want to sell it to us?


    - Can I get an elixir as part of my payment? - my arm still hurt, and I was worried about restoring its full mobility. Elixirs were far better choice, than healing potions in such cases. I knew that Adventurers guild sold healing potions, but was not sure that they had elixirs in their inventory.


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    - We can arrange that, - Fiord looked at Leone. She nodded and exited the room.


    - Do you have anything else?


    I started with wasp stingers and finally took out lava worm scales. I kept worm''s horn since I had another plans for it. Fiord carefully examined the stone like scales.


    - Can you tell me what these are?I grimaced again.


    - No. Besides you won''t believe even if I tell you. Just appraise them, or whatever you usually do in such cases.


    - As you wish. Now, about the magic stone. Stones of such size are called Magic gems. The biggest of them are national treasures. This one isn''t big enough to be a national treasure, but it will still earn you around ten orichalcum coins. We will need to appraise it, before I can tell you its precise value. Also I doubt that we have enough resources to pay you right away. I am sorry. Will you be able to wait?


    - That''s not a problem.


    Leone came back and gave me an elixir. Unlike red healing potions elixir had golden color. I opened the bottle. "It smells sweet" thought I to myself. I drunk the elixir and warmth spread through my body. It was sweet and tasty. All my wounds immediately healed. I took a look at my arm. Perfect, smooth skin, not even a resemblance of a scar.


    - Leone, you handle most or miss Avone''s party''s business, right?


    - Yes, ser.


    - Good. I will appoint you as her exclusive receptionist. Make sure that her business with the guild is kept confidential and worn other receptionists that any information about Avone must be disclosed only after her approval. That is what you want, right?


    - Yes, that will be great.


    - I can''t promise you that no information will be leaked, but whenever something like that happens we investigate such cases and deal with them accordingly. Any guild worker that loses our trust is immediately fired, and usually has trouble to find a well paying job. Other guilds and even nobles need Adventurers guilds help in one way or another and try to keep good relations with us. Can we help you with anything else?


    - Can you take care of my hair? - I asked Leone jokingly.


    - Certainly, - Leone nodded: - I will be right back.


    She exited the room, before I could stop her, and guild master laughed.


    - I will leave you to that now. Leone will take care of the rest.


    Still laughing Fiord took the Magic gem and left the room. I sighed, that was in a way exhausting. But it went better than I expected. At least now I will be less noticeable and avoid unwanted attention.Leone came back with comb and scissors. She stopped behind me and brushed my hair. It felt surprisingly pleasant. No one brushed my hair before.


    - Gods! What did you do? Cut them off with a sword?


    - Of course not. Don''t be absurd. I used my dagger.


    Leone sighed and continued her work. She needed half an hour, before she was satisfied with the result. I think she liked it too much and that is why it took longer than it should have.


    - Good. That''s much better. You need to take better care of your hair.I expected my hair. It certainly looked better, but was only shoulder length not tail bone length, as before.


    - Do you think it will grow back?


    - It will in time, - Leone smiled: - But it will need time, and you''ll need to take better care of yourself. My I suggest buying a comb and brushing your fair once they are at least waist length.


    I nodded. Where do you even buy a comb in this town?


    - Now let me appraise your loot.


    Leone gathered the materials inside her magic purse and left the room. I fell asleep while waiting and woke up when she came back. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. Leone laughed and put a pile of coins on the table. This will be your earnings, counting the elixir. Eighteen gold coins, three silvers and five coppers. Elixir costs six gold coins.


    - Thank you. Can I buy one more elixir?


    - Of course I will bring it right away.


    Leone took six gold coins and soon returned with one more elixir. I put it inside my magic bag and thanked her.


    - Appraising Magic gem and gathering your payment could take several days. Please excuse us, but its rear for us to handle such valuable materials.


    - That''s fine. Thanks for taking care of me.


    - That was my pleasure, - Leone smiled: - Is there anything else I can do for you?


    - I would like to use the leveling crystal.


    - Of course. Follow me.


    Leone took me to the leveling crystal and opened the door for me. As usual she waited outside as I entered the room. I put my hand on the leveling crystal and familiar numbers appeared.


    Elf, LV 10 - LV 13


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;Status:


    Health: 15 - 16;


    Mana: 90 - 120;


    Strength: 9 - 10;


    Defense: 5 - 6;


    Spell power: 7;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 6;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Archery (Advanced);


    Night vision (Advanced)


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Scouting (Novice);


    - Magic resistance (Novice);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    Killing the lava worm gave me three levels. Just how strong was he? I heard that after level 11, adventurer stats increased by one every time. Starting with Health, then Strength, Defense and finally Spell power. And then from the beginning. Every level also increased mana by 10. That was good. Slow, but steady, so to say.


    Next my skills. Scouting again. Last time I decided against it and chose Night vision. Was not really interested in it. Magic resistance sounded more interesting, that would increase my survival chances if I ever encountered someone like the lich again. It use was obvious from skill''s name. Probably it will not be very useful in the beginning, but more than worse it if I can get it to master or at least advanced level. Magic resistance it is.


    I exited the leveling room and Leone glanced at me:


    - Is everything all right?- Yes, thank you.- Please feel free to ask me for help anytime.


    I nodded and thanked her again. I went outside and took a deep breath. I was feeling so sleepy, but I still needed to take care of some business. First clothe shop.


    My familiar clothe shop owner took a look at leftovers that previously used to be my pants, shirt and the vest.


    - You should throw them away.


    - Can you fix them? - I asked stubbornly.


    - I can restore them, except your vest, you''ll need furrier who specializes in leather armor for that. But restoring your close will cost you four gold coins. You can buy several set of clothes, for that money.


    - Restore them, - I put four gold coins on the table and she sighed.


    - I will need at least a week to gather necessary materials and saw your close back.


    - Fine. Can you recommend me a furrier?


    - Three shops down the street. He is grumpy, but if anyone can put your vest back together, then he can.


    I bought from her a cape with a hood that I could use to cover my head, and visited shoemaker and furrier.


    Both of them also told me to throw away my clothes, but agreed to fix my equipment. It costed me two gold coins for the boots and three more for the vest.


    Next on my list was apothecary. I took out the vial with spider poison and showed it to my familiar apothecary owner.


    - Spider poison again? Your friend brings me regular supplies. Silver coin as usual.


    He handed me a silver coin and I nodded.


    - Last time we met you mentioned elixir called Gods mead. Do you know anyone who sells it?


    - Not in our town, - he shook his head: - North of the town lives a sage, who makes elixirs that our town sells. Maybe he could make one. But he never leaves his home. We usually hire some adventurers to bring us elixirs from him. You''ll need to visit him personally, but there is no guarantee that he can make one. But if anyone can in Grimsburg, then he is your best bet. But such elixir will cost more coins than you have.


    Well, I usually bought from him only cheapest potions, so his opinion was valid. Not to disappoint, so I bought some cheap potions, to restore my stock. Two healing potions, three stamina potions and two more anti-venom potions costed me one gold coin ant eight silvers.


    I was down to my last gold coin.


    Finally I visited Ashurga the weaponsmith. He was working in his smithy and some human boy was standing behind the counter.


    - Master is busy, - boy told me when I asked for Ashurga: - Hasn''t left the smithy for days.


    - Just tell him that it is Avone. He''ll see me.


    - Your not the first to say it, but no one had such luck in last few days.


    - Just do it.


    - Fine, - he sighed: - Wait here, but don''t get your hopes up.


    Boy left to the back, but soon returned. He looked surprised.


    - Master will see you. But you will have to wait for him.


    I nodded and checked the swords that Ashurga had forged. I needed a new sword and find one that was similar to the one that I lost. That was one of the best steel swords that dwarf blacksmith forged. I also chose a new bow. It was not as good as my old one, but it was impossible to repair my old bow, and there were no skilled bow makers in Grimsburg.


    - Your early laddy, - Ashurga came inside the shop, cleaning his hands with a dirty piece of fabric: - Your equipment not ready yet.


    - I know, don''t worry about it. Have some more business for you.


    - Oh, something interesting?


    - Could be worth your time. I see you hired yourself some help?


    - Yes. Had to agree to take myself an apprentice. Too much time in a smithy. Hey boy, go to the smithy, make sure it don''t catch fire and keep the fire burning.


    I waited until apprentice blacksmith left and shoved Ashurga lava worm''s horn.


    - What do you think about this?


    Ashurga carefully expected the horn. Then he took a small hammer ant hit the horn from several sides.


    - That a nice piece of monster material. Wanna sell? I''ll give you a good price.


    - No. I need a new sword. Can you forge me one from it?


    - I can do that. Not enough monster material for a sword, but I got myself some orichalcum recently, - dwarf smiled at me: - Can make you a decent sword using them. But it will cost you. Judging from the horn''s quality it will be fifty gold coins? Even counting that you brought me this horn yourself. Can you afford that?


    - Yes. Can I pay you after the job is done?


    - Have myself all I need to forge already, so that won''t be a problem. Not for my best customer.


    - I also need a sword that I can use until it is ready and this bow. How much they cost?I pointed at a sword that I liked.


    - Six gold pieces for both of them.


    I bitted my lip.- I only have one gold coin on myself, - I put the gold coin on the counter: - I''ll be good for the rest in a week?


    - Just take them, - he waved his hand and threw gold coin under the counter: - Pay me later. Trust that you will laddy. Now let''s measure your hand grip. Show me your tiny elven hands first.


    I did as told, and Ashurga took out several wooden bars. He told me to hold them in order to choose a sword hilt that would be most comfortable for me. He put aside one wooden bar that fit me best.


    - Good. I assume you want similar sword to the one that you used before? Hand and a half, straight, double edged?


    - Yes.Hand and a half sword could be used by one hand, but its hilt was also long enough to use it with both hands. Such swords were longer than the short ones, but not as long as longswords. They were perfect for some one of my length.


    - Good, good. Good choice for someone your size, especially if you level up and increase you strength stats. I''ll need to finish my current job, - he smiled: - And then get to work. It''ll take me at least ten days to finish it. Never worked with such monster material. Will need to experiment a little first.


    - I can wait. See you later, when I bring money for the sword.


    - Take your time. Can pay me, when you pick up your chainmail.


    I thanked the dwarf and took my new sword and bow. I felt tired and sleepy. I dragged my feet to the tavern and barely finished my dinner before falling asleep.

 Chapter 12. Personal request.

    Next morning I met with my party. We were planning to go to the dungeon again. Before I thought that drakes were most dangerous sign of monster stampede, until I run into lava worn. But there will not be any such dangerous monsters left anymore. Right! Right?


    Luara and Myne were already inside the guild hall, but we needed to wait for Trevor.


    - What spell did you learn? - I asked Myne out of curiosity.


    - I learned Death wave spell. It is level two spell, that''s why I needed so many days to learn it.


    - Death wave. Sounds scary, - robbed her nose Luara.


    - It kills all enemies in front of me. Well to be precise, it depletes their life force. Weaker enemies will definitely die, but strong monsters at my level will only become weaker.


    - Sounds useful, - nodded catgirl.


    We waited for Trevor some more, and got up to leave when he came inside, but Leone stopped us.


    - My I have a moment of your time?


    - Of, course, - nodded Luara: - What is it?Catgirl looked fresh and rested. I resented her for that. I was still tired, and wanted to sleep some more.


    - We received another personal request for your party. Again from the Mage Guild.Luara looked at me, but I shook my head.


    - I have no idea what it''s about. Maybe Myne impressed them.


    - Doubt that. What kind of job is it?


    - You will need to visit the Mage guild. They will be waiting for you. Please consider visiting them, even if you do not intend to take the job. Also miss Avone, the guild master would like a word with you before you leave.


    - What it''s about? - asked me Luara.


    - Donno. I''ll be back soon.


    Leone took me upstairs and knocked at the door.


    - Come in, - answered Fiord, and Leone opened the door for me.


    - I will wait for you here, outside.


    I nodded and came inside.


    - It''s you. Good. Sit down. I must sincerely apologize to you. When you gave me the honey you mentioned to me that monster, that you collected it from, looked more like wasps. But I failed to acknowledge that and paid you for the honey the worth of bee honey. Dungeon wasp honey is much more valuable. There is the rest of the money that I owe you, - he handed me two coins. Coins were red and when I picked them up, coins felt very light. That was the first time I saw the orichalcum coins.


    - That''s fine, - I quickly put the orichalcum coins in my magic bag, before he changed his mind: - I should have insisted that you need to appraise it first. Fault is mine.


    - Thank you for saying that. My guilds reputation would be ruined if rumors that we cheated the adventurer would spread around. Please excuse me again, - he bowed, and I felt uncomfortable.


    - Forget it, its fine. I don''t feel angry.


    - Thank you. We also managed to appraise the stone. It will earn you nine orichalcum coins. It will take us a week to pay you for it, if you are satisfied with the price?


    - That will be fine.


    - As you wish. Will you want your payment in gold or orichalcum coins?


    I thought for a while: - Can I get seven orichalcum coins and rest in gold?


    - I will arrange that. Now, about the scales. Seems that Grimsburg rookie adventurers own you a debt, even if they never find out about that. Scales themselves can''t be used to create artifacts, weapons or armor, but there are many rich people who collect such monster materials. We usually send them to the capitol, where capitol''s Adventurers Guild sends them to the auction. That could take some time, could be more than a month, depending on the auction. If you don''t want to wait, I can offer you forty gold coins, right now. But in the auction you could get more.


    Waiting for more than a month, sounded like a problem. I will have to stay in Grimsburg for that time, but I wanted to be more free in my travels.


    - I''ll take the gold coins now, - I decided. Fiord nodded and put the wallet on the table. I put it inside magic bag. No need to count, after guild master, right.


    - Leone will keep you informed concerning your reward for the Magic gem.


    - Thank you. Good day to you then Guild master, - with that our business was over and I left the room. I joined my party members and told them that guild master wanted to talk to me about my Night vision skill and its usefulness in the dungeon.


    - What did you decided about the Mage Guild request?


    - Lets visit them, and at least hear them out, - decided Leone.


    Myne, who was most familiar with Mage Guild, took the lead and first entered the building.


    - We were told that our party received a job offer from the Mage Guild.


    - Yes, please follow me. Guild Master will talk to you personally, - nodded Sally and guided as to the Guilds third floor.


    The guild master room''s door was decorated with gold runes and stylized magic circles. Sally knocked and after hearing guild masters voice opened the door for us.


    - The adventurers party that you were expecting guild master. Please allow me to introduce Mage''s Guild guild master honorable Mesmer.


    After entering the room I froze for a moment. Mesmer was an elf, not just an elf, but high elf. There were no visible differences, I just knew that he was high elf. Probably some kind of elf thing. My instincts screamed at me to bow to him, but I resisted.


    Mesmer looked at me, and small smile appeared on his lips. He was sitting near the window behind the desk covered with various papers. In the middle of the room was small decorative table. On our side of it was soft sofa, big enough for five people to sit on it, and on the other side was an elegant chair. It reminded me of Adventurers Guild guild master''s room, just more elegant and expensive.


    - Please sit down, - he pointed towards the sofa: - Thank you for coming so fast.


    We took offered seats and Mesmer sat down on the chair.


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    - Let me congratulate and thank you for stopping the dungeon monster stampede. Your accomplishments did not go unnoticed.


    - Is that the reason, why you send a personal request, for our party? - asked Luara. As our party''s leader she took charge of negotiations.


    Mesmer smiled: - No, but that is one of the reasons why I did it. You were chosen by Nelly. Please let me explain her circumstances, since they are related to the job. Nelly is an apprentice mage in our guild. As you probably know, in Ashgrin all human and half-human children after reaching age of six years are taken to the church. Priests use appraisal crystal on them to find out the job that they were born with. Most humans, even nobles and royalty, are born with commoner job. But in rear cases children are born with specialized job, like mage, warrior or blacksmith. When it happens, priests are obligated to inform the lord that rules the land were child is living. Lord then can choose to pay for child''s education, and then accept him as a member of his household. That rule of course applies only for peasants and town''s less wealthy children. In some special cases when for example child is born with spellsword or mage job, the lord informs guild that is responsible for education of such children or even a king, in rarest cases when child is born with very powerful job.


    Nelly was born with archmage job. Lord informed Mage Guild, and as always in such cases we took upon ourselves to raise the child and give her necessary education, so she could grew to her full potential. Parents of such children are generously compensated. Nelly spend seven years in our guild learning magic spells and our guild''s history. Usually when such children reach age fifteen they are send to increase their levels. In capitol it is done differently, but in Grimsburg, where Adventurers guild and Mage guild have long and fruitful relationship, we usually ask an adventurers party to accompany such children inside the dungeon. Usually we make a job request in Adventurers guild or ask your guild master to find for us a qualified party.


    Until now Nelly never shoved any interest to increase her level, but after drake extermination quest, she decided that she wants to become stronger. That''s why I decided to hasten her leveling timeline. She chose your party as her companions. After consulting with your guild master I decided that you posses minimal requirement for this job.


    That''s why you were offered this job. Will you agree to take it?


    - First I would like to ask you some questions, - said Luara hesitantly.


    - Of course. I expect nothing less.


    - You do understand, that dungeon is dangerous we can''t guarantee that Nelly won''t get hurt. Even if we do everything that we are capable of.


    - I understand that. The monster hunting and dungeon can be unpredictable and dangerous. But I expect that you will take every possible precaution and won''t take unnecessary risks. Sadly there are some cases when adventurers and apprentice mages do not return from the dungeon, but in your case you will need only to increase Nelly''s levels, not kill the drake pack.


    - What level she needs to reach?


    - Ideally one of her magic skills needs to reach master level, but I won''t ask something that hard from you. It will be enough it two of her magic skills are advance level and wisdom skill is at least basic. She already has all four elemental magic skills and Wisdom at novice level, so that should be more than possible.


    - Increasing someone''s level my take a lot of time, especially since skill acquirement is so unpredictable. What about our payment?


    - If you do your job right, you will receive two gold coins for every day that Nelly will spend increasing her level. All monster magic stones and materials you are free to keep to yourselves. If you complete your job successfully I can also offer you additional benefits. I was told that Myne and I assume Avone as well will want to study in Magic Academy. What you probably don''t know is that thousands of applicants every year apply for studies in there, but only less than a hundred are accepted. Most of the places go to children of noble birth. I can give the two of you a letter of recommendation. Recommendation from mages guild master will guarantee you a place in the academy. You will of course have to pay for your lessons. Also I can allow all of your party members register in our guilds Guild circle free of charge.


    - What''s a Guild circle?


    - Mages who can use spell called Guild portal can teleport themselves and if they have necessary skills, then also their companions from any place in the world to the Mage guild, if they have registered in the guilds magic circle. Mages with necessary skills, can register in all the Magic guilds. Every such registration costs an orichalcum coin.


    Teleportation spell. That peaked my interest. I already knew that I will agree to take the quest, recommendation letter was too big of a temptation to refuse. But Luara was not finished yet.


    - Sounds useful, - agreed catgirl: - But protecting your apprentice will require us to change our strategies. We always use magic lantern, but with my hands busy I won''t be able to fight and protect two mages at the same time. Trevor has his sword with glowing stone, but I and Myne would have to buy bracelets with glowing stones. Those will be additional expenses that our party can''t afford right now.


    - I see. Are there any other problems, that you have, that would prevent you from taking Nelly with you?


    - No. Not that I can think off.


    - Very well, if the compensation is agreeable, and you will continue your dungeon visits anyway, to increase your party member levels, and only thing that stopping you is illumination problems. Then I will offer you two bracelets with glowing stones as advance payment for the job.


    Wow, he was way better negotiator than Luara. Experienced adventurers would have realized how important it was for Mesmer to send Nelly to the dungeon while she was showing interest in it. They would squeeze him for more money, but Luara missed her chance. I also realized that too late. But it was too late to change things now.


    - Sally, please come in! - Mesmer called for guilds receptionist and Sally immediately opened the door: - Please provide these adventurers with two bracelets equipped with glowing stones. That will be part of their payment that they will be allowed to keep upon successful quest completion. Rest of the details and schedules will be handled by our receptionist Sally. Thank you for your time and willingness to help our guild and the town.


    He bowed to us and returned to his work desk. Our audience was over. We stood up and also bowed to the guild master. Sally accompanied us back to the guilds reception room and asked us to wait. She returned soon with two bracelets, and handed them to Luara.


    - When are you planning to take Nelly to the dungeon for the first time? And what equipment should she take with her?


    - Can she go today, - I asked: - We were planning to go to the dungeon ourselves and it will be better if she spends at least half a day on the first floor, so she could get used to the surrounding darkness and threat of the monster attack. If we stay on the first floor, it will be safe enough, and no equipment will be necessary. Then later we could go and hunt the monster for real. What do you think? - I looked at my party members.


    - Sounds reasonable, - answered Luara.


    - I agree, it is hard to get use to the dungeon, taking it slow will be better, - nodded Myne. Trevor also agreed. He still was slow and steady approach preacher.


    Sally thought for a moment.


    - Very well, I agree with your reasoning. Nelly is free today, and can accompany you.


    - Later she will need magic bag with supplies, - added Luara: - Food and water for four days, just in case. Mana, healing, stamina, anti-venom and petrifaction resistance potions. Dagger to protect herself in close range combat. And of course bracelet with glowing stone. If everything goes well we will return to the dungeon tomorrow after sunrise, and spend there two or three days.


    - Very well, I will make sure that everything is prepared for her tomorrow. Please wait. I will inform Nelly about her dungeon visit for today, and tell her to prepare for it.


    She returned with Nelly who had the same close and equipment that she used during our drake hunt. She happily waved at us and run to me.


    - Hello. Thank you for agreeing to come with me.


    - Thank you for choosing my party, - I smiled and stroke her head: - Are your ready for your second adventure?


    - Yes, I am.- Please take good care of her, - bowed to us Sally.


    We said goodbye to her and departed for the dungeon. After entering the dungeon we scouted the first floor, using Luara''s map. Nelly seemed too careless. We warned her to stay quiet, but she treated our hunt as an excursion and admired our surroundings. I decided to be cruel and did not warn anyone, when five giant centipedes attacked us. Nelly got scared when they suddenly appeared in our light circle.


    Luara and Trevor also were too relaxed, but I was ready for the attack and immediately killed first centipede using my arrow and used Magic arrow to kill second one.


    - Three more, - informed I Luara and Trevor, and they quickly disposed of them.


    - Don''t get careless, - I turned towards Nelly: - Always expect monster attack and never drop your guard.


    Nelly nodded and concentrated on her surroundings. Luara wanted to say something, but understood why I did not warn them and nodded.


    - Let''s go. We all should be more careful. Stay on your guard, - ordered catgirl and we continued our expedition.


    During our lunch break we discussed our future strategies, and decided to continue using Slow spell as our primary strategy. With only difference, that Nelly will cast it alongside Myne. Nelly could use Magic arrow and Luara told her to use it to support her and Trevor. By the end of our first day, Nelly killed several snakes, two rats and one flying insect, that resembled giant mosquito. We returned to the Grimsburg shortly before sundown and took Nelly to the Mage guild.


    Sally paid us two gold coins and we agreed to come back after Nelly next day.

 Chapter 13. The Sage.

    Our second dungeon visit with Nelly we decided to spend on the second floor, to help her get more accustom to the dungeon and work on our mutual cooperation. We found only five monster packs and experimented with our strategies. Beginning of a battle always started with me warning my comrades about the attack and killing some monsters with my arrows, if there were more than ten monsters. Then Myne and Nelly casted Slow spell. Luara and Trevor fought on the first line while our mages supported them with Magic arrows and me using my bow. At first Nelly aim was lacking and she almost hit Trevor and Luara with it, but after the second day, her aim improved, just as our team work. We successfully finished our second dungeon dive.


    After we brought Nelly back to the Mage Guild and received payment from Sally, we decided to take two days rest and then continue with our dungeon monster hunt.


    Next day after breakfast I went to the apothecary, and bought myself bunch of high level potions and several elixirs. Finally I could afford buying stuff, and potions were something that saved my life more than once. I also bought from the mage Guild book "All spells and they uses". I wanted to learn more about the spells and their abilities. That will give me more choices and help me to decide which spells to learn to increase my battle potential.


    Then I visited Ashurga and paid him for the sword and bow that I bought from him. Next place, on my today''s visit list, was Adventurers guild. I waited till Leone finished her business with some adventurer and then approached her.


    - Miss Avone. How can I help you?


    - Sorry to disturb you, but I wanted to ask you something. I heard about the sage who supposedly lives near Grimsburg, and is skilled in creating Elixirs?


    - Yes, his name is Tanot. Guild sometimes hires him to create potions or elixirs. So, you want to visit him and ask for his help in creating some specific magic potion?


    - Yes. Is that possible?


    - Guild master mentioned, that you may decide to visit him. I have his permission to permit  you the visit with guild''s assistance. Please wait here.


    Leone soon returned and gave me the map and an amulet.


    - Sage''s house is surrounded by a powerful barrier that hides his location. You will need this amulet, to find his house. Sage gave such amulets only to Adventures guild and Mage Guild. We lend it to the adventurers who visit the Sage, when someone posts such a quest, to by potions from him. Please make sure you do not lose it.I nodded and put the crystal shaped amulet that reminded me of magic stone, on my neck and hid it beneath my shirt.


    - Thank you.


    - Do not mention it that is my job. Good luck with your request.


    I thanked Leone and took the map. According to the map, sage lived near Grimsburg around an hour walk north from the town.


    The weather was good,  and I enjoyed my walk through the forest. When, according to the map, I approached Sages house, a fog appeared and covered the forest. The fog was so thick, that I only saw little of the area around me. I continued going north and after several hundred steps fog disappeared. In the distance I saw smoke, and went towards it.


    Soon I found the Sages house, at least I hope that it is the Sages house. It was simple wooden house with stone chimney above it. Smoke was coming from the chimney. So at least someone was home. I knocked at the door, and someone told me to enter. I opened the door and froze for a moment. Sage was near the fireplace stirring the soup. He was tall, well build man with blue skin color.


    He was a djinn. Genies were one of the races that lived in this world. According to Adventurers guilds information they lived in a northern kingdom. All genies were powerful mages, born with air of water magic skill. Like the high elves, their lifespan was endless unless it was prematurely ended by violent means. He turned around and looked at me.


    - Oh, an elf adventurer, that''s rear in Grimsburg. Did Adventurers guild send you?


    - No, but they allowed me to come here. I shoved him the amulet.


    - I see, that''s interesting. Guild master must find you special, if he allowed you to visit me. Well don''t be shy, come in and sit down. Soup will be ready soon.


    I did as told and took a seat at the table. I looked around. The house was filled with bouquets of dried flowers that hung from the ceiling. The smell was nice. Two doors led to other rooms, probably the bedroom and Sages alchemy lab.


    Tanot took two bowls and filled them with soup. He got two spoons and also put a bread on the table.


    - My name is Tanot, please share a lunch with me and we can discuss your business while we eat.


    - My name is Avone. Thank you great Sage, you honor me, - I bowed my head.


    Tanot laughed: - There is no need to be so formal. Please eat.


    I tried the soup. It missed the meat, but was tasty. I took piece of bread and eat it along with bread. Bread was warm, and I got a feeling that it was freshly baked.


    - So what brings you here elf Avone?


    - I want to buy elixir - Gods mead. I was told that if anyone can make it, then it''s you.


    - Oh, how interesting. Your guild master, just made an order for the same elixir. I am making four vials of it for him, but all of it is promised to the Adventurers guild. I can''t sell you any.


    - Can''t you make more?


    - It''s not that I cannot. I don''t mind making Gods mead. It is a horrible fait for the adventurer to lose an arm or a leg, and I do not wish it on anyone. The problem is, that I don''t have the main ingredient.


    - Main ingredient? What is it, if it is not a secret?


    - No, it''s not. At least I don''t see it as one. Main ingredient for Gods mead is dungeon wasp honey. It is gathered by wasps that live in the dungeon. They are similar to bee monsters that also gather the honey, but have darker color. And unlike bees, they gather honey from glowing moss. Such monsters are very rear, and only if they appear on the floors that have glowing moss, can such honey be gathered. Which must also be lucky coincidence.


    Monster wasps will fight till death to protect their honey. It is also coveted by other monsters as well. Legends say that if a dungeon monster regularly eats this honey, his magic power and life force will increase and he will be able to evolve. Humans also greatly desire it, because it allows them even in very old age to sire a child. Ones a king who was approaching the end of his life, lost his heirs an promised ten thousand gold coins to anyone who will bring him this honey. Most times adventurers deliver bee honey that also can be used as an aphrodisiac, but cannot be used to make Gods mead.


    But if you decide to look for it there could be one more problem. First you need to get incredibly lucky and found the wasp nest, and that is an easy part. It is a little known fact, that is still discussed among dungeon researchers to be truth or not. Whenever someone tries to steel wasp mead dungeon creates a powerful monster to protect it. Not many adventurers have ever got it and left the dungeon alive. In most cases several party members die distracting monsters, to allow their comrades to escape.


    So my reasoning why lava appeared could be completely wrong. But still it was my greed that summoned it, just in a different way.


    I took out my last vial of honey and showed it to Tanot. He took the vial, opened it and smelled the honey.


    - So you''re the adventurer who was able to get the wasp honey, - he laughed: - No wonder that old fox allowed you to come here.


    So, guild master assumed that I have more wasp honey. I will have to be more careful with him in the future. But it seemed that guild master overestimated me. After all, I had no idea that wasp honey can be used to make Gods mead.


    - This amount can be used to make two Gods mead elixirs. Usually single vial costs two orichalcum coins, half of it for you, since you provided me with main ingredient. But why don''t I offer you a deal. I''ll make the elixir for you for free, in exchange for little promise.


    - What kind of promise?


    - If you can get your hands on Magic gem then consider selling it to me, instead of Adventurers guild.


    - What makes you think, that I can ever get it?


    - Well, when your guild master receives an item that he can''t identify or appraise properly, he comes to me. I have an Appraisal skill. Recently he visited me and brought to me the Magic gem, he also asked me about the honey. He remembered the adventurer mentioning that insect monster looked more like wasps, than bees, and just to be safe, asked me to appraise the honey. Putting two and two together was really easy.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    - Why do you need a Magic gem anyway and why can''t you buy it from the guild?


    - When adventurers guild receives a rare item of great value, like Magic gem they must first offer the item to the king''s court. And only if they decide not to buy it, can they sell it to someone else. Usually they use an auction house to sell such items, where their price could greatly increase. To the reason why. Such items can be used to create powerful artifacts, as well as they have other uses. I have master level Potion brewing skill. It is a requirement for someone to brew Gods mead. I cannot create an artifact, but I would like to experiment with it. I became a Sage because my dream is to create an immortality potion. And Magic gem could help me with my research.


    Immortality potion - that sounded interesting. And I wanted to receive Gods mead elixirs for free. There were still many things that I wanted to buy, and there were no guarantee that I will ever get a small fortune again.


    - You do understand, that I may never get it. And if I get it while hunting as a member of my party, then decision to sell or not and to whom, won''t be mine.


    - I am ready to take such a risk.


    What? Did he sought that saying immortality elixir will peak my interest so much? Well he was right. It did.


    - Very well. I promise to you, that if I ever get a Magic gem, and if it will be possible I will try to sell it to you first. Will that be enough?


    - Yes, that will suffice, - nodded Tanot: - Come back in seven days. Elixir will be ready by then.


    - I may be few days late. Will that be a problem?


    - Not at all. I understand how busy can adventurers be. Before you leave, - he opened the chest, that was standing in the corner of the room, and searched for something: - Here, - he gave me an amulet, that looked exactly like the one that Leone gave me: - This way you won''t need to borrow guild''s amulet, when you decide to visit me.


    - Thank you, - I took the amulet an bowed: - I am very grateful to you.


    - Don''t be shy and visit me if you find something interesting.


    - Very well.


    My visit to the great Sage went even better than I expected, and answered me some questions about guild master''s behavior.


    I returned to Grimsburg before midday. That meant that I still had more than a day and a half before our next dungeon dive. I spent my remaining time in the Mage Guild learning Slow spell. In the game it was my favorite strategy to cast a Slow spell on opponents army, and Haste spell on my own. I still planned to dungeon diving by myself, during our rest days, but I wanted to be better prepared. Having an armor and powerful sword were preparations that I will have to wait for. And some more spells will also increase my chances to survive my half mad dungeon visits.


    I hoped that my spell learning time will be shorter, but I barely managed to cast successful Slow spell by the end of second day. My master this time was a wielder of advanced earth magic skill, master Bovinus.


    All mages started to look the same to me. Old, bearded, but surprisingly patient, when it came to the practice part of the lesson and sharing their mana, which allowed me to successfully learn a Slow spell in just two days.


    * * *


    Our third dungeon monster hunt with Nelly we spent in the third floor. We again encountered only small amount of monsters.


    While fighting monsters we used our usual strategies. Except now, we had two mages casting Slow spell. We allowed Nelly to kill monster who hunted alone using her Lightning spell. Monster packs we handled together, with Nelly and Myne assisting us with Magic arrow spells. That allowed us also slowly gather monster life force, while Nelly benefited the most. In rear cases when we encountered monster pack with dozen or more monsters Myne and Nelly used Death wave spell. Monster is such big packs were usually weaker than the rest and were killed by the spell life force draining effect. That lowered the risk of Nelly getting hurt, by random monster who could slip through us.


    By the end of the hunt we decided that with Nelly''s help dungeon four monsters won''t be  much of a threat for us. After returning we informed Sally about our plans and she agreed that two days later we will take Nelly to Dungeons fourth floor.


    During my rest days I resumed my routine sword and physical training in the first part of the day and magic and archery practice during second part of the day.


    Next day after my morning practice I visited Ashurga. Two weeks have already passed and I was curious about my orichalcum chainmail.


    - Your just in time laddy. Finished your armor last night, - proudly announced dwarf when I entered his shop: - Worked day and night, but managed to finish it in two weeks, just as I promised.


    - That''s great. Knew that I can count on you.


    Dwarf nodded satisfied and took out my newest chainmail. I imagined that it will resemble T-Shirt, but it had different design. It reminded me a suit vest. In the open muddle it had a placket made of leather with stylized orichalcum buttons. I was afraid, that the placket will leave a weak point, but dwarf explained to me that they had orichalcum rings placed inside them, and additional orichalcum bottoms will even provide more reliable defense, than the main part of chainmail. Chainmail was silver plated to disguise the orichalcum.


    I tried it on. Chainmail fit me like a glove. It did not have sleeves, that granted me more movement freedom. It was also lighter than I thought. Iron sleeveless chainmail weight was around eight kilos, but orichalcum chainmail weight was around five kilos. With my increased strength I could move around as fast as I could without it before. I tried to imitate my moves when I used a bow. Chainmail did not interfere with my movements, which was just what I wanted.


    - It''s perfect, - I said honestly.


    Dwarf happily laughed: - I''m glad you like it. Hope it serves you well. Make sure that if you need to fix it, then use only blacksmith that has orichalcum or adamantium.


    But since you wanted it to fit under your vest it used much less orichalcum than I anticipated. Especially since your waist is so small. Usually make armor for men that are far bigger. I had left more orichalcum, so to compensate the difference, take these with you. Been gathering dust on my shelf anyway, - he gave a quiver with dozen arrows inside it.


    I took out one arrow. It''s tip was made from the same golden-yellow metal. Orichalcum arrows.


    - Are you sure? They cost a fortune, I can''t just take them.


    - Don''t think about it. Can make myself more, now that I have orichalcum. Besides I would feel like cheating you, if I don''t give them to you.


    - Thank you, master dwarf. I will use them well.


    - About your sword. My apprentice is running few experiments with monster material that you gave me for the sword, but I run into a problem. I tried to melt it down, but couldn''t do it. In order to melt it and then fuse if with orichalcum I will need fire source that''s made using alchemy that can create fire, hotter than dragon''s fire. But things like that are expensive. It will cost much more than we agreed. Maybe you should consider selling that horn to the adventurers guild?


    I remembered lava spits that the worm used. No wonder that ordinary fire could not melt that thing. I took out one of my orichalcum coins and put it on the table. I already received my payment for the Magic gem, so I could afford it.


    - I trust in your skill. Use the best materials that you can get in Grimsburg, and forge me adventurers sword that can last an elven lifetime. Let me know if that won''t be enough.Surprised Ashurga took the coin and nodded.


    - I''ll do my best. I''ll need time to gather the materials, but I am confident that I will finish it within ten days. Even if I''ll need to work every night.


    - Don''t overdo it. I can wait longer if you can''t finish it by then.


    - Can''t hold back myself, - chuckled Ashurga: - Job like that makes my blood boil. Can''t make myself to leave my smithy until I finish it.


    - Thank you. I''m sure it will be even better than I imagine it.


    - Hearing such things makes me want to work even harder.


    I thanked the dwarf, and went to adventurers guild. Rest of the day I used training and practicing with the sword, to get used to wearing chainmail during the battle. I even considered sleeping in it, but decided that I will have enough opportunities for that in dungeon.


    * * *


    Our hunt in the dungeons fourth floor went as planned. We did not encountered any problems or monsters, that we could not defeat using our strategy. We continued exploring dungeon''s fourth floor, spending two days in dungeon with two rest days in between. During rest days I continued my sword training with Gord, and my magic practice. I also learned Dispel magic spell, to increase my battle potential against enemy mages.


    We continued exploring dungeon''s fourth floor and Sally informed us that Nelly''s leveling goes well. After every dungeon visit she managed to raise a level. Her skills improved as well and her earth and water magic skills were already at basic level. Luara complained about that, since her level did not increase at all.


    Finally after our third hunt in the fourth floor, ten days were passed and my sword was ready. Ashurga chuckled and said that for the scabbard he used drake''s leather that some adventurers managed to kill.


    Then he handed me over a sword inside black leather scabbard. The hilt of the sword was made from orichalcum and bound with leather. Thanks to its golden-yellow color it could be easily mistaken as golden plated.


    - Not to brag, but this is the best sword that I ever made, - admitted blacksmith: - Never before used such monster material. Was hard working with it, but worth it. It''s as good as adamantium sword, maybe even better. Sorry to say, but it will cost you sixty more gold coins. I can wait as long as you need. After all it''s not what we agreed upon. But you told me to use only the best materials and I overdid it a little, - dwarf scratched his cheek and lowered his gaze.


    - That''s fine, - I counted the coins and handed then to Ashurga: - You were right to do so. I unsheathed the sword and looked at its blade. I thought that it will be same golden-yellow color that orichalcum had, but it was much darker, nearly black in color.


    - Sword like that deserves a name. Do you wish for me to name it?


    I thought for a moment, but shook my head: - No, let''s leave it nameless. Named swords are something that heroes should have. I am just an adventurer.


    - As you wish, just an adventurer who hunts drakes in the dungeon.


    Blade was sharp, sharper than steel blades that I used before.


    - Doubt that you will need to sharpen it. Maybe once in a century. And its resistant to fire and acid. No ordinary fire spell will be able to melt if, doubt that even mid ranking fire spell could damage it.


    I nodded. Excellent. I tried a few slashes. Sword was lighter than steel ones, and felt like an extension of my hand.


    - It''s said that weapons made from monster that you slain personally serve you just as good as artifacts that choose their users.


    - Yes, it feels like part of me. Can''t wait to test it in real battle.


    - As usually adventurers do. But try not to overdo it.


    - Thank you for everything Ashurga.


    - Visit me again, if you get anything interesting again.


    - I will definitely do that, - I smiled and again thanked the dwarf. I considered going to the dungeon to test my sword, but decided to practice using it first. I still was a little traumatized by my first solo dungeon visit, and hesitated to do it again. So I spend my rest days practicing my swordsmanship. I had to be patient and wait two more days before I could finally use my new sword.

 Chapter 14. Floor five.

    Like usually we met in Adventurers guild, before going to pick up Nelly.


    - Sally told me that Nelly already reached level nine, - informed us Luara: - Which is good, but also bad. Since it will be more difficult to increase her level from now on. The minimum she needs to level up at least twice, but probably even more. According to Sally she already has nine skills, more than even I have. But we need to decide, what will we do next. If we continue as before, raising her levels could take weeks or even months. Not to mention that monster numbers are decreasing. Our hunts and recent dungeon cleaning quests have significantly lowered monster numbers on first four floors.


    - You wish to go to the next floor? - nervously asked Trevor.


    - I''m not sure our levels are high enough, - added Myne.


    - That''s true. My level is still only eleven. But with Nelly''s magic assistance we should be able to do that.


    - I think that we can do that, - I agreed with Luara: - Last time we barely encountered any monsters. If we don''t go lover, then Nelly won''t be able to reach level ten. You all remember how hard it was for us. We had to exterminate packs that had more than hundred monsters in them, before we could do that. That''s more monsters than we hunt in two dungeon visits lately.


    - Then it''s settled. We go to floor five, - decided our party leader: - But first I think that you need to get stronger and increase you levels.


    - I''ll already tried, no such luck, - I admitted. It was truth, after receiving my sword I used leveling crystal, but my level did not increase.


    - I wasn''t planning to do so, but very well, - nodded Myne. Trevor also decided not to risk and increase his stats.


    Myne went first. When she touched the crystal, familiar numbers appeared, which meant that she managed to reach next level.


    Human, LV 10 - LV 11


    Name - Myne;


    Job: Mage;


    Status:


    Health: 25 - 26;


    Mana: 100 - 120;


    Strength: 11;


    Defense: 8;


    Spell power: 10;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 5;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Earth magic (Advanced);


    Knitting (Novice);


    Agriculture (Novice);


    Wisdom (Basic);


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Knitting (Basic);


    - Intelligence (Novice);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    She happily chose intelligence skill, since it helped with faster spell learning and also increased spell casting speed. That was a great skill for a mage.


    Trevor like always nervously approached the leveling crystal, but his results surprised as all.


    Human, LV 1


    Name - Trevor;


    Job: Knight;


    Status:


    Health: 3;


    Mana: 40;


    Strength: 0;


    Defense: 0;


    Spell power: 1;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 5;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Lumberjack (Novice);


    Herb gathering (Basic);


    Increased strength (Novice);


    Swordsmanship (Novice)


    - What, I am level one? - asked he in surprise, but then he noticed his job:


    - What, I have a knight job? Do you see that? I am a knight now!


    Trevor almost jumped from happiness. Well he reached level eleven that was the level when a commoner job always changed to more specialized job. No surprise that he got a knight job, after he got a swordsmanship skill.


    We congratulated Trevor, who''s battle potential just greatly increased. Finally he can become a front row fighter, worthy of its role.


    Luara was satisfied with our party''s increased fighting abilities and we went to the Mage Guild.


    Luara warned Sally about our decision and for the second time we entered floor five. After previous two floors, which had light from the glowing moss, my party members needed some adjustment to the surrounding darkness. First we visited the cavern where we fought drakes, but their bodies were already gone. They were decomposed. which happened fast to the dungeon monster bodies if they remained in the dungeon.


    - Some scholars theorized that the magic power returned to the mother dungeon - informed as Nelly.


    There were no monsters nearby. Probably still scared of the drakes, they stayed away from the cavern where drake pack used to live. We went deeper in the dungeon and according to Luara''s map crossed nearly third of the floor when we finally encountered dungeon monsters.


    I did not see the monsters at first. Light reflected from something and I stopped.


    - Wait, - I warned Luara, and she stopped. I took out one of my arrows and threw it. Arrow stopped in mid air and stayed there. Luara went closer and touched arrow and took a closer look. Around the arrow where almost invisible strings.


    - Spider web, - she finally realized.


    - And we just alerted the one who made it. Luara get back. Nelly use fire ball and burn it down. We can''t do worse, - Luara jumped back and Nelly almost immediately used a Fire ball spell. Human size fireball flew towards the web and immediately ignited the spider web. Fire spread all the way through cavern and we saw at least half a dozen giant spider monsters. They were two times bigger than their brethren from the first floor.


    - Myne, Nelly use Slow spell, - ordered Luara.


    - They are too far away from each other to affect them all, - warned Myne.


    - Them spell them one by one. Nelly take left side, Myne the right.


    While our mages started casting their spells I used my bow. I managed to wound the spiders, but they were too big to kill them with arrows. Spiders were sitting closer to the ceiling, and three of them fell down when their webs burned down. They suffered severe injuries, mostly broken legs, but half of them managed to use new webs to stay in the air.


    The webs burned out as quickly as they caught fire, and cavern went black again.


    - Three wounded, three coming closer. They are coming down. Prepare yourselves, - I warned my comrades, while I was continuing shooting: - Nelly, Myne, you should switch to Magic arrow spell, you won''t have enough time to use both. Nelly take the first one.


    Luara nodded and as soon as first spider appeared in our light circle Nelly used Magic arrow and blew up most of its head. Spider fell on earth with green blood flowing out of its wounds. Myne managed to kill the second one and I finished the last spider.


    - Nelly you should finish the wounded ones, - Nelly nodded, and I guided her to the wounded spiders. She killed them using her Magic arrow spell.


    - Well that was easy, - wiped off the sweat Luara: - Let''s collect the magic stones.


    I stayed on guard, while Luara and Trevor removed the magic stones. That was easy, but only because we got lucky and noticed spider webs, before someone was caught in them. But monsters from the fifth floor, turned out to be more dangerous, than I hoped. I saw something shining and told my companions to wait. I went investigate and found a staff. It was dark and almost invisible in the darkness. The only reason I managed to saw it was because of round black jewel that sparkled in the middle. I prepared my curse removing potion. It costed me twenty gold coins, but apothecary assured me that it will remove any curse. It was the most expensive piece in his shop. Made by the sage, it was in a way even more powerful than elixirs. I was planning to ask the sage about it during my next visit.


    As soon as I picked up the staff, I felt its power. It wasn''t cursed. It was an artifact. From the power that I sensed, it could increase mages magic power, make mages spells more powerful. Our first artifact. Finally we found one.I returned to my party and gave staff to Myne.


    - Here. If no one''s objecting, then give your staff to Nelly and try using this one.Luara and Trevor nodded and Myne carefully took the staff.


    - Wow, I can feel its power. It''s amazing. Far better than my current staff.


    Nelly took Myne''s old staff and waved it around.


    - Looks useful, I''ll give it back when we exit the dungeon.


    - You can keep it, - said Myne: - As your payment from the monsters loot.


    - We were discussing what we should do if we found an artifact, and agreed that the one to whom it is useful the most can keep it, - added Luara: - We also agreed, that you deserve something, if we found an artifact that only mages can use. Since Myne has a new staff now, you can keep her old one. It will enhance your spell power and you can use it to pommel monsters if they get too close. Myne used her staffs as a club several times.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    - Really? Thank you. I will cherish it.


    - Consider it your first dungeon loot, - I smiled: - To be honest we felt kind of bad that you don''t get anything while we keep all the magic stones and monster materials. At least this way we can show you our appreciation.


    - Thank you, - bowed Nelly.


    We continued our way and both Nelly and Myne were admiring and playing around with their new staffs.


    Next monster we encountered resembled a big bull covered with spikes and long snake like tail.


    - Bull monster, - I warned, but second moment monster noticed us, and charged towards the light. I wanted to curse, but there was not enough time. If we wait until he enters our light circle our mages will not have enough time to use Slow spell before it tramples us. Luckily I could use Slow spell myself. I imagined spell circle and filled it with mana. I felt the magic power and sent it towards the bull. This was my first time using Slow spell on a living being. Spell worked and familiar earth bubbles appeared beneath the bull monster. His charge slowed down - my spell worked.


    - I already used Slow spell. Trevor, Luara distract it. Nelly use Lightning as soon as you see it. He is coming from the front.


    Luara nodded and run towards the bull. With her increased speed and bull''s lowered, she managed to avoid the monster. Trevor run to the monster other side, and bull slowed down choosing his victim. That gave Nelly time to use Lightning spell.Lightning hit the monster and electric charge went through his spikes. Bull swayed and fell on the ground. Blood came out of its mouth and his eyes closed.


    Luara carefully approached the monster and touched him with her sword. Bull looked dead, but just in case she stabbed his neck, before removing the magic stone, while Trevor collected bulls horns.


    I considered buying gloving stone bracelet. I could distract the monster instead of Luara, but Nelly would not be able to see me. Distracting monsters and illuminating them, so Nelly could attack them was necessary for our mages to attack them. I could also throw the glowing stone the same way Luara did it during our fight with drakes. Maybe I should even buy more than one such bracelet. I should think more about it when we return to Grimsburg, decided I.


    - Good job, - told us Luara: - Didn''t know that you could use the Slow spell?


    - I learned it not so long ago. Wasn''t shore in my casting abilities yet. Besides I can at most affect only one monster, and no one stronger than this bull.


    - Understood. Still that''s very useful. Maybe I also should learn that spell.


    - You should, - I nodded: - It won''t hurt to have more members who can use magic.


    - Learning magic is easy, - added Nelly.


    - I will think about it.


    We crossed two more caverns and entered a long corridor when Luara ordered us to stop.


    - I hear something, - she closed her eyes and concentrated: - Wolfs howling.


    - Let me go first, - just as I switched places with Luara we all saw glowing eyes in front of us. Seven large figures entered the corridor. Giant monster wolves, at least three times bigger than their animal counterpart. Saliva was dripping from their mouths, and when it reached the ground, smoke rose from it.


    - Giant monster wolves. And be careful, their saliva seems to be an acid.


    - I can''t use my lightning spell her, - warned Nelly, - I need to be outside or in the place with very high ceiling.


    That was not good. Our main weapon was useless in here.


    - Nelly use your Fire ball spell and send if forwards. Myne use Slow spell when you see the wolves, - ordered Luara: - We need to retread to the cavern, where we will have more options.


    Nelly''s fire ball spell was currently our best magical source of light. We asked Nelly about spells that can create light, but only light magic spells could do that. Using light magic spells without light magic skill, was very dangerous. Someone with Sage''s job also could do that. Nelly''s next job could be a sage, but an archmage needed to reach level forty one, before her job change.


    Nelly''s fire ball flew towards the monster and burned the fur of the wolf monster. Myne used her Slow spell and we run towards the cavern. To my surprise wolves took their time coming after us. Instead of running towards us, they slowly approached and several of them howled.


    We reached the cavern and I guided as towards it''s middle. Cavern was middle seized, more than hundred meters across, with three exits or entrances, depending the way you saw it. We were approaching caverns middle, when I stopped.


    - What''s wrong? - asked Luara.


    - Dammit! It''s a trap, - from all three entrances came monster wolves: - We''re surrounded from three sides. No exit.


    - How many?


    - Seven behind us. Five left and six from the way we came before. There''s someone behind them.


    I noticed huge figure that followed the five wolves on our left side. The figure was more than two meters high, human shaped, but covered in smoke.


    - Wolf shepherd, - I turned pale. Wolf shepherd was low ranking dungeon guardian that used wolves as his minions. He was unique, since ordinary floor guardians were always alone, and other monsters tried to stay away from them. Wolf shepherd pointed his finger at us and wolves run forward. They surrounded us, running in circle around us.


    - Get ready. They will attack from all sides, - I warned and casted Haste spell on myself.


    Usually even monster wolves would act like animals, attacking their prey without any strategy, but Wolf shepherd could order them around, and according to Adventurer guild records, he showed some resemblance of intelligence. In a way that made him more dangerous, than other floor guardians, who only followed their instincts.


    - Nelly, Myne use you magic to protect and make us stronger. Then use Magic arrows. Trevor, Avone we will protect them.


    I nodded and exchanged my bow for the sword. We created a triangle with our mages in the middle. Shining barrier formed around Nelly, Myne and Trevor. That was Myne''s Shield barrier spell that could increase their defense from physical attacks. Myne advanced Earth magic skill allowed her to use the spell only on single species members of her party. Nelly used Haste spell on Trevor. I also used an opportunity and casted Slow spell on Wolf shepherd.


    As soon as my spell affected him, Wolf shepherd roared an order and wolves attacked us. To my surprise only six wolves went for us. Three attacked us directly, and three went for the gaps between us.


    I was not fast enough to use my Magic arrow and had to fight my opponent with my sword. I used technique that Gord taught me. He always said that leg work is just as important as my sword use. First step with your left leg north-west, then as soon as opponent attacking you half circle with right leg and then moving your upper body to avoid the attack and let your opponent get past you. At the same time I used my sword and with the diagonal slash to cut off monsters leg. Wolf-monster hauled and fell on the ground. Next, I turned my sword and cut off his head. Behind me wolfs head was blown up by Nelly''s Magic arrow.


    Luara also managed to kill her opponent by avoiding the attack and stabbing the wolf in the neck. Blood from the wound splashed at her, and catgirl slipped and fell on the ground. One of the wolfs tried to bite her, but Myne''s magic arrow killed him, and wolf''s body fell on the catgirl.


    Trevor also managed to kill one wolf. Then he attacked last wolf, but monster caught his sword with his teeth. Monsters acid-saliva got on the sword and wolf bitted through the sword, shattering it to pieces. Trevor stepped away, completely defenseless. I jumped at the wolf and showed my sword in monster heart. My Haste spell allowed me to move just fast enough to save Trevor''s life.


    Wolf shepherd laughed and then he put his hand in the air. He screamed something and the light from our glowing stones started to fade. Few moments later, complete darkness surrounded my friends. Myne screamed in surprise. Without light my friends were completely defenseless. Remaining wolfs surrounded us, and their hungry eyes turned towards their prey.


    Wolf shepherd lifted his head and loudly laughed. He knew that adventurers were completely defenseless without light. Fire ball spell could create some illumination, but it was short and was not fast moving. Behind me Nelly grabbed Myne''s hand, shaking in fear. Wolfs slowly stepped forward. They only awaited their masters command. Wolf shepherd took his time, he enjoyed adventurers fear and hopelessness.


    I was the only one who could do something. But I could not kill all wolves. I could not protect Nelly and others. Perhaps if I kill Wolf shepherd, his minions will run away? That''s the only chance. Wolfs surrounded as and between me and their master were only two wolfs. With my Haste spell still working I probably could get to floor guardian before the other wolfs would catch up. I gulped. That was suicide, but also our only chance. I took a deep breath and prepared Magic arrow spell.


    - Trevor, protect them! - I screamed and bolted forwards. Nelly screamed something trying to stop me, but I ignored her. I needed to concentrate on the monsters. Wolfs froze for a moment, surprised by my attack. I aimed in the gap between two wolfs. I released Magic arrow at the wolf on the left and his scull blew apart. While passing by the second wolf I slashed his neck, and blood came gushing out from the wound, but I was gone already. It happened so fast, that other wolfs did not even have time to react.


    Wolf shepherd stared at me with surprise. He was still affected by my Slow spell, and that combined with sudden attack prevented him from acting fast enough. He started to lift his hand, but it was too late. My sword pierced his heart and I slummed into him, throwing monster on the ground. I also fell on him, momentarily disoriented from the fall.


    Behind me light appeared and wolfs turned away from me. Luara managed to take out her magic lantern, which distracted the wolfs. It gave me time to stand up and prepare myself. I hoped that after their masters death, wolf will disappear or at least run away, but instead they acted according the monster instincts and attacked dungeon invaders.


    Three wolves attacked me, and the remaining seven went after my friends. Myne and Nelly used Slow spell, and first four wolfs speed slowed down. The remaining wolves that attacked them were already affected by the Slow spell, than Myne casted in the corridor. That increased Trevor''s and Luara''s chances of survival.


    Amongst my opponents only one wolf was under the Slow spell. That was not that good, but at least I needed to deal first only with two of the monsters. I jumped to the side, using wolf on the left side to shield me from second attacker. At the same time I attacked the wolf with horizontal slash. Wolf caught my sword with his teeth. His saliva splashed on my sword, and wolf tried to bite and break my sword. I was counting on that. Unlike Trevor''s sword, my could not be destroyed that easily. I used all my strength and turned the sword, braking wolf''s teeth and damaging his mouth. Then I hit him with my shoulder, throwing wounded monster on the ground. Second wolf run around him and jumped at me. I turned to face him and put my sword in front of me. Sword pierced his flesh, mortally wounding the monster. With his last move, wolf tried to rip me apart, but his claws, harmlessly slide over my chainmail. Wolf''s body hit me and threw me back. I fell on the ground and rolled to the side. Wounded wolf jumped on the spot that I was just on, but missed me by a hair. I only managed to get on my knee, and used my sword to attack from below. Sword sliced his neck, and blood gashed out and got in my eye. It stung, but I had no time to clean my eye. There was one more opponent left. I was still on my knee, when I saw the wolf. He just approached me. Wolf stopped, for a moment, and growled at me. Next moment he jumped, trying to think his teeth in my neck. My Haste spell wore off, but remaining wolf was still affected by the Slow spell. His movements were too slow. I rolled over my shoulder and stood up.


    Monster and me faced each other. Wolf growled again and jumped. The same attack, too predictable and too slow. Without Slow spell, he would be dangerous opponent, but now I was faster than him. Jump to the side, and slashing his neck, finished my last opponent.


    I robbed my eye, cleaning out the blood and blinked several times. At least only wolf''s saliva had acid like properties and not their blood. I looked at my friends. They killed their attackers. Luara had badly looking wound on her side, probably from wolfs claws, and Trevor had same acid burns. Myne''s protection spell did not protect him from acid, but at least he did not have any other wounds. Myne used healing potions on Luara''s wound, while Nelly was looking in the darkness. It looked like four of the wolves died from Magic arrows, while rest of them were killed by Trevor and Luara.


    - Avone! Where are you? - screamed Nelly.


    - I''m fine! Wolf shepherd and remaining wolves are dead. Be right there!Nelly exhaled in relief. I returned to my friends. Their glowing stones started slowly shining regaining their magic properties.


    - How did you kill the floor boss? - asked Nelly, after hugging me.


    - Got lucky. How is it? - I pointed at Luara''s wound.


    - It''s healing, - answered catgirl: - I''ll be fine. How about you?


    - Just few bruises. Nothing to worry about. How about you?


    - Nothing that healing potion won''t fix, - answered Trevor and took a vial from Myne. He sighed, grimaced and them drunk the potion. I could understand him. No matter how much we used them, those potions still tasted horrible.


    - Good. Then get to work and gather magic stones, while my wounds are healing. Don''t forget about wolf''s fangs and claws.


    I smirked and nodded. Trevor also got to work, cutting out wolf''s magic stones. Myne stayed with Luara, making shore her wound is healing properly, while Nelly stayed to protect them.


    I started with Wolf shepherd. My sword went close to the magic stone, but I got lucky, it pierced monster''s heart, but did not damage the magic stone. It was smaller, than the one I got from the lava worm, but was still big enough to be classified as magic gem. I also cut out wolves magic stones and cut off their fangs and claws. I was getting better at collecting monster materials, but far enough from being as good as Luara.


    By the time we were finished, Luara was already on her legs. Catgirl bended her body, and moved around, making shore that her wound had closed, and did not affect her mobility.


    - I think that it will be enough for today with floor five exploration, - said Luara and the rest of us agreed.


    On our way back we encountered few monster packs, but nothing as dangerous as floor guardian. We decided to take three days'' rest, after almost dying. Our mages were especially exhausted. Both Nelly and Myne had to cast their spells as fast as they could, which greatly exhausted their mental abilities. Our encounter with floor guardian, again showed us that we needed our mages to be in best shape, if we wanted to survive in the dungeon.


    After escorting Nelly, we went to the Adventurers guild, to sell our loot.


    - Before we sell our magic stones, I wanted to talk to you.


    Luara looked at me: - Sure. About what?


    - About the magic stone, that we got from the floor guardian. Will you mind if I sell it to someone directly. I might get a better price, definitely not lover one, that guild could offer us.


    Luara thought for a moment: - Such big stones are valuable. If you know someone who could give us more money, I think it''s a good idea. What about you?


    Myne nodded and Trevor also agreed.


    - I don''t mind. It''s not like we must sell to the guild all magic stones or monster materials that we get.


    I thanked them. Well, I kind of lied, when I said that I can get more money. The sage promised me the same amount that guild would pay, but I did mention that I will get the same amount that guild would pay. Besides this way we will not have to wait for guilds appraisal, which anyway would be done by the sage. I promised to get the money by tomorrow, but Luara said that I can give them their share before our next dungeon hunt. Myne and Trevor agreed. We earned enough money, so we could not worry about every coin. After visiting Adventurers guild we said our goodbyes and agreed to meet in three days.

 Chapter 15. Adamantium.

    Next day I visited the Sage, and shoved him the magic stone.


    - Like we agreed I brought you the magic gem. Well it should be classified as magic gem I hope.Tanot took the stone and happily smiled.


    - Oh, you managed get another one, and so fast. Let''s see, - he turned stone in his hands and looked at it from all sides: - Barely can be called as one, but yes, this is a magic gem. The smallest magic gem possible, from the weakest floor guardian. But you kept your part of the promise. Stone like that will bring you eighty gold coins. Not as good as the last one, but excellent for the rookie adventurer.


    I sighed. I expected more, but he was right. Wolf shepherd was kind of weak in comparison to lava worm. His wolf-monsters and intelligence made him such a danger, not his own strength.


    - Fine. Won''t get more from a guild anyway.


    - Probably less. They keep ten percent from the magic stone price as commission. How much you got for the first one?


    - Nine orichalcum coins.


    - I appraised it as costing ten. See you are having a profit. Don''t hesitate selling me more magic gems if you get any more.


    I nodded: - I''ll keep that in mind.


    Tanot left to another room and came back with the wallet.


    - Would you like to stay for the lunch?


    - Thank you, but I have a lot of things to do, before our next dungeon hunt. Maybe next time.


    - Next time it is, - smiled Tanot.


    On my way back to Grimsburg, I thought about my plans to hunt in a dungeon by myself. Encounter with floor guardian nearly wiped out our party. Without my Night vision skill and desperate attack, we probably would not survive. I needed some kind of ace up my sleeve, if I wanted go dungeon diving myself. I could hunt in upper levels, but it would bring me only small amount of coins, not the life force, that I was aiming for. If only I had my artifacts from the game. Dragon armor, Titan''s sword, Endless bag of gold, speed and strength increasing artifacts, Magic hat that allowed me to learn all elemental spells, regarding of their levels. Any of these artifacts would make me strong enough to have a chance of defeating a floor guardian by myself. But no such luck.


    Maybe blacksmith could give me an advice? I decided to visit Ashurga, and ask for his advice.


    Dwarf was working in the smithy, but came outside, when heard about my visit. He smiled at me, and, after usual greetings and teasing, listened to my question.


    - Hmm, - he stroked his beard: - In some bigger town, I would advise you to buy an artifact, but not many opportunities for that in Grimsburg. A most you can get a low level artifact or magic sword. But nothing that would give you big enough increase in power. How far have you gotten in the dungeon?


    - We managed to defeat floor five guardian. But barely, mostly if was luck no skill that allowed us to survive.


    - Floor five, ha. Not deep enough, but if you''re up to visiting floor six, I might have some idea.


    - What do you have in mind?


    - Dozen or so years ago, adventurers party got lucky and discovered adamantium on floor six. Magic ore you can find in blocks lying around, but adamantium is more tricky. It is hidden in dungeon walls and you need to mine it. I have a Mining skill. After adventurers found adamantium they discovered adamantium deposits. Because I''m a dwarf and have Mining skill I was invited as a part of expedition, who tried mining it. But we were attacked by floor guardian. We barely managed to escape and suffered heavy losses. Our mining expedition was cancelled. But I still have a map with adamantium location. After all these years dungeon could have changed, but the map would get us close enough. Centuries ago dwarves developed a spell called View earth. It can be used to find valuable resources inside the earth. Even inside the dungeon. Dwarves shared this spell with human mages. Well, traded it for some artifacts, as I heard. If one of your party members knows that spell or if you can learn it, we could mine adamantium.


    - We, old man?


    - I''m at level eight myself. And you will need tools and someone who actually knows something about mining adamantium. If we can get enough of it, in exchange for the half of it, I can forge armor and weapons for your party members. I am the only blacksmith in Grimsburg, who knows how to work with it, and you already know how good are my skills in the forge.


    - Not hesitate to brag, are you, - I teased.


    - Best weaponsmith in Grimsburg, - laughed dwarf, holding his belly.


    I thought for a while. That will not be good enough to hunt in the dungeon by myself, but our party strength would greatly increase with superior armor and weapons. And if we can convince Mage guild to allow Nelly accompany us in our mining attempt, we could just get a chance to actually get some adamantium.


    - I will need to talk to my party members.


    - Sure, you know where to find me. Not actually eager to go to the dungeon myself, but it will be worth the risk for me, if we actually get some adamantium. Not to mention that ore was big enough for couple of full knight armor sets.


    - I will let you know if we decide to go or not. By the way, do you know where I can buy a glowing stone and magic lantern?


    - Sure thing, there''s a shop in Grimsburg, that sells all kind of magic thingies. Go west two streets down and then turn left. Won''t miss it.


    I thanked the dwarf and followed his direction. The shop had huge glass windows, which was a sign of high status in Grimsburg. Glass was known to this world, but it was expensive and people had to order it to be delivered from the other towns.


    Above the door was inscription that said Magic tools and artifacts. Shop was filled with shells filled with all kind of stuff. All kind of stones bracelets rings, even daggers and other weapons. Shop owner was a middle age human. He smiled at me and waved his hand inviting me in.- Welcome adventurer, please come in. What can I help you with? We have best assortment of artifacts in Grimsburg.


    - I need a bracelet with glowing stone, or at least the glowing stones themselves.


    - Sure thing. Not long ago adventurers bought a lot of them. Went to the dungeon to stop monster stampede. So I have only two left. They cost one gold coin and five silvers. No glowing stones separately I''m afraid.


    - Good. I''ll take both. I will also need magic lantern and a warning crystal.


    - Oh, you''re a seasoned adventurer I see. It is always better to be prepared for everything. My I offer you a tent and fire crystals as well.


    - I won''t need a tent. But what are fire crystals?


    - They are special crystal made by alchemists. They burn hotter and longer than wood, perfect for someone who wants'' to go to the dungeon.


    - How much they cost?


    - Two silvers a piece. I know, a bit expensive, but I can assure you, they are worth it.


    Sounded like coal to me, but I decided to buy some anyway.


    - I''ll take ten on these fire crystals. By the way you have warning crystal, but do you have crystals that can create a barrier that can and actually protect the adventurers?


    - I have heard about such an artifacts. But they are expensive and custom made, by the sages who specialize in artifact making, from the best quality magic stones. I''m afraid I don''t have any.


    - I see. What about artifacts that can increase strength or speed?


    - I had boots, that could increase wearers speed, but sold them a while age. Don''t have anything that can increase your strength right now. How about a cuirass that will increase your defense stat by one?I looked at the cuirass, but it looked heavy, and such a small increase in defense was not worth it. I shook my head.


    - What''s that? - I pointed at piece of jewelry that looked like ferronni¨¨re like forehead-protector. It was made of a silver-like metal and had a black gem that gave off light sparks in its depths. It was the only artifact hidden inside glass box with a lock.


    - Oh. That''s the jewel of our shop. Also the jewel of our town. Years ago B rank adventurers party tried to conquer Grimsburg dungeon. They had more than a dozen adventurers in it. No one knows how deep they got, but only a single adventurer returned. He was half mad, and sold all his equipment and treasures that he brought back from the dungeon to my father. Then that adventurer drunk himself half to death and hanged himself. It''s a sad story, but also the beginning of this shop. Back them my father was just an simple merchant, but the artifacts and equipment that this adventurer sold him, allowed my father to create the most successful shop in Grimsburg. This headband was appraised by Sage Tanot as a powerful artifact. Back them he told my father, that his Appraisal skill wasn''t high enough to tell him the artifacts uses, but he said that it is worth more than an orichalcum coin. My father back then didn''t have enough money to take it to capitol for more detailed appraisal. So we keep it as an advertisement for our shop.


    I liked how it looked. Cool, silver-like with black gem.


    - Can I try it on?


    Shopkeeper looked at me suspiciously, and I took of my hood and smiled at him. Shopkeeper smiled back, cute female face did its job, and he nodded.


    - Why not, - he laughed: - It will look great on you.


    He took out the key and opened the box. He passed me the artifact and I took a closer look at it. Headband felt cool, and the metal felt light but sturdy. It reminded me of orichalcum. I put  it on, and shopkeeper brought me a mirror. I looked at myself. The forehead band-ferronni¨¨re looked good on me. The gem in the middle matched my dark eyes. It also could act as armor and prevented hair from falling into my eyes. I turned my head. It fitted me perfectly, maybe it just was my size or it was an artifact that adjusted its size to the wearer.


    - How much it costs?


    - I''m sorry, but it is not for sale. Like I said it just acts as advertisement for our shop. Beside we don''t even know what properties this artifact has. All I can tell you that it isn''t cursed.


    - I like it, I will pay you two orichalcum coins for all the things that I mentioned and this diadem-artifact.


    Shopkeeper gulped. I wandered if he ever saw an orichalcum coin in his life. This might be the most prominent artifact shop on Grimsburg, which wasn''t much, judging from his merchandise. I took out two orichalcum coins and turned them in my hand. Shopkeeper followed them with his eyes.


    - That is all the money that I have, but consider it as my whim. I am willing to give you all my money for this cute headband. You won''t refuse a girl? Will you? - I smiled at him and finally the greed and Avone''s charm did its job. Shopkeeper nodded, and then laughed.


    - Can''t say no to you miss. We have a deal, - he took the coins and pressed them to his chest: - Please come again if you want something.


    I packed my things and went outside. Maybe I just spend a lot of money on something useless to me, but for now I could afford it.


    I thought about the mining possibility. I decided that I should talk to Mage guild master first, and ask his opinion and permission to take Nelly with us. So first I must visit the Mage guild.


    Sally greeted me, and I asked her if I could talk to the guild master.


    - You want to talk to our guild master? May I ask what it''s about?


    - I want to ask his opinion about possible job that I want to take on. And ask his permission for Nelly to accompany us. Unless you can decide that?


    - N-no, you''re right. You need to talk about that to guild master. Please wait, I will found out if he has a time for you.


    Sally soon returned and invited me to follow her.


    - Guild master will see you, but make sure you are brief. He doesn''t have much time.I thanked her and Sally took me to Mesmer''s room. Guild master told me to take a seat, while Sally remained to stand behind me.


    - Sally mentioned, that you want to talk to me. You''re not worried about Nelly still not reaching level ten are you?


    I had to fight with myself again not to bow to the high elf. Mesmer seemed amused by this, but said nothing.


    - Yes, thank you for seeing me. No that''s not what I wanted to talk to you about After our later encounter with floor guardian in the dungeon I wanted to increase my party''s fighting abilities. So we could better protect Nelly, and make her leveling more efficient. The blacksmith, that I know, told me about abandoned adamantium mine on floor six. In exchange for our help in mining it, he promised us adamantium armor and weapons. But we can''t do that without Nelly. It''s not what we agreed upon, but if you allow Nelly to accompany us, we will let her keep part of our earnings.


    - Adamantium, hmm. I seem to remember the expedition to mine it. If my memory serves me right, blacksmith Ashurga was involved in it. He lacks skills to forge magic weapons, but probably is the only blacksmith in Grimsburg, who knows how to work with adamantium. This metal requires special treatment, even to melt it. Hmmm. It would be nice for Nelly to have an adamantium dagger or short sword. And you did manage to defeat floor guardian. But why are you alone here?


    - I wanted to know your opinion, before I talk to my party. If you decide that it is impossible, or too dangerous for Nelly, then I will abandon this idea. At least for a long time.


    - I see. You''re right to be careful, even entertaining this idea. But it could be worth the risk. Mostly for your party. I will allow it, but Mage guild will also take some of the adamantium, as payment for Nelly''s participation. But we will count it as your job of helping Nelly to increase her levels in exchange.


    - I think we can agree to that, as long as we get enough of it.


    - Yes, too small amount will be useless to us anyway. Talk to your party members. If they agree, then you have my permission to take Nelly to your little mining expedition.


    - Thank you, - I stood up and bowed to him: -  I will let Sally know about our decision.


    I still had three days, before I could talk to others. First I asked Sally if Nelly could use View earth spell. That was only level one spell and receptionist confirmed that Nelly already mastered it. Since I did not need to learn it, I asked Sally about another spell casting lesson. I spend two days learning Bless spell. It was water magic spell that at level one slightly increased strength. After increasing my speed, next was strength. No use of getting faster, if my attack was not strong enough to damage an opponent.


    My last rest day I spend for six hours practicing my sword play with Gord. I still had a lot to learn, and my instructor was still far better than me. In a real sword fight I would not stand a chance against him. After my sword lessons I used the leveling crystal. I managed to defeat the floor guardian and his minions, and hoped to jump two or three levels. Sadly I only increased one level, but to my surprise I had a new skill.


    Elf, LV 13 - LV 14


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:


    Health: 16;


    Mana: 120 - 130;


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Strength: 10;


    Defense: 6;


    Spell power: 7 - 8;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 6;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Archery (Advanced);


    Night vision (Advanced);


    Mana rapid recovery (Novice)


    New Possible skill acquirement:


    - Scouting (Novice);


    - Magic resistance (Novice);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    I had Mana rapid recovery. Possible because of my magic training, regularly using up my mana, again and again during my practice and fight with lava worm, I received this skill. It was not battle skill, but was useful, especially after I will increase it. Cannot say that I would have chosen it, but no chance to refuse it now.


    Among my usual choices were Scouting and Magic resistance. I decided to take Magic resistance, Scouting was not something that I needed at this point, and Magic resistance would increase my survival chances while fighting other spellcasters.


    The remaining part of the day I spend actually resting. Tomorrow I will have to convince my friends to go to the sixth floor, and risk their lives for possible benefits of adamantium weapons.


    * * *


    Next day like usual we met in Adventurers guild. Everyone seemed rested and ready to hunt.


    - I have good news, - I put three gold pouches on the table: - Each of us earned twenty gold coins for the Magic gem that we got from the floor guardian.


    - That''s great. We never earned so much money before, - Luara took the wallet and looked inside. She could not believe that we actually earned so much. After all just a month ago she earned silver coins, and was happy to receive them.


    - I also have something else to discuss to you. I received a job offer that I think you will be interested in. That also won''t interfere with our current job for Mage guild.


    - Really? What is it an from whom?


    - It''s an escort job to the dungeon. Local blacksmith wants'' to mine adamantium in floor six. We won''t get paid, but instead half of adamantium will be used to forge us equipment, for free. Usually adamantium armor and weapons would cost us orichalcum coin or even several. We will have to share with Nelly and Mage guild, but it will still count as our Nelly''s leveling job, while we mine adamantium.


    - Adamantium weapons? Really! - exclaimed Trevor: - My master told me that they are just as good as magic weapons.


    - That sounds good, but floor six? - thoughtfully said catgirl.


    - I doubt that there will be anything more dangerous than Wolf shepherd. And we need to get stronger to continue exploring the dungeon. Getting adamantium equipment will allow us to explore dungeons levels five and six even without Nelly.


    - They are nearly indestructible. Even if they don''t increase our stats, there is no better armor than the one made from pure adamantium, - agreed Myne: - And we can''t buy it in Grimsburg, not that we even would be able to afford it, even if it would be on sale.


    - You can sell it, after you don''t need it anymore, and earn enough for the rest of your days, - added Trevor.


    - It''s really so expensive? And you sure, that Mage guild won''t mind?


    - Yes. Guild master promised that we will have his blessing, if we decide to take the job.


    - Fine. When should we do that?


    - We can go for a test run now, if you all agree. I can go ask blacksmith if he can come with us, or at least get a map. And meet you at the gate, while you pick up Nelly.


    - Fine. If everyone is in agreement, - Luara looked at us, and we all nodded: - Then let''s give it a try.We all agreed and I went to Ashurga. Blacksmith was sitting in the shop, cleaning the mining gear.


    - Someone''s optimistic, - I smiled at him.


    - Couldn''t sleep or work. Dreamt about adamantium. So, what news do you bring?


    - Pack your thing old man. We''re going to the dungeon.


    Dwarf jumped up, and started shoving pickaxe and shovel inside the magic backpack.


    - Tom! - he screamed: - I''m leaving. Make sure you take care of the shop.


    Young apprentice came out from the back and stared at the dwarf.


    - You are really going to the dungeon and leaving me in charge. I thought you were joking.


    - No joke boy. Now help me to put on the chainmail, - Tom sighed and helped the dwarf to put on his chainmail. It was knees long with sleeves reaching down to Ashurga''s palms. He also put on the helmet and took a huge axe.


    - Hope, you didn''t forget food and water. You will need them just as much as weapons.


    - Packed all I will need, - dwarf clapped his backpack: - Memorized the map too. But taking it with me, just in case.


    - Fine. Ever fought a monster?


    - How do you think I reached level eight. No dwarf in the world, who can''t use an axe. Don''t worry about me laddy. Can take care of myself. Well maybe not against monsters past level two, but that''s way you''re coming.


    - Good, good. We are meting my party at the gate. You''ll owe us a lot of adamantium gear after that.


    - Can count on me. You be best armed adventurers party in Grimsburg. Don''t burn down the shop kid, - he looked at Tom, and after his apprentice nodded, we left the shop. Nelly and the rest of my party were already waiting. I introduced the rest of my party and the dwarf.


    - Thank you for agreeing to accompany me. If we find and get to mine adamantium, I promise you won''t regret your decision, - bowed Ashurga.


    - Do you know the location of the adamantium mine? I have maps, but only as far as floor five, - asked Luara.


    - I have a partial map of the floor, - nodded Ashurga. He searched his magic backpack and handed Luara his map: - The location that we seek is marked by a circle.Luara nodded and studied the map: - Can I keep it until we are done?


    - Sure. I don''t mind if you guide us. Last time I visited the dungeon many years ago, and my memories of its pathways are unreliable at best.


    Luara put the map inside her magic bag and we departed for the dungeon. Nelly curiously eyed the dwarf. Not many dwarfs visited Mage guild, and Ashurga might be the first dwarf that she ever saw.


    - Which one of you will cast View earth spell? - asked Ashurga.


    - Nelly will do it. You do know the spell, right?


    - Yes, - she answered: - I will need to refresh my memory, but I know the spell.


    - Have you ever used it to search adamantium? - asked the dwarf.


    - No. Only gold and silver.


    - Then we should practice a little first, - Ashurga took out small piece of metal and showed it to Nelly: - This is adamantium. Saved small piece of it, just in case. I will bury it in the ground and you use your spell. This way you will know how it feels inside the ground.


    Nelly nodded and Ashurga dig up a small hole. He buried the adamantium piece, while Nelly studied her grimoire.


    - All ready, - said the dwarf. Nelly nodded and closed her book. We all curiously watched her. Nelly got on one knee and closed her eyes. She put one hand on the ground and concentrated.


    - I can feel it. There, - she pointed at the adamantium: - It feels different than gold. But now that I know how it feels, I will be able to find it.


    - How far does your spell reach? - asked Luara. Ashurga dig out his adamantium and put it back inside his pocket. Nelly thought for a moment.


    - Around twenty meters, all around me.


    - That''s not much. Wouldn''t be useful without Ashurga''s map. But since we know an approximate location it will do. How many times can you cast this spell?


    - Many times. It requires less mana than Magic arrow, and my mana reserves have greatly increased lately.


    - Good, then, - nodded Luara: - That will make things easier.


    First four dungeon floors we crossed easily. We took the same route every time and barely encountered any monsters. We spend a night in dungeons fourth floor and after breakfast went down to floor five.


    We barely entered first cavern on floor five, when we were attacked by six cow sized lizards. They run at fast with all their speed, but thanks to my Night vision skill we had enough time to prepare. I casted my Slow spell on the last lizard, to make sure that all of them are affected. Nelly and Myne used their spells as soon as monsters entered their field of vision. I had time to prepare Magic arrow and used it to kill first lizard when it got close enough. Trevor and Luara faced next lizards and Ashurga also took first line and joined our front row fighters. Agile Luara got past her opponent and stabbed the lizard deep inside his eye. Trevor only managed to wound his opponent, but a blow from Ashurga''s axe split open lizards skull. Fourth lizard died from Nelly''s magic arrow, and Myne killed next one. I told my party members to retreat, and left last lizard to Nelly. I through one of my bracelets with glowing stone, and last lizard affected by my Slow spell entered it light circle. Nelly used her Lightning spell and lizard fell on the ground, with smoke coming of its skin.


    - Impressive, -  nodded Ashurga: - With you skills we just might succeed in mining adamantium.


    - We need to thank Nelly for her help, - I stroked her hair: - Without our archmage we wouldn''t be here.


    - She''s an impressive spellcaster, - agreed Ashurga: - But your mage isn''t far behind her.


    - I have more experience, but lack her skills and spell casting speed. Not to mention ,that I can use far less spells than Nelly, and even those that I can use aren''t as powerful as Nelly''s.


    - You saved our lives plenty of times, - disagreed Luara: - Give it time and you will became just as powerful as Nelly.


    - I hope so.


    We gathered magic stones and continued our path. We encountered monsters seven more times before we reached floor six. Ashurga turned out to be an asset to our party. Among us he had a lowest level and was even slower than Nelly, but physically was stronger than the rest of us. He killed several monsters using his axe. Ordinarily he would have hard time dealing with them, but Slow spell gave him just the advantage that he needed.


    Floor six looked the same as floor five. Dark corridors and caverns, with no sign of light anywhere.


    - Floor six is the deepest one that according to our records Grimsburd adventurers ever reached. It''s not well known, but as far as I heard monster here hunt mostly alone, and as such are stronger than the ones on the upper floors, - warned as Luara.


    - Well if Nelly''s lightning spell will be able to kill them, it could be better for us. Let''s try using our new strategy, - I offered: - If I saw one I will use my slow spell on it and then through my glowing stone near it. Then Nelly will kill it with her spell.


    - I''ll try, - said Nelly, but her voice cracked a little.


    - Don''t worry, even if don''t get them, we will use our sword to deal with them, - I squeezed Nelly''s hand, and she nodded.


    - I will do my best.


    - Fine by me, - agreed Luara: - The less danger we are in the better. Remember this time our mission is mining adamantium, not hunting. Keep that in mind.


    Luara took out Ashurga''s map, and after studying it, led us towards left corridor.


    Our new strategy worked as planned. We encountered four monsters, two bulls covered in thorns, fire breathing bear and huge snake, with two heads, but they all died, killed by Nelly''s lightning. On the snake Nelly needed to use her Lightning spell twice, but it also died from the second attack. We collected their magic stones and valuable monster materials. Even if we do not get adamantium we will earn a lot of money during this quest.


    Finally we reached the last cavern before our destination, and Luara decided to rest for a while. The rest of us were fine, but Nelly felt a little exhausted after using her spells so many times, and our leader noticed that. We all ate some lunch, and when Luara decided that Nelly rested enough, we continued our path. We passed the corridor and Luara looked around:


    - Does this place look familiar? - she asked the dwarf.- All caverns look the same to me, - shrugged the dwarf.- Fair enough. Nelly it''s up to you next.


    - Got it, - Nelly kneeled down and after placing her hand on the ground concentrated on her spell: - Nothing, - she sighed.


    - Don''t worry. It''s a big cavern. Luckily it is empty, so take your time, - I informed her, and Nelly nodded. We circled the cavern and after her eight attempt Nelly finally found something.


    - I sense it over there she pointed at the wall. Several meters deeper inside the wall.


    - Well, it''s time for me to get to work. Monsters don''t attack from the walls, so watch my back.


    Dwarf took off his back pack and took out his instruments.


    - Sorry, but we won''t be able to help you, - warned Luara: - We will need our strength in case of monsters attack.


    - I wasn''t counting on it. That''s why you need someone with mining skill, to get the job done, alone and fast.


    Dwarf took out four magic lanterns and place them on the cavern''s floor. One near his work place, and three in semicircle around it. His lanterns gave more light than the one that Luara had. They were twice as big and illuminated almost half of cavern.


    - Loud noise will attract all nearby monsters, this will help you.


    - That''s a good idea, - said impressed Luara.


    - Old dungeon mining trick.


    We  positioned ourselves closer to lanterns. Trevor and Luara on the side, me in the middle and our mages between us.


    - If you see a monster, don''t wait for my order. Kill them as fast as you can, - warned Luara: - You probably won''t hear my voice anyway so watch the entrances. Myne, Avone use your Slow spell first, Nelly start with Lightning spell. If either of you use up half of your mana immediately drink the mana potion. Nelly how many mana potions do you have?


    - I have six with me.


    - Good. We have five. We will leave as soon as we have only four of them left. Could need them on our way back. No need to risk. Myne, give Avone two of the potions.


    Myne nodded and handed me over two of the mana potions, that Luara bought for our party''s use. Probably Myne, just like me had her own mana potions, but these were our party''s common possessions, that Luara bought using our party''s earnings.


    I put the potions inside my magic bag and looked around. There were three entrance in the cavern, and only one of them was illuminated by Ashurga''s lantern.


    - Luara do you still have your lantern? - I asked.


    - Yes.


    - I have one as well. Let''s put them close to the corridors that way you will also see if anyone comes inside.


    - Good idea, - agreed catgirl, and we placed two lanterns on the sides of the corridors. That way we will see the intruders, but they won''t destroy our sources of light, by stepping on them, while entering the cavern.


    Dwarf swung his pickaxe and got to work. He used pick axe to break away pieces of rock and them used his shovel to clean his workplace and gather the broken rock farther away near the wall.


    Soon after he started working, first monster came out of the left entrance. It looked like a sabre-toothed tiger, but with six legs. My Slow spell and Myne''s affected him almost at the same time. Next was Nelly''s lightning. Monster howled and fell on the ground. His fur caught on fire in places and blood came out of his mouth. Monster was still alive and tried to crawl towards us, but second Lightning spell finished the monster. After that several more tiger like monster appeared, but they all died the same way.


    After an hour Ashurga took a break. He made more that a meter deep humans sized hole in the wall. After four monsters were killed, no one else appeared, and Luara decided that we should be safe at least for a while.


    - Trevor you will help the blacksmith. You and me will work in shifts, helping with mining. Myne, Nelly you also take a break. Avone you will be on the lookout, then Myne will replace you. Nelly your job is to kill monsters, rest in the meantime. Ashurga, how much time will you need to mine the adamantium?


    - Two or three days to determine how big adamantium deposits are here. Next time we will need somewhere between five to eight days to mine it. And archmage will have to help out locating it.


    - What about the dungeon. Won''t it repair the hole, that you made?


    - Once we leave the mine will disappear in three days or a week. Difficult to say. Depending on how long we will be gone, or how long the dungeon will restore itself, we may need to star from the beginning.


    - I see. So two days to come here, two more days to leave, and eight here. We will need supplies for at least twelve days. What about adamantium? Will we be able to take all of it with us?


    - I may need to use your magic bags, depending on the amount. But the longer we stay, the more food we eat, and the emptier our magic bags will get. That won''t be a problem. But we will need to replace magic stones in our lanterns. My should be good for four days or so, but for our next trip I will need to bring some more magic stones. Probably you will need too. Yours are not so bright, so magic stones in them last for weeks at a time, but better to be safe.


    - I see. I didn''t think about it. We will do that. But we only have supplies for four days. Six if we ration them. So we will leave in two days. We will need to work fast.


    - Do, as you say. Well with your help work will be going faster.


    Ashurga stood up and resumed his work. He used pickaxe to break the stones, while Trevor cleaned the rubble. After an hour, Luara replaced Trevor. Dwarf worked for three hours before taking a rest. He continued his work for the rest of the day and found three fist sized adamantium pieces. Unlike iron adamantium did not needed extraction from the ore. Adamantium solidified in blocks inside dungeon walls, and mining consisted of removing such blocks from dungeon walls. Adamantium mines were places where such blocks were in abundance and were rear, and very valuable.


    During our first day we were attacked only by one monster pack of fire breathing wolves. But we managed to kill them, mostly using Magic arrows. Trevor got burned by one of the wolves, but Nelly and me healed him using Cure spell. During the night we used warning crystal, but one of us, except Nelly and Ashurga, also stayed on guard. We were attacked once by horned bear, but killed it, just like the other monsters.


    Next day, once the hole inside a wall was big enough, Nelly used her View earth spell, and found more adamantium hidden inside the dungeon wall. Before that she could not locate it, because of all the rock in front of it.


    - Look likes we got lucky, - smiled Ashurga: - We should continue our work, but next time we return, we should count on at least eight days, that we will need to extract all of it.


    Dungeon walls were made mostly of hard rock, and thanks to that Ashurga did not need to build support for the walls, which made mining in the dungeon more convenient.


    The previous night went by without any monster attacks. Probably we already killed all monsters in the area. I helped with excavation, while Myne stayed on guard duty. Nelly''s job was casting her spell and guiding as towards closest adamantium chunks. Dwarf gave Trevor his spare pickaxe, and Luara and me gathered pieces of broken rock and carried it farther away. It turned out to be hard word, and soon my all body hurt, after unfamiliar work.


    Buy the end of the second day, even if we divided adamantium by two, we had enough for some armor and couple of swords. Our mining operation was success.


    Our food supplies were running thin, and on the third day, Luara ordered us to pack up. Ashurga looked at the dungeon wall and sighed. He wanted to continue, but common sense prevailed and he followed orders.


    We exited floor six without encountering any monsters and only had to fight our way out after reaching fifth floor. We used our usual strategies, and two days later finally exited the dungeon.


    - How can something that big exist under the ground, - sighed Trevor, after finally seeing sunlight and the sky. This was our longest dungeon dive, and we all felt more tired than usually.


    - Some scholars from the old days, theorized that there are two types of dungeons. Small ones that occur in the ruins and places where people buried their dead. Those dungeons don''t have floors, and almost all monsters in there are undead, and big ones like the Grimsburg dungeon, - explained Nelly: - They theorized that big, or underground dungeons actually exist inside pocket dimensions that we enter after going past caves, that we call dungeon entrances. That theory was proven by one of the nobles, who ordered to dig above the place were first floor should have been located. Even after weeks of digging, they never find the dungeons first floor, even if the common sense told them that they are in the right place. That''s why all underground dungeons also have only one entrance.


    That explained a lot. I also wandered how such huge places like dungeons could exist, but if they were inside different dimension, it explained many things.


    - What''s a pocket-dimension? - asked Luara.


    - Mmm, they are similar to your magic bag. Places that inside are much, much bigger than they look from outside. My masters told me that it is the best explanation that people can understand.


    - I see. That''s interesting. Never thought about that myself.


    - Neither did I, - agreed Myne.


    Trevor and Ashurga also seem to be interested.


    - Are magic bags small dungeons then? - asked Trevor.


    - No. Dungeons have dungeon cores in the middle of them or on the deepest floor. But magic bags are created either as an artifacts, by dungeon magic, or by Sages who enchant them to be bigger on the inside. Magic bags don''t have magic cores and don''t create monsters inside them.


    - I see. That''s good, - answered relieved Trevor: - Don''t want a monster jumping out of the magic bag, when I finally buy one.


    We all laughed and in a better mood returned to Grimsburg. We decided to take three days'' rest, to let our mages rest and better prepare for our next dungeon mission.

 Chapter 16. Mining job.

    I spend first two days to learn Stone skin spell. That spell increase body''s defense and acted as full body armor. After I mastered the spell Sally informed me that Nelly finally reached level ten and her Water magic skill was at advanced level. That was good news for Nelly, but also meant that soon our dungeon visits with Nelly will come to an end.


    During third day I bought several replacement magic stones for my magic lantern in the Magic tools and artifacts shop and shopkeeper taught me how to replace them. Then I spend some time sparring with Gord, bought enough food for twelve days, along with additional water canteens, and finally took some rest buy lazing in my bed.


    Next morning we picked up Nelly and met with Ashurga at the gate. We used our usual strategies and reached level six. Nelly lightning spell made fighting strong monsters easy for us, and also helped her to increase her levels faster than we thought possible.


    Tracks left by our mining, were almost gone. All the rubble disappeared and new corridor created buy Ashurga was now only a small hole inside caverns wall.


    - Well, I hoped it would be better, but nothing can be done about that, - sighed weaponsmith, and got to work. We again placed lanterns around the cavern, and spend first hour waiting for monster attack. After a single horned bear, Luara relaxed, and we again started helping the dwarf with adamantium extraction. After first three days, I slowly started getting used to mining work, and my back didn''t hurt as much as in the beginning. Still I used cure spell at least once a day, to help with my muscle pain. Elves weren''t born for such hard work.


    Monster attacks were rear, and after fourth day only once in two days. Small mountain of rubble was located on the left side of the cavern. We dug almost twelve meters deep inside the wall and then created several branching corridors, guided by Nelly''s spell. We needed seven days to extract all adamantium. It was more than I expected, and after Ashurga''s backpack was full, we placed the rest in my magic bag. Ashurga''s lanterns used up their magic stones and he needed to use up two replacements stones. My lantern and Luara''s also faded by the end of our mining, and we replaced magic stones in them. Ashurga broke two of his pickaxes and we broke one shovel, but experienced dwarf had enough spares.


    We finished one day earlier than we expected, and still had some spare food supplies. Luara decided that we should rest for the end of the day and leave the dungeon next morning. Night ended peacefully and we gathered our things. Everyone was in good mood. Nelly managed to kill many monsters and probably will greatly level up, and we also succeeded in mining a lot of adamantium. All that was left was leaving the dungeon, and them waiting for our adamantium equipment.


    We were on our way to leave the floor six and entered one of the caverns. It was almost two hundred meters across and had four entrances, on all sides of it. We entered from the south and needed to exit through north exit. On caverns left side I noticed several monster shaped rocks. I didn''t remember seeing them, but decided that they were probably some fallen stalactites. I doubled my caution, just in case, and when we reached the middle of the cavern noticed a monster exiting left corridor.


    - Monster, left side, - I warned others and used my Slow spell. To my surprise the monster''s speed did not change: - My Slow spell didn''t work. Nelly get ready your Lightning spell and act fast.


    I took out my glowing stone bracelet and just in case casted Haste spell on myself. Since my Slow spell did not work, it probably meant that we were dealing with high level monster.


    I threw my bracelet and it landed near the monster. Next moment lightning struck it. Electric sparks run through him and monster slowed down. Its head caught on fire, but soon flames disappeared. Monster released crowing sound and we all froze in fear.


    It was a cockatrice. Two legged dragon like monster with bat wings and rooster''s neck and head, that was covered with feathers, while rest of his body was covered with grey skin. That was a floor guardian, who could turn to stone other monsters and adventurers just by looking at them. Monster''s head and body had nasty looking burn scars on it, left by Nelly''s spell. Cockatrice shook his head and looked at Nelly. She tried to use another spell, but her left arm started turning to stone. She had moments left before her heart would petrify, which would meant certain death. I acted without thinking. I run back to the corridor that we exited and released my arrow.


    Arrow hit monsters neck. It did not pierce his feathers, but distracted monster from Nelly. Cockatrice looked at me and my second arrow hit his stomach. This time it pierced his skin, and a drop of blood went down his body.


    Cockatrice angrily crowed and started running after me.


    - Get out of here! - I screamed: - I will distract it!


    Myne managed to cast a Slow spell, and I had to keep shooting to keep monsters'' attention at me. I led cockatrice into the corridor behind me, hoping that Luara bought potion that had anti-petrifaction properties. Cockatrice angrily squeaked and run after me. I am still running, and he did not turned me to stone. So he needed to stop and concentrate his vision. That is good. I needed to blind him, or wound him bad enough for me to escape. Myne''s spells were stronger than mine and her Slow spell gave me an advantage. I exchanged my quiver for the one with orichalcum arrows, and took out the bracelet with glowing stone.


    I run inside the next cavern and turned left of the entrance. At the same time I threw bracelet forwards and a little right. I hoped that light will attract monsters attention, otherwise I will be doomed. I still have some time so I drunk the anti-petrifaction potion. Unlike the healing potion, it had to be poured over petrified part of the body and wouldn''t help if I would drink it, so I did not swallow it. I prepared my Magic arrow and next moment cockatrice came inside the cavern. Floor guardian noticed the light and moved towards it to investigate.


    I used my Magic arrow and wounded its leg. Wound was not deep, bet damaged monsters leg and blood run down from few centimeters deep hole in its thigh. Cockatrice chirped and turned around. Floor guardian noticed me and concentrated his gaze. He stood still and that was my chance, I aimed at him and released my arrow. My Archery skill improved my aim and orichalcum arrow went right inside monsters eye. Cockatrice chirped in pain and shook his head.


    I felt pain in my chest and spat out potion from my mouth. My close and skin were already turned to stone, but potion worked and grey-stone color disappeared. I fell on my knees. My Hast spell wore off and I was in no shape to move. I drunk healing potion. It helped and I stood up.


    Wounded cockatrice run towards me. It was too close to corridor that we came from, and I run towards second closest exit. It was not the one that we used before, but corridor, that led to our mine, was behind the monster. Cockatrice followed me. I run much faster than part rooster part dragon monster, but then Myne''s Slow spell stopped working. Cockatrice started getting closer and I casted my Haste spell again. It helped and I managed to maintain the distance between us. I prepared my Magic arrow and one more orichalcum arrow. As I reached the entrance to the corridor I turned around and used both of my arrows aiming at monster wounded led. Both arrows wounded monster leg, and more blood came out of his wounds. I noticed that first leg wound was not healing. That was good, as long as cockatrice was not regenerating I had a chance. Floor guardian stopped and concentrated his eye on me, but I was already gone inside the corridor. Corridor was almost four hundred meters long. I continued running until I reached the exit. Then I again turned around and used my Magic and orichalcum arrows aiming at monsters leg. Two more wounds, retreat to the cavern and running towards the next corridor. I drunk stamina potion and repeated this cycle four more time, casting Haste spell one more time, as soon as it wore off. Finally cockatrice''s leg gave in and rooster headed monster fell on the ground. Cockatrice flapped his wings, but was not able to get up. I took out my last anti-petrifaction potion and poured it in my mouth, while continuing my run, this time towards the cockatrice. I stayed on its blind side and managed to prepare Magic arrow spell when he finally noticed me. Cockatrice concentrated his gaze, but I was close enough and guided my Magic arrow towards its remaining eye. Just like last time out attacks overlapped. I started to petrify, but my spell took out monsters eye. I again spat out the potion and petrifaction disappeared.


    Cockatrice chirped in pain. Huge bloody hole was in the place where its right eye used to be. I drunk one more healing potion and approached the monster. I took out mana potion and prepared Magic arrow. My spell hit monster''s head. Monster chirped in pain again and started crawling towards me. I drunk mana potion and continued using my Magic arrows. Dozen spells later cockatrice''s head was bloody mess. Floor guardian was dead. It laid on the ground with blood coming out of the remainders of its head.


    I vomited. That was most ruthless thing that I ever did. But it was either me or the monster and I made my choice long ago. Survival above all. All the arrows that I used to shoot the monster were broken, so I had only six orichalcum arrows left. I replaced them with my regular arrows. No use using orichalcum arrows on regular monsters.


    I lay down on the ground and rested for a while. I needed to get back, but had no strength left for it. Finally I stood up and took out my sword. I still needed to collect the magic stone and monster materials, and also to cut out my arrowheads.


    * * *


    Luara watched as petrifaction tracks disappeared from Nelly''s body, after Myne used the potion. Nelly fell on the ground, holding her chest and coughing. Myne gave her healing potion and the girl was able to sit down. Trevor picked up Avone''s glowing stone bracelet and out it on his hand. He came back and looked at Nelly. Girl was sitting on the ground. She was pail and even after drinking healing potion, was heavily breathing.- How are you feeling? - asked Myne.- Thank you, - I''m better: - What happened to that monster?Myne averted her eyes: - It followed Avone. She distracted the Cockatrice to save you.


    - A cockatrice! Floor guardian? We must save Avone!


    Dwarf scratched his cheek: - I doubt that Avone will choose unfamiliar route. She will probably go back to the mine, trying to run away from the monster.


    - How many anti-petrifaction potions we have? - asked Luara.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Myne took a look inside her magic bag.


    - Only one left, - she shook her head.


    - I also have one, - said Nelly and took out her potion to show the others.


    Luara hesitated. Nelly''s most powerful spell, only slowed down the monster and barely wounded it. But she also did not like the idea of abandoning her party member.


    - Fine, - she finally decided. We will go back to the mine. Myne, Nelly, if we run into the monster use the Slow spell and then destroy his eyes using Magic arrows or Fire ball.


    Luara took the lead, carefully listening to any sound. Without Avone her sense of smell and hearing where the only way''s to receive advance warning of coming monsters. The main problem was that Cockatrice could use its petrifaction gaze before they would see it. Catgirl hoped that two potions will be enough, or one of them or several will die.


    They found Avone''s second glowing stone bracelet. Luara put in inside her magic bag, not knowing that bracelets could have acted as road signs to Avone.


    Catgirl found blood tracks, but could not tell if they belonged to cockatrice or Avone.


    - One of them is wounded, - she showed blood tracks to the others.


    - Let''s hope that blood belongs to the monster, - said Ashurga.


    Nelly paled and squeezed her staff. They returned to the mine, but did not find neither Avone or cockatrice.


    - Maybe she continued running? - asked Myne.


    Luara looked around. There were two unexplored exits. The problem was that they did not know which one to choose.


    - Lets check the nearest caverns, - decided catgirl. They checked four more caverns, two on the both sides, but did not find anything.


    - Maybe she run inside one of the cavers that we passed on our way here? - dwarf shook his head. Every cavern had at least one exit, sometimes even five or six. Walking around blindly was almost useless. In forest Luara could track Avone or cockatrice, but cavern''s rocky ground did not leave any tracks.


    - Let''s check nearest caverns, that we passed. Maybe we will found more blood or at least some tracks, - Luara started to feel desperate. The more time passed, the less chances of finding Avone alive they had.


    They checked nearest caverns, but failed to locate Avone.


    Inside the sixth cavern something flew from above and grabbed Trevor. Giant bat grabbed adventurer in its claws and flew towards the ceiling. Trevor tried to struggle, but dropped his sword. He took out his dagger and stabbed monsters leg. Bat-monster shuddered and released Trevor. He fell on the ground and screamed in pain. Trevor fell on its legs and broke one of them.


    Bat-monster turned around in the sky and went after defenseless adventurer. His companions were running towards him. Myne and Nelly casted Magic arrows, and damaged bats  wings. Monster silently fell on the ground. Luara heard its bones breaking, but monster managed to get up and turned towards them, baring his fangs. Nelly casted Lightning and monster blew apart.


    Luara sighed in relief. They got lucky that bat went after Trevor first. His chainmail was damaged, but it at least partially protected him, when monster''s claws grabbed him. For female party''s members such grip could have been deadly.


    Myne had to use three healing potions, until Trevor''s broken leg and wounds finally healed.


    - We need to return, - said Luara. She did not want to do that, but as a party leader, she was responsible for all their lives.


    - No we can''t! - screamed Nelly, she started crying, and Myne hugged the girl.


    - If anyone can survive in her, then it''s Avone, - said Ashurga: - Her Night vision skill gives her advantage, that we don''t have. It will be hard enough for us to return without her. Walking blindly around the dungeon will get us killed.


    - He is right, - agreed Luara: - You''ll see. She probably is already on her way back, after running away from the cockatrice, and will be waiting us in adventurers guild, wandering why it took us so long to return.


    - You think so, - Nelly wiped her nose, and hopefully looked at Luara.


    - You''ll see. You have no idea how tough she is, and what adventures she already survived.


    - Dragon slayers don''t die easily, - agreed Ashurga.


    Nelly calmed down a little and they turned towards the exit. On her way out of the cavern, Luara looked back. No matter how strong and skilled Avone was, she was alone on floor six. Deepest explored floor, that only strongest adventurer parties in Grimsburg dared to enter.


    * * *


    I was lost. While running away from the floor guardian I choose first cavern exits that I saw, and on my way back, I must have chosen a wrong corridor.


    That was bad. I had enough food for three day, but needed at least two to get outside. By rationing the food I could survive for six days. Well if I do not get outside by then I will be dead anyway. Bright side, I did not need to worry about food and water.


    I had maps for floors one to five, but Adventurers guild did not have any detailed maps for floor six. While we were excavating adamantium, I studied Ashurga''s map, and was sure, that I will be able to find my way back, if I can find our mining spot, or the cave where cockatrice attacked us. I could recognize that cavern, by the monster statues that cockatrice left behind. But first I will need to find them.


    I tried to remember which corridors I chose while running away from that lizard-bird. Was it left, right and left. Or was it left, right and right again. No cannot remember. I was too occupied by running away and preparing my spells and arrows.


    In a stories, that I read, adventurers would make markings on the walls, but in the dungeon, such markings would disappear within an hour. There was also nothing that I could left, to mark the corridors that I passed. Guess I will have to do it old fashion way, by drawing the map. Well, I had nothing to write with, even if I had some pieces of paper, that I kept after buying the in Mage guild for drawing practices. So I will have to rely on my memory and make a mental map. I sighed. My memory was not that good. But since I will not have to explore the whole sixth floor, but only nearest caverns, it will have to be good enough.


    I started my exploration, trying to remember all the caverns and the passages that I explore. I inspected already four caverns, when I noticed sixth legged saber tooth tiger sleeping in the next cavern. I considered killing it, but I had no idea how effective my Magic arrow will be against floor six monsters. All of them were killed by Nelly, using her Lightning spell. Not running few experiments, was a mistake that I never predicted.


    I silently retreated. This was wrong cavern anyway, so no use to risk my life. But on the other hand it was a perfect chance for the experiment. I casted Haste and Bless spells on myself, and then silently went back. Tiger-monster was still sleeping, so I casted Slow spell on him. Monster woke up after sensing the spell. He looked around and started running towards me. I had enough time to use may regular and Magic arrow. Steel arrow barely pierced his skin, but magic arrow blew off his right leg. I took out my sword and attacked monster from wounded side. His skin was tough and protected him better than leather armor, but with my increased strength and superior sword it was not more that regular cat skin for me.


    My sword left a deep wound in monster shoulder. Tiger roared in pain and tried to jump back. It''s movements were slowed by his wounds and my spell, and were easy for me to follow. I jumped after him and used an opportunity to cut off his middle leg. Tiger roared again and fell on his side. I jumped back, closely watching him. Monster tried to crawl towards me, but was barely able to move. I used Magic arrow and aimed it at his head. My attack spell left deep wound in his head, but not a deadly one. One of his eyes was destroyed and blood run down its neck. I needed to use three more spells before saber toothed tiger finally died.


    I sighed in relief. At least I could deal with level six monster by myself. A pack of these monsters would definitely kill me, but such strong monster ordinarily hunted alone in this floor. I collected monster''s huge fangs and magic stone and continued with my exploration. I killed a horned bear monster, and explored eight more caverns, when I started to feel tired and decided to rest. I forced myself to eat and took a short nap. I had no idea how much time passed and if was day or night. I continued my mental mapping and six more caverns later I finally got lucky and found the cavern with petrified monster statues.


    Finally success! Guess the noise from our mining attracted all nearby monsters and I was able to explore nearby caverns without any more monster encounters. And now that I knew my location way outside was closer to me than before. I used the same route that my party used several times before. On my way I found several monster corpses. That meant that the rest of my friends survived and were on their way out. That was good. First they were alive and second, they cleared the path in front of them. That was easier for them, thanks to their number and presence of magicians with superior spells and magic skills. All I had to do was follow them, and not to get lost again. Several times I confirmed with my maps, to make sure, that I am going the right way.


    I considered going without any sleep, but decided against it. Magic required clear mind and exhausted mages mentally, it needed ability to concentrate, just as it needed mana. So I spend night in the dungeon. I used my warning crystal and hide near to one of the walls in the fourth floor. I wrapped myself in my cloak and had a restless sleep. Several times I woke up during my sleep, but felt too sleepy and, after making sure that I was alone, I continued sleeping.


    I woke up again, but this time noticed some shadows entering the cavern. Monster-wolves. Monsters that were little bigger than their animal counterparts and had spikes going down their spines. I almost jumped up, but managed to stay quit. The pack had six monsters in it. More than enough to kill me if I make a single mistake.


    They did not noticed me yet, but were clearly following me. Their noses were close to the ground and they followed my exact footsteps. I had a little time, and had to use it as best I could. My Slow spell could only slow down one of the monsters. I was jealous of Myne who could use her spell to affect all the monsters at the same time. More than that, my spell only slowed the monster down a little, and did not work on stronger monsters, while Myne''s spell reduced even strong monsters speed by half. If I will get out alive I will definitely need to go to Magic academy and learn Earth magic skill.


    Instead I used Haste and Bless spells on myself. Wolves finally noticed me and I jumped up and grabbed my bow. I managed to shoot twice and wounded two wolves. When they got closer I used Magic arrow to kill one of the monsters and took out my sword and dagger. Instead of waiting this time I attacked myself. I cut one of the wolves and used my dagger to hit the second wolf, who tried to bite me. I used the dagger to hit the monster from below his mouth and blade went directly into his brain.


    I had no time to take out the dagger and had to jump aside to avoid next attack. I used horizontal slash and cut off half of the wolf''s head. Two monsters left.


    One of them managed to sneak up on me and bitted my leg. His teeth went through my boot and into my flesh.


    I grit my teeth and showed my sword into his back, right into wolf''s heart. Remaining monster jumped at me and I grabbed his head trying to pull him away from me. I fell on the ground with wolf on top of me. Wolf''s jaws clapped next to my nose. Thanks to my increased strength stats I managed to keep him away. I changed my grip and grabbed his neck. Wolf struggled, but I was stronger than him. I slowly started strangling him. Monster tried to rip me apart using his front legs, but his claws slid down my chainmail.


    Wolf''s started to run out of air and tried to get back from me. That was exactly what I wanted. My Magic arrow spell was already ready and as soon as wolf jumped back, I used it to blow apart his head. Blood gushed from his neck and covered my body. Wolf''s body fell on my legs and I pushed him away. My leg was badly wounded, but my boots at least partially protected me. Wolf''s jaws were strong enough to broke my bones without them. I used most of my mana on Cure spell, but managed to heal myself. I needed time to restore my mana, since I wanted to keep my mana potions for an emergencies. I used the time to collect wolves magic stones. Thanks to my Mana rapid recovery skill my magic points restored faster than before, so soon I decided that I am ready to go.


    Rest of my way went easier. I encountered only few weak monsters and managed to reach the exit from the dungeon after midnight. My mining job and second solo adventure in the dungeon was finally over.

 Chapter 17. Adamantium weapons.

    After I returned to Grimsburg, I found out that my party members also successfully returned. Without me it was much harder for them to get out, and they suffered several life threatening injuries, from monster surprise attacks. Without my warnings, mages did not have enough time to prepare their spells, and Trevor, Ashurga and Luara, had to literally risk their lives protecting Nelly and Myne, in order to buy them time for spellcasting. They used up their healing potions, but at least managed to get out of the dungeon alive.


    I did not want anyone to know, that I managed to kill a floor guardian all by myself, so I told everyone that I managed to run away from the cockatrice, and get lost while doing so. Running away from the floor guardian and getting out of the dungeon, was heroic deed on its own, and I did not want any more attention. I also decided to keep cockatrice''s magic gem as my savings for emergencies.


    I visited Mage guild, and, as soon as she saw me, Nelly run to me and hugged  as strong as she could. She was crying in relief, and I needed a lot of time to calm her down and convince her that leaving the dungeon was a right decision. After all that was exactly what I wanted them to do.


    Sally told me that Nelly reached level thirteen, and obtained basic Wisdom skill. Young girl wanted to go to dungeon to look for me, and guild master had hard time ordering and convincing her, not to do something that reckless. Nelly doubled her magic lessons, to make sure, that next time, she can use powerful enough spells to kill even a floor guardian.


    Next day my party members met in the Adventurers guild. We finally finished with our adamantium mining job and needed to discuss how we are going to spend it. This time our goal was to make our party stronger, not to get rich. Luara and Myne decided that they want short sword and daggers. I thought about a chainmail, but adamantium was heavier than orichalcum, and I liked my current chainmail. I already had a sword and decided to order the dagger. I also wanted a vambraces - a piece of armor for my forearms. There was still a lot of adamantium that we could use and we decided to order full set of armor for Trevor, including sword and shield.


    - What, I can''t take that. It''s too much. Sword and cuirass will be enough for me.


    - You have a knight job now, - objected I: - Knights fight in armor and excel the most when they use both sword and shield.


    - You will have to work three times harder from now on, - teased Luara: - It''s decided then. As a party leader I make the final decision, and I decided to make Trevor an adamantium knight.


    Trevor sighed, but did not object. We all smiled at him and went to Ashurga. Dwarf happily smiled and hugged me, after seeing that I was still alive.


    - Had no doubt, that you will get out of there, - he said and wiped away a tear.I took out of my magic bag, the adamantium blocks, and Ashurga used scales to measure their weight, and also measured the size of mined adamantium.


    - Even after I delivered adamantium that you promised to Mages guild, you still have enough to order for yourselves one set of heavy adamantium armor with full set of weapons like spear, sword, axe and mace, and some spares for them, - concluded the dwarf.


    After that Ashurga listened to our requests and nodded.


    - It will be done. I will need time to finish all of it, but after receiving payment from Adventurers guild, I can concentrate all my work on your equipment. But there still is enough adamantium for you to use. How about a chainmail for catgirl and the mage. Similar to the one, that I made for an elf.


    Luara nodded: - I like that idea. That will be useful, but make it last, just to be sure that we have enough.


    - As you wish. What about you, want also an adamantium chainmail?


    - No, - I refused: - I am satisfied with current one.


    - I see. Then how about your vest. I could saw pieces of adamantium between the leather. I will need help from the furrier who makes leather armor, and it will cost you some coins. But it will greatly increase your defense. I know that we agreed my work will be free, but I am not good with leather armor.


    - How much will it cost?


    - Well depending on the leather quality that you want to use. Between twenty and thirty gold coins.


    - Hmm, fine use the best material that you can get. And make sure that my vest looks the same as now.


    - I''ll do as you want, - nodded Ashurga.


    My party members wanted to pay part of the expenses, but I refused.


    - It''s my decision. Besides we agreed only to get adamantium armor for free. I can get the adamantium chainmail, just like you. And besides I want only the most expensive materials used, so it is my decision, and I will pay for it.


    Trevor still tried to object, but I refused and paid the dwarf from my wallet.


    - Well, if there are any leftovers from adamantium then make me some arrows.


    - Good, then it''s settled, - nodded Luara.


    - I''ll need more than a month to finish all of it. I will send you the word, when your equipment is ready.


    Dwarf took our measurements, and I left him my vest. I felt half naked without it and wrapped myself inside my cloak.


    We still needed to finish our job of helping Nelly, so there were still several dungeon hunts before us. After just one more level and if Nelly gets lucky she will have the minimal amount of skills that we agreed to help her to obtain. Of course that was no guarantee, and she could need to level up several times, before the necessary choice appears for her.


    After visiting Ashurga we decided to go to the nearby tavern and eat lunch. We ordered some food and drinks, discussing our new weapons.


    - So what are we going to do after we finish our job for the Mage guild, and get our weapons? - asked Trevor the question, that no one thought about till now.


    - Should we continue with our dungeon exploration? - asked Luara: - Should our party''s goal be leveling up and conquering the Grimsburg dungeon?


    - Without Nelly it will be too dangerous, - I disagreed.


    - I want to go to the Magic Academy and learn magic skills. Once we finish our job with Nelly and if we continue our dungeon exploration while we wait for our adamantium weapons I will have enough money to go there. Besides the next year registration for the new students will start in two months, it is a perfect opportunity for me to go to the capitol.


    - I want to go to the Magic Academy too, - I agreed with Nelly: - Learning some warrior skills in Adventurer academy would be nice too. But I like Luara''s idea about becoming a dungeon conquering party. But I thing that we need to improve our magic skills and learn much more spells, before we do that. And without proper skills, it will be impossible.


    - I want to go to the Adventurers Academy as well, - added Trevor: - I discussed it with master Evan, and decided that I want to learn Weapon master job there. I also heard that in the capitol there are mages who can restore lost limbs. If I become I high ranking adventurer, I might be able to help master Evan to get his hand back.


    I was the one who cut off Evan''s arm, and still felt a little guilty about it. I remembered my Gods mead elixir. I did consider selling (cough, cough - giving) it to Evan, but elixir could only restore limbs if used soon after receiving a wound. Now that his arm was healed, elixir would be useless to him. Only high ranking mage could help Evan to regrow his arm.


    - So you all want to go to the capitol, - thoughtfully said Luara: - Well I was thinking about learning some warrior skills too.


    Luara did not fail to notice the difference in Trevor''s swordsmanship after he got a Swordsmanship skill and knight job. She had Martial arts skill, but it was mostly useless against dungeon monsters, and she did express her desire to maybe learn some warrior skills.


    - It''s decided then. Our nameless party goes to capitol to learn skills and prepare ourselves for conquering the Grimsburg dungeon. Guess I will have to follow your method and stop using leveling crystal to make sure that I still can learn some skills.


    - If our goal is conquering Grimsburg dungeon, then how about Grimsburg dungeon party? - spoke up Myne.


    - Oh, I like it, - nodded Luara: - From this day we will be known as Grimsburg dungeon party.


    Luara put up her cup and we all toasted to our party''s new name.


    We celebrated our decision and decided to go back to the dungeon day after tomorrow.


    * * *


    I had one more free day before our next dungeon hunt with Nelly, and after our decision to leave the Grimsburg, decided to visit Ashurga.


    - Didn''t expect to see you so soon, - said the dwarf, after his apprentice summoned him from the smithy: - What can I help you with?


    - Before you start making a dagger for me, I wanted to ask you about the adamantium weapons. Are they the best when they are made from pure adamantium, or are they better as an alloy of adamantium and monster materials.


    - Depends on monster materials. Something below the level of floor guardian, will only weaken the adamantium. Magic sword makers add such monster materials to make magic swords, but in my case it is better to make a pure adamantium blade than mix it with low lever materials. Something on the level of a horn that you got me last time, would make a sword stronger, but not worth to use anything less.


    - What about this? - I showed him one of the cockatrice talons.


    Dwarf took a talon and looked at it. His eyes widened and he looked at me with surprise:


    - Don''t tell me that you actually?


    - Nope, - I shrugged my head and smiled: - Just think of it as a lucky buy from passing merchant.


    Dwarf sighed and nodded: - Lucky indeed. Yes, I can work with this. It will make adamantium weapon sharper and maybe it will have some magic properties as well. Hard to say, but definitely worth making an alloy.


    - Then add it to my dagger and the one you are making for Nelly. And three more throwing knives, using this, - I took out five more talons that I got from the cockatrice.


    - That will be expensive, - dwarf nodded: - But doubt that I will get more interesting offer. I''ll do as you ask.


    - You also mentioned that you work together with someone who makes leather armor. Can you also make a cloak that can act as armor from this? - I took out cockatrice feathers and dwarf carefully examined them. It took a lot of time to pluck out all the feathers from cockatrice''s rooster head. But they were as hard as steel, and I hoped that they will make great defensive materials.


    - That''s a hard job to do. But my friend likes a challenge. Want to make yourself a new cloak.


    - No. That''s a goodbye present for Nelly. I will need a cloak for her, taking in the account that she will grow later.


    - How many of these feathers do you got?


    I took out all the ones that I had, and dwarf nodded.


    - Some of them are damaged. Will be enough for shoulders and part of the back, but we will think of something for the rest. How much money are you willing to spend?


    I thought a little. I had six orichalcum coins left. Learning skills in academy will cost me two, and I had also enough gold coins to live comfortably in capitol for at least two years. I took out two orichalcum coins and put them on the table.


    - Will this be enough for the daggers and cloak?


    - That will do, - nodded Ashurga: - That will be enough to cover the best materials and to pay for the job.


    - Can you prepare everything the same time as the rest of our weapons. We decided to depart for the capitol after you make as our adamantium weapons and I want to get it all at the same time.


    - That''s sad to hear. But can''t say that I am surprised. No use for a party with your potential to stay in Grimsburg. Traveling is usually that adventurers who want to increase their ranks do. I will do as you ask, and prepare everything at the same time. It will take longer, but not like you on the schedule?


    - We want to apply for Magic Academy. Myne told us that they will star to accept applicants after two month.


    - Oh, so that''s why you''re going. Well more sleepless nights for me, - Ashurga smiled: -Let''s see, travel to the capitol take half a month or so. I think I can manage and get everything done for you and your party.


    - Thank you. Counting on you and you friend.Ashurga nodded: - I''ll send him a message right away.


    I thanked the dwarf and visited apothecary. After replenishing my potion supplies I visited weapons master who specialized in bows and arrows. After short negotiations he agreed to teach me how to make bows and arrows. We agreed that my lessons will start after four days, during my next rest days. I wanted to learn how to fix my arrows. I had six orichalcum arrowheads and decided that it will be more useful for me to learn how to make arrows myself, than visiting blacksmith or bow maker, every time I break them. After all what kind of elf cannot make himself a bow and arrows?


    * * *


    We continued exploring dungeon''s sixth floor and helping Nelly to level up. After she hear about our plans to leave, girl got sad. We still had time before our departure and Nelly asked us to let her accompany us in our dungeon hunts until then. We happily agreed and talked to guild master Mesmer. He allowed Nelly to accompany us, but asked as to make a floor six map for him. We accepted the request. Adventurers guild paid good money for the maps of new floors and Mesmer did not ask us to give the map only to him.


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    We changed our schedule to five day long dungeon exploration and two rest days after that. When Nelly got advanced Earth magic skill, we changed our strategy. Instead of letting Nelly kill all strong monsters, our mages wounded them and we took turns in killing the monsters, to allow all of us to level up.


    We explored almost all of the floor six, and even found an artifact. It was a small, round shield, made from dark yellow metal, with lions face carved on its surface. I took it to Tanot for appraisal, and he said that it increases the users defense stat by two. Since we already ordered a shield for Trevor, Luara decided to keep it for herself. She also decided to learn Infantryman skill in Adventurer academy, since that skill users specialized in fighting using shield alongside a weapon.


    Nelly was determined to find cockatrice and kill it. I felt bad about deceiving her, but it was too late to tell the truth. Besides some floor guardians were known to travel between two or three floors, so cockatrice''s absence would not raise any suspicions.


    During our rest days I learned about bow making and also how to make arrows. I also learned Shield barrier and View earth spells in Mage guild. I decided to learn View earth spell so I could be able to use it in different dungeons, to help me with treasure looking inside them.


    Finally after our sixth five day dungeon exploration hunt, we received message from Ashurga, that our equipment is ready.


    Next day after the lunch we visited weaponsmith and self satisfied Ashurga greeted as with a wide smile on his face.


    - Took a little more time, but I made everything that you ordered.


    He took out several sword and daggers and put them on the counter.


    - First the mage, - he handed Myne a short sword and the dagger. They were inside simple leather sheaths: - Sorry, but all sheaths were made by my apprentice.


    Myne took out the sword and looked at it. It was short, double edged sword, with handle made for one hand. Myne took some swings and nodded.


    - It''s heavy. But feels good.


    - Adamantium is more durable than orichalcum, but much heavier than steel.


    Myne nodded and put the sword back. Next she checked the dagger. It was shaped like a triangle, getting thinner towards the edge. Made more for stabbing, than cutting.


    - Well, how is it? - asked the dwarf.


    - Good, - nodded Myne. She put her current sword and dagger inside her magic bag and put on her belt her new adamantium weapons. Ashurga also took out two chainmails. They fit both girls like a glove and provided them with almost impenetrable protection.


    Next was Luara''s weapons. Her sword was similar to Myne''s, but she got a different dagger. It was a hunting knife, with one sided blade, arched towards the tip. Luara nodded satisfied.


    - They are perfect, - just like Myne, she put her current weapons inside her magic bag, and equipped her new adamantium blades.


    - This is for the mage girl, - he put on a table one more dagger. Judging from its sheath it was similar to the one that Myne got.


    - I can take it to her, - I volunteered: - I have some business in Mage guild anyway.


    Luara nodded and I put the dagger inside my magic bag.


    - Next our archer, - He put a bag on the table: - Your side order, - Ashurga smiled.


    - What you got? - asked interested catgirl.


    - Just some surprise parting gift for Nelly. Told you, about my business in Mage guild, - I smiled and put the bag on the  ground. Ashurga nodded and put on the table quiver with arrows.


    - Had enough to make you a dozen arrows.


    - Thank you, - I took out one arrow. They were heavier than the ones that were made from orichalcum. Even heavier than steel tipped arrows. I will have to practice shooting them, before using them in real battle. I put the quiver in my magic bag and Ashurga took out the dagger. Its sheath was made from drakes skin and had a black handle.


    - How can her sheath is different? - asked catgirl.


    - She paid extra, - smiled dwarf: - Or have you forgotten.


    Catgirl sighed: - I would have too, if I''d know that was an option.


    We all laughed and I took out my weapon. It was straight, double edged with sharp tip. Made both for cutting and stabbing, it also could be used during everyday life. Just what I wanted. Its blade had darker color, than the one that Luara and Myne had, and looked also sharper to me. As the saying went - men could shave with it.


    - Perfect, - I nodded and replaced my dagger. Next were my vambraces. Pair of them were meant to protect outside of my forearms. With soft leather beneath them they could be worn beneath or above my sleeves. They had smooth surface, with leather part that was meant to protect inside of my arm and act as bracers. That was my special request for Ashurga, since my bowstring often hit inside of my forearms and without bracers I had bruises on my arms most of the time.


    Vambraces had to be tied with knots, and that was the part that I will need to get use to, just as wearing them. Ashurga helped me to put them on. They felt heavy, but thanks to my increased strength I will not need to change my sword style, because of it. I put them on under my sleeves and tried to move my hands. Vambraces were just the right size to protect my forearms, and not to interfere with my movements.


    - Excellent work. Like always.


    Ashurga nodded satisfied, and took out my vest. On the outside it looked the same, but when I picked it up, I noticed that it was thicker and heavier. Inside the vest had additional layer of fabric. I put it on. It felt heavy, but not as much as I expected.


    - Feels lighter than I expected.


    - I tried using as thin pieces of adamantium as possible, to make it light, but also provide protection, - explained dwarf: - Combining it with your chainmail will give you as much protection as adamantium cuirass.


    I moved my upper body, but like before sleeveless vest protected my body and allowed freedom of movement.


    - Good. Feels different, but also the same. Just what I wanted.


    Dwarf nodded satisfied, and then turned to Trevor.


    - Now our adamantium knight, - Trevor blushed, and I got a feeling that this nickname will stick with him: - Follow me, I will help you to change.


    He took Trevor to the other room, and we waited for our male adventurer to put on his new gear. We all were curious to see, how he will look like.


    Finally Ashurga opened the door and let Trevor enter the room.


    He was wearing his knew armor. Adamantium had similar color to steel and only few people could tell the difference between them. So Trevor will not stand out as much as he feared.


    His armor included helmet, cuirass with long sleeved chainmail beneath it, vambraces, and greaves - shin guards armor. He was holding a sword in one arm and round shield in another. Red cloak was behind him, providing the adventurer with noble look. We all looked at him and Trevor blushed.


    - Well, what do you thing? - smirked Ashurga.


    - He looks good, - I seriously nodded.


    - If I didn''t know better I would think that we have a real knight among us, - said Luara. Trevor blushed even more and we all laughed.


    - In the beginning I wanted to make Trevor full set of knight armor, - said Ashurga: - But since he used to have a commoner job that would have been too much for him. Adamantium is heavier than steel and only high ranking adventurers or those who had jobs that give high strength stats can use such armor in battle. That''s why I made him only light armor. Because of it I have some adamantium, from your half, still unused.


    Dwarf looked behind the counter and took out four small, rectangle blocks of adamantium.


    - These are adamantium blocks that can be used to forge a single dagger blade. Every such block is worth one orichalcum coin. Blacksmith are forbidden to make coins, only kingdoms treasury is allowed to do that, but we are allowed to make such precious metal bars. They have standard measurements and can be sold or traded around the kingdom. You can sell them or keep them as they are. If you want, I can by them from you?


    - Can they be used to repair damaged adamantium armor or my chainmail? - I asked.


    - Yes. But you will need skilled blacksmith, who knows how to work with adamantium, and, in case of your chainmail, also orichalcum.


    - Thank you, - Luara took one of the pieces and put it inside her magic bag: - I think I will keep mine in case if I will ever need adamantium.


    - I will too, - I agreed. We all decided to keep adamantium for an emergencies. It was precious metal and rarely appeared on the market.


    We all thanked Ashurga. Blacksmith outdid himself, forging weapons that took into account our individual preferences and abilities.We decided to use leveling crystal one more time, before leaving Grimsburg. Leone took us to the leveling room and we all entered it with huge expectations. All of us killed monsters on floors five and six, and it was a months since we used leveling crystal last time. Like always Leone opened the door for us and stayed outside to provide us with privacy. That was different from the church where priests always observed what levels and skills their customers had. Leone like always first approached the crystal and put her hands on it.


    Catgirl, LV 11 - LV 14


    Name - Luara;


    Job: Scout;


    Status:


    Health: 11 - 12;


    Mana: 20 - 30;


    Strength: 4 - 5;


    Defense: 4;


    Spell power: 1 - 2;


    Luck: 1;Speed: 5;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Foresight (Novice);


    Scouting (Novice);


    Martial arts (Basic);


    Hunting (Novice);


    Tracking (Novice);


    Butchery (Novice);


    Trap detection (Novice)


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Hunting (Basic);


    - Trap Detection (Basic);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    - Just three levels. Ge-shh, leveling up after level ten is so hard, - sighed catgirl: - Lets see Hunting and Trap detection. Let''s go with Trap detection, it will be more useful since we are dungeon exploration party.


    Luara made her choice, and Myne took her place.


    Human, LV 11 - LV 14


    Name - Myne;


    Job: Mage;


    Status:


    Health: 26;


    Mana: 120 - 150;


    Strength: 11 - 12;


    Defense: 8 - 9;


    Spell power: 10 - 11;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 5;


    Morale: Neutral Skills:


    Earth magic (Advanced)


    Knitting (Novice)


    Agriculture (Novice);


    Wisdom (Basic);


    Intelligence (Novice);


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Cattle breeding (Novice);


    - Intelligence (Basic);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    - Look at that, also three skills. And I can increase my Intelligence to basic.


    - That''s great, - congratulated her Luara. Myne choose to increase her skill and I went next. I placed my hand on leveling crystal and familiar words ad numbers appeared before me.


    Elf, LV 14 - LV 19


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:


    Health: 16 - 18;


    Mana: 130 - 180;


    Strength: 10 - 11;


    Defense: 6 - 7;


    Spell power: 8 - 9;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 6;


    Morale: Neutral Skills:


    Archery (Advanced);


    Night vision (Advanced);


    Mana rapid recovery (Novice);


    Magic resistance (Novice)


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Magic resistance (Basic);


    - Tracking (Novice);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    - What you are already at level nineteen! - exclaimed Luara.


    - And you have Mana rapid recovery skill, too, - added surprised Myne.


    - Getting stuck alone in the dungeon will do that to you.


    I sighed. No battle or magic skills again. At least I can increase my existing skill and did not get some useless one. Well, level nineteen and increase in all stats was good. I chose to increase my Magic resistance and gave way to Trevor.


    He carefully approached the crystal and hesitantly put his hand on it.


    Human, LV 1 - 3


    Name - Trevor;


    Job: Knight;


    Status:


    Health: 3 - 5;


    Mana: 40 - 50;


    Strength: 0 - 2;


    Defense: 0 - 2;


    Spell power: 1;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 5;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Lumberjack (Novice);


    Herb gathering (Basic);


    Increased strength (Novice);


    Swordsmanship (Novice)


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Increased strength (Basic);


    - Leadership (Novice);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    - Just two levels, he sighed. I''m still behind you.


    - You will catch up soon, - cheered him Luara: - And look you can increase your strength.


    - Ye, that''s great, - Trevor lightened up and chose to level up his Increased strength skill.


    Our results were not so bad, since increasing levels got harder with every time. And increasing several levels after level one, was very rear. We agreed to start preparations for our departure to capitol and left Adventurers guild. After all, time for registering to Magic academy was approaching, and if we will not leave now, we will have to wait six months for the next opportunity.


    I needed to visit Mage guild, deliver them the sixth floor map and inform them, that our dungeon exploration with Nelly has come to an end. First I went back to my tavern and took out daggers and cloak that Ashurga prepared for me. There were three identical throwing knives. Much smaller than my dagger they were shaped like tree leaves. Perfectly balanced with thin leather sheaths. I still needed to learn how to throw them, but that is why we were going to the capitol. I put them inside my magic bag and took out the cloak.


    Cloak was much heavier than the one I was wearing. It was made from the Wolf shepherd''s minion wolf skin and cockatrice''s feathers. Feathers were woven in upper part of the cloak, that covered shoulders and part of the back. Hood was made using only wolf skin.


    I tried if on. It was little bit too small for me, but should be good fit for Nelly. It felt worm and when I tried to cut my shoulder, knife harmlessly slide over the cloak''s material. Cloak was black and feathers gave it the look of barbarian armor. I imagined how Nelly will look inside it and giggled.


    Good. I hope that she will like it. Nelly''s dagger had the same darker shade, that my daggers had and was just as sharp.


    I packed up the cloak and went to Mage guild. Sally was in her usual spot and greeted me like an old acquaintance.


    - Did you came to learn a new spell?


    - No. I came to inform you, that our time in Grimsburg has come to an end. We will be leaving soon, and won''t be going to dungeon anymore. I also brought the map, that we promised your guild master, - I handed her over piece of parchment and Sally put it under the counter.


    - I see. Nelly will be saddened to hear that.


    - Can I talk to her. I also brought her the adamantium dagger, that we promised her, for the help with mining.


    - Of course. I will take you to her.


    Nelly''s room was located on the second floor. Sally knocked and opened the door.


    - Nelly, you have guests.


    Nelly was lying on the bed and reading her grimoire. Unlike mine her spellbook contained not just basic names of spells and magic circles, but also detailed explanations about the spells.


    - Hey there. My I come in, - I waved to her.


    - Sure, - she smiled: - Come in.


    - Make sure you escort her outside, once you are done, - reminded Sally: - It will be sundown soon.


    She left us alone and I entered the room.


    - Did something happened? - asked Nelly.


    - I brought you your adamantium dagger, - I took out the blade and handed it to Nelly.


    - Really! - he jumped from the bed and took the dagger: - Its beautiful, - she admired the blade and tried its sharpness.


    - Carefully. Don''t cut yourself. It is very sharp, - I warned.


    Nelly nodded, but then realized what the dagger meant. Her face saddened and she looked at me.


    - Does that mean that you will be leaving soon?


    - Yes, our previous hunt was our last one. We will be leaving in a few days. We need to hurry, since we want to enter the Magic academy.


    - I see, - she sighed.


    - I brought you something, - I handed her the bag: - It is a present for you. As thanks for all your help.


    - Really, - Nelly thoughtfully looked at the bag and took out the cloak: - It looks weird, - she doubtfully looked at the cloak. Then she touched the feathers and understanding appeared in her eyes: - Does that mean, that you...


    - Shhh, - I put my finger on her lips: - It''s just a weird looking cloak, - I smiled at her and then hugged the girl. She hugged me back, and we stayed like that for a while.


    - By the way, it is called barbarian cloak, - I joked. Nelly seriously nodded and put on the cloak. It was little too big for her, but she was still growing, and Ashurga made the cloak, keeping that in mind. She looked like a barbarian queen, but  somehow cloak suited her.


    - How do I look?


    - Like a barbarian queen, - I smiled. Nelly stroke the cloak, satisfied with the present.


    We spend some time talking, but night was approaching and I had to leave.


    I went outside and breathed in the air. Goodbyes with Nelly saddened me, but new road was in front of me. It was time for us to leave the Grimsburg.

 Epilogue.

    Luara sold our floor six map to adventurers academy and we earned ten gold coins for it. Combining those coins with all the money that we earned selling magic stones and monster materials, gave us all enough money to enter our choice academies and learn new skills.


    Luara agreed to a merchant protection job. The merchants were going to capitol, and the way there should take as around twenty days. It gave us just enough time to reach the capitol just before beginning of registration for the new year of Magic academy students.


    We met the merchant caravan at the gate and started our journey to the capitol. We did not expect to encounter anything more dangerous than dungeon monsters and by now we were strong enough to defeat any usual monster who threatened travelers on their way to capitol or any number of bandits.


    Things for me were going well. I leveled up, learned spells, got myself equipment and had enough money to attend Magic academy and have a comfortable life in the capitol.


    I started to think about the game that this world reminded me of.


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    Main protagonists of the game where queen Elizabeth the great, king Rolan Griffinheart, and Uleg half-elven ranger. The rest of the characters like Avone were side characters that were hired to accomplish missions, which were necessary to defeat demon armies. So luckily for me I did not have to risk my life fighting the demon lord and the rest of the antagonists. I could live as I pleased, slowly getting richer and becoming stronger at my own safe and steady pace. As an elf sooner or later, I should be able to evolve to a high elf that, that will have an infinite life span. All the worlds possibilities were open for me.


    Then I remembered the rest of the story and paled. According to the games scenario, main protagonists managed to stop all Lucifer''s and games antagonists plans, but final battle between the Lucifer and lord Uleg led to disaster that destroyed all the world''s continents. Few survivals managed to open the magic portals and fled to a different world, where they starting new lives, until Lucifer''s forces find them and started a second great war.


    Crrap. Did it mean that this world was doomed? Could I change the outcome, or at least escape to another world? My plans to have a slow and comfortable life suddenly were threatened by my own memories. Well maybe this world wasn''t going to follow the games scenario. That''s possible, right?

 Book II Part I Prologue.

    Merchant caravan was approaching capitol of Ashgrin kingdom. Ashgrin was eastern human kingdom. Its eastern border was near uninhabited lands - vast planes filled with monsters and unknown dangers. According to the stories legendary elemental city was located in its middle. Kings off Ashgrin slowly populated the uninhabited lands sending there peasants to make their kingdom bigger and richer. Kings and queens ruled Ashgrin from their capitol, the town that was called a jewel among Ashgrin towns.


    Biggest town in the kingdom capitol was surrounded by three dungeons. Brave adventures regularly visited these dungeons and brought back magic stones. Most of the strongest adventurers of Ashgrin lived in the capitol and they were legends admired by rich and poor, young and old. Every year people from surrounding lands came to capitol to register in Adventurers guild and became one of such legends.


    Magic stones that adventures brought to capitol where used by alchemists to create many artifacts that enriched lives of the Ashgrin people. Among them were lanterns that could illuminate the whole capitol even during darkest nights. They could provide heat during winter and cool air during hot summer. Create cold that could preserve their food, and create water to drink and fire to cook. Such was abundance of those artifacts, that rulers of Ashgrin build three fountains inside the capitol, to make their home town more beautiful.


    Bigger magic stones were sold to skilled blacksmiths. In the blacksmiths'' quarter weaponsmiths with magic skills worked day and night creating magic weapons, that rivaled the artifacts from the dungeons.


    Steady supply of such artifacts were sold to neighboring kingdoms and gold filled the chests of kingdom nobles and kings treasury.


    Rich people of capitol had low tolerance for beggars, and guards that patrolled the streets would immediately arrest them and put to public work, to cure them from such unsightly behavior. After all such people had no place in jewel of Ashgrin. The town that was famous for having the only academies in kingdom.


    Most famous of them was Magic academy. More than a thousand people every year tried to become students of Magic academy, but only one hundred of them were accepted. Those who were accepted could learn magic related skill, and became powerful mages that could destroy whole pack of monsters with a single spell.


    Second in size was Knight academy. Only people of noble blood could enter Knight academy where they learned warrior skills and later became swords that protected the kingdom from monsters and outside enemies. All generals that served the kingdom where graduates of Knight academy and no one doubted the strength and bravery of the noble students.


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    The rival of Knight academy was Adventurers academy. Unlike the academy for noble people of Ashgrin, Adventurers academy accepted people of all backgrounds and races. But strict were teachers from Adventurers academy, and only people who proved their dedication were allowed to join the student ranks of Adventurers academy. Before joining the ranks of their seniors, people needed to register in Adventurers guild and become an E rank adventurers. Only then they were allowed to join the other students of Adventurers academy. Unlike the Knight academy, their rival taught past and future adventurers all kind off skills. Starting with most important warrior skills and also Trap detection, Tracking, Hunting, Scouting and other skills that adventurers may need in their line of work. Academies were surrounded by high walls and were the size of small villages. People that passed them by, admired them and jealously watched proud students.


    But those wasn''t only things that made capitol famous. Capitol was also famous with its cobbled streets and buildings made only from stone. The tallest building in the capitol that dwarfed even kings palace was Mage guild tower. People feared mages. Behind closed doors they told stories about mages who could use legendary fifth level spells. Nothing was impossible for such mages. With a single spell they could heal the sick, walk on water or even fly. Such mages could destroy small armies using only their magic, and travel the distances of hundreds of kilometers in a single moment. But people not only feared the mages, but also loved them. After all mages were the shield that protected the kingdom from its enemies and most powerful monster that inhabited the lands of Ashgrin.


    Mages never discriminated and their doors were always open to anyone who wanted to learn spells that would make their life easier. No matter old or young, human or beastmen, male or female, everyone was welcomed in Mage guild, were they could learn spells and buy spellbooks.


    Every legendary adventurer and even hero party had a mage among their ranks, who could change an outcome of a battle with a single spell. Every boy in the capitol dreamed of becoming such a hero and hundreds of them saved every single copper coin, so they could someday buy a magic book and become legendary heroes.


    Capitol was located in the middle of the kingdom, and people that lived in there always said, that all roads led to the capitol. All kind of riches were brought to the capitol using those roads.


    Merchants travelled all year long to the capitol and from it. And huge markets sold any imaginable goods that could be found in the kingdom.


    One such group of merchants approached capitols gates. They were guarded by adventurers party. Among the adventures was a warrior, carrying sword and a shield, protected by an armor. Mage with a magic staff. Catgirl scout and even elven archer. Long journey was behind them, but finally they reached the capitol, place where they dreams could come true.


    Merchants entered the capitol and signed request forms that proved that another adventurers party successfully completed their job, by guarding the lives of Ashgrin people. Now adventurers could receive their payment in Adventurers guild and continue serving the people that lived in the capitol, protecting them and their homes.

 Chapter 1. Ashgrin capitol.

    I Avone, proud elven archer and D rank adventurer, came out of Adventurers guild and waited for my friends. I kept my hood on my head hiding my face and wanted only one thing - a bath. We just arrived in the capitol after nineteen days old journey. The weather in the capitol was hot, and heated pavement stones made the air even hotter. I was covered with sweat and smelled like a horse, after spending nineteen days near those animals. I will never understand why some people called horses man''s best friend. They smelled, my butt hurt after riding one in my opinion they needed too much food and water. My friends mage Myne, catgirl Luara and Trevor followed me to the street. Among as Trevor felt the worse. In the sun his armor heated up and he felt like being in a frying pan.


    - I need a bath, - I complained.


    - Me too, - sighed Myne.


    - Me three and probably Trevor four, - agreed Luara: - Receptionist said that applicants can apply for the academies five more days. Why don''t we found a tavern and visit our academies tomorrow.


    - A tavern with big bath, - I added.


    - Such taverns are expensive, - objected Trevor.


    - I''ll pay for our stay for next four days, - I tried to calm him down. Some of my not so smart solo adventures earned me more money than the rest of my party members had, and I could easily afford paying for them. Unlike me, my friends had to save every copper to afford lessons in the academy. For that reason Myne silently agreed with my offer, even if she had a guilty look on her face.


    - I won''t say no to that, - said Luara: - Why don''t we found the most expensive tavern then.


    - Tavern with biggest bath, - I objected.


    - Biggest bath it is.


    Trevor tried to object, but we no one listened to him. Luara disappeared inside the guild, but soon came back and nodded to us.


    - I got the directions. Let''s go.


    Luara was our adventurer party''s leader and also was least affected by the heat. Probably some strange cat thing - I grudgingly decided.


    Luara confidently led us threw town and successfully found tavern called "Golden garden". We rented two rooms, one for girls and one for Trevor. Single room for Trevor costed one gold coin, which was more than low ranking adventurer earned in a week. Bigger room for us costed two gold coins, but I could afford it. Rooms and food for three days costed me fifteen gold coins. That was more than I expected, and a lot even for my wallet. But I already promised to pay and handed over the coins. Cute looking tavern worker took us to our rooms, which turned out big and cool, and half an hour later we were soaking in the bath. It was big enough for dozen people and deep enough to comfortably sit inside it.


    Before reincarnating in this world as a female elf, I was a guy and naked female bodies were a feast to my eyes. Both Luara and Myne had beautiful bodies and long hair. I regretfully looked at my hair. I use to have waste long hair, but one nasty monster burned them and I had to cut them off. Now, even more than two months later my hair barely reached past my neck. Is it really so hard to grow long hair?


    Maid brought as cold drinks and I felt like in heaven. At least this tavern was worth its money.


    - I never stayed in such expensive place, - said Myne.


    - I never did too, - agreed Luara: - But I like it here. We should stay in such places more often.


    - Once we graduate an academy and become S rank adventurers we will be able to do that all the time, - I said dreamily.


    - Sure, - said Luara: - In a year or two.


    - Sure, you just forget to add dozen in the end of the sentence, - I sighed: - So what have you decided. Which academy will you go to, and what skills do you want to learn? How about a Weapons master skill, like Trevor?


    - No, - shook her head Luara: - It takes two years to learn that skill. I will stick with Infantryman skill. It takes only one year to learn and I still will be able to use almost any weapon.


    Usually it took only six month to learn a skill in any of the academies. But among them were skills that were more advanced than the rest. Simple skills like Axe user or Spearmanship could be learned in six month. But such skill users could only use single type of weapon. Infantryman skill, that Luara wanted to learn, allowed its users more efficiently fight using a shield with any kind of weapon, be it spear, sword, axe, mace or a knife. Weapon master skill was most difficult to learn among warrior type skills. Its users specialized in using any kind of weapon be it sword or even a bow. Trevor already had Swordsmanship skill, that he dreamed to obtain since childhood, and now he put in front of himself most difficult challenge. Since learning this skill required two years, then we decided that this will be the minimal amount of time that we will spend in the capitol. Magic academy accepted their students for three year studies, and depending on our financial situation we considered to stay in the capitol for three years.


    Unlike Trevor and Luara, Myne and me were going to Mage academy. Myne was eager to learn three elemental magic skills and Magic resistance skill. I planned to learn Wisdom and Earth magic skills. And after that I planned also to go to the Adventurers academy and learn Swordsmanship skill. I also wanted to learn a Throwing skill, but I would need a whole year to learn it, since Throwing skill meant throwing rocks, spears, knives and any other long ranged weapon that was meant to throw.


    - What about you Myne? - Luara asked - Don''t you want to learn a warrior skill or two?


    - No. I want to concentrate on my magic skills. Besides I heard that learning warrior skills is harder for mages. And I prefer using magic anyway.


    - Guess that makes sense. I think I also want to concentrate on warrior skills. With you and Avone around, we have enough spellcasters anyway. Maybe I''ll try to learn that Night vision skill that Avone has. It could be handy in dungeons.


    - That''s true. I wouldn''t be alive right now without it.


    - Ye, besides dungeon is kind of scary, with all that darkness around you. That''s decided then, I''ll learn Night vision skill.


    We continued discussing our plans for the future and remained in water until we finally felt rested and memories of our uncomfortable journey started to fade.


    * * *


    Next day we separated. Trevor and Luara went to Adventurers academy, while me and Myne went to visit Magic academy.


    Magic academy was surrounded by three meters high wall. Near the gates were four tents. In front of three of them were long lines with more than a dozen people in front of them. While the fourth one, had only a single person that looked like a noble''s son in front of them.


    We approached the tents trying to figure out which line should we stand in.Young male student approached as and looked at our clothe. He wore clothe that reminded me of school uniform and was around fifteen years old.


    - Adventurers I guess. You can take one of those three lines, that are meant for commoners, - he told us: - And apply for registration there, if you wish to attend Magic academy.


    - Is the fourth tent nobles only? - I asked.


    - Yes, - he nodded: - Well, I need to inform you that it is also meant for people with high ranking mage job, like archmages.


    - What about people, who have recommendations?


    - What kind? If you have a recommendation from some rural are noble, it won''t help you much.


    - We have a recommendation from Mage guild.


    - Really? That''s hard to believe. But if that is true the go to the fourth tent, - he waved towards the tent that was meant for nobles, and went to direct next person.


    The boy that was standing near it already left, and we approached the table located at the tent''s entrance. Young girl, also dressed in the uniform, smiled at us.


    - Hello. Tents meant for adventurers are next ones. Toby should have told you that.


    - We have recommendations from Grimsburg mages guild.


    We took out recommendations and put them on the table. Girl examined seals on the envelops and turned around.


    - Professor Doranius these adventurers have recommendations from Grimsburg Mage guild.


    - Mesmer recommended someone. That''s rear, - sounded a voice from inside the tent: - Let them in. I will talk to them personally.


    We entered part of the tent that was separated by curtains. After hot weather outside, the tent felt cool and pleasant. The floor was covered by a soft carpet, with several chairs and small table on it. One of the chairs was occupied by middle aged man in a blue robe. He was drinking refreshments, that were placed on the table.


    Female student gave him our recommendations, and after examining them, he waved at the chairs.


    - Please sit down.


    We did as he told and professor opened the letters. He carefully read them and nodded satisfied.


    - Master Mesmer used to be a teacher in the academy, before accepting Mage guild master position in Grimsburg. He is still remembered and respected for his heroic adventures. A recommendation from him will secure you a place in Magic Academy. He writes that both of you received good reviews from your spell teachers in Grimsburg. According to them you, - he turned to Myne: - Showed talent and dedication to magecraft. He also mentioned that you have a mage job, and already learned several level two spells, - Myne nodded, and he turned towards me: - He also mentioned, that even if you luck talent and necessary job, you showed willingness and worked hard and dedicated while learning several spells from different magic schools.


    I also nodded, even if such description of my time in Magic guild surprised me.


    - Very well. Most of our students start attending academy between ages eleven and fifteen, depending on their successes in securing a place in academy. Those who fail to do that, after reaching the age of sixteen apply for Knight academy instead. Our young students stay in academy for three years. For the first eighteen months they attend basic studies, and only after passing the exams, they can apply for learning specific skills. Last three semesters they spend learning three magic skills of their choice. By then they are competent enough to make that choice, that affect their whole future. But in cases like yours, for people who already leveled up, learned spells and acquired skills we use different approach.


    Maximum amount of time that you can spend in academy is also three years. But you don''t need to attend mandatory studies. Instead you can right away choose what skills you want to learn. Minimal amount of time that you need to learn a skill is five and a half month or one semester in the academy. It costs fifty gold coins. You must pay in the beginning of every semester, or you will be expelled. You can pay for several semesters right now if you want to learn several skills. Now, are you sure that you can afford attending Magic academy?


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    - Yes, - we both nodded and Doranius continued.


    - Good. You will be provided with rooms in academy and will need to live here and attend all the assigned lessons, otherwise your chances of acquiring the skill will be diminished. Our schedule if five days of lessons and two days of rest between them.


    - Can we visit the dungeons and take adventurer jobs during our free time? - I asked.


    - Yes. But until you finish the semester you are not allowed to use leveling crystals. You are adventurers are you not?


    - Yes.


    - I see. There is no problem with you visiting the dungeon then. My I ask what ranks and levels you have.


    - We belong to a D rank party. I have level nineteen.


    - And I have level fourteen, - added Myne.


    - Quit impressive. Not even all of our professors have reached such high ranks. Ordinarily we discourage our students from visiting the dungeon. It is very dangerous after all and we tell our students to stay away from danger, and even after graduating, they need to be careful with dungeon hunting. But in your case that isn''t a problem. You are free to accept adventurer Guild quests, just don''t forget that missing lessons will diminish your chances of obtaining the skills that you seek. What skills do you wish to learn?


    - I wish to learn fire magic, water magic, air magic and magic resistance skills, - said Nelly.


    - Do we have to choose all the skills that we want to learn right now? - I asked.


    - No, you can apply for necessary studies in the beginning of every semester. Right now you need to chose at least one skill that you want to learn.


    - Then I wish to learn Wisdom skill first, and after that Earth magic skill, - I decided.


    - Wise choices, - Doranius nodded. But you should know that Wisdom skill is difficult to learn. It takes at least a year of diligent studies to learn it. Our students can learn Wisdom skill in six month, but it is thanks to their prior education, that they receive in first eighteen month. Unless you have already knowledge about magic circles, their history, and difference between magic circles that different magic schools are using.


    - Now, I do not, - I shook my head.


    - Then you will need to attend basic lessons, along with our first, second and third semester students. If you are fine with it, then please fill these documents.


    It was longer than I expected, but I still wanted to learn that skill. I nodded, and  Doranius gave as two parchments and feathers for writing. We needed to write basic information, such as name, race, age, our current level and skills that we wanted to learn. I had no idea how old physically my current body was, so I decided to go with seventeen. That sounded nice and fresh.


    - Please write the skills in the order that you wish to learn them, - added Doranius.


    I chose Wisdom as first and Earth magic as second. Doranius read the papers and nodded.


    - Good. Can you pay for the studies right now? And for how many semesters?


    - Two, - I answered. We already decided that earlier. And Myne currently could only afford to pay only for two semesters. We were planning to go dungeon hunting, between the studies and earn for her the rest of the money that way.


    I took out one of my orichalcum coins, while Myne used the gold coins. Doranius counted the money and put the coins inside small box.


    He took out two more parchments and filled several lines on them.


    - Please sign these contracts, - he passed down the parchments and we read them. They mentioned our names, payment for two semesters and skills that Magic academy undertakes to teach as. They also mentioned the maximum amount of time and skills that we could learn. We signed the documents, and Doranius put them above the several similar parchments.


    - Our studies will start in four days. Make sure you are her three days later, one hour after the sunset. You will receive basic information then and also the dormitory rooms will be assigned to you. And keep in mind that carrying weapons inside academy''s wall is forbidden, not even decorative daggers. You can put your weapons inside your magic bags, but keep them there as long as you are inside academy.


    - Thank you, - we both stud up and bowed. Doranius bowed in return. - My your time in academy be fruitful and prosperous.


    * * *


    Studies in Adventurers academy also started in three days. They were much cheaper and Trevor had to pay eighty gold coins for all four semesters in Adventurers academy. We had three days left and spend them exploring the town. We visited all three academies. Magic academy was biggest and richest among them. Adventurers academy was much bigger than Knight academy, but buildings in there were simpler and cheaper looking. Knight academy even had a huge fountain in its front yard.


    We also asked about nearest dungeons in Adventurers guild. There were three dungeons located near the capitol. Closest one was four hour walk from the capitol and was called Golden goose dungeon. Upper floors of the dungeons were mapped and quit detailed. We bought maps for Golden goose dungeon''s upper floors and agreed to explore them during our next free days. Luckily the schedules in all academies were the same, and we could continue adventuring as a party.


    Three days later we arrived at the Magic academy. We came earlier. Excited Myne barely slept all night, and woke me up even before the sunset. We were not the first ones to arrive and several people were already there. Some of them were accompanied by guards and servants.


    I yawned. I was still sleepy, and unlike Myne, was not as excited. Attending lectures with bunch of stuck up nobles was not my dream time. It will inevitably led to same problems. I sighed. Hope it will end up well. Just like Myne I put all my weapons and armor inside my magic bag and now felt naked without them. Among people around us, only guards carried weapons, rest of the future students abided by the academy''s rules.


    Students slowly gathered near the gate. Almost all of them were accompanied by guards or servants. Most of them were young, eleven or twelve years old. Finally gates opened and the guard came out of them.


    - Welcome students! - he shouted: - Students my enter academy, but your companions will have to stay behind and depart.


    Young people started to enter academy walls, while they escorts started to leave, after making sure that they charges safely entered the academy walls. We also entered the academy and gathered in front of the entrance to the main building. I noticed huge sundial build in the small park on our left side. On the stairs in front of the main building, stood several people, dressed in blue robes. In the middle of them stood old man in white robes and pointed hat. After all the students passed through the gates and gathered in front of teachers, man in the white robe raised his hand and all children felt silent.


    - Welcome to the Magic academy! - started the man. His voice was loud and clear, and could be mistaken to belong to someone much younger: - My name is Alvarick. I am the principal of magic academy. You all were chosen to be here judging on your accomplishments and the jobs that gods blessed you with, after your birth. Magic academy is a proud follower of Mage guilds traditions, that don''t judge anyone based on their race, gender or background, but only on their dedication to magic arts. You all were carefully chosen to be here, after we examined your innate abilities and hard work that you put in, before coming here. Our rules are strict and our lessons are hard, so not all of you will graduate. But those of you that will be able to endure all three years will have made a first step on becoming great mages, that our kingdom is so proud of. Stay strong and diligent. Now those of you who will stay here and attend all our lessons, got to your left. And those of you, who will only stay here to learn skills go to your right side.


    We went to the right side were three academy students waited for us holding papers in their hands. Around a dozen students came with us, most of them older, than those who went to the left side.


    - We will call for your names and distribute your individual schedules for your lessons, - said one of the girls with two pigtails: - Once you hear your name please approach and once you receive your schedule and explanations, please step back.


    I waited until she said my name and approached her.


    - You are Avone? - I nodded and she handed me one of the papers: - Here is your schedule. Since you wish to learn Wisdom skill, you will need to attend several classes that are meant for basic studies. Those lessons are not mandatory, and if you already possess such information, then you don''t have to attend them.


    I nodded and stepped aside. Once everyone received their schedules, girl raised her hand.


    - Now follow me. I will show you around the school and then take you to your dorm rooms.


    She went ahead, showing as the way, while her companions stayed behind us. Probably making sure, that no one would get lost.


    - Magic academy is located on quit a bid territory, and it''s easy to get lost in here. Sometimes Magic academy is even called little magic town. There are several stands with maps located around the territory, so feel free to use them if you get lost.


    She showed us the stand. It was hand carved from wood, with detailed drawings on it.


    - Your location is shown by red dot, - she showed us our exact location on the map. We all took a look at it and then followed our guide.


    - Next are training grounds, - she took us to large area separated by wooden walls: - They are used by mages who have permission to practice spells. You are forbidden to uses them without a teacher or written permission.


    - This is academy''s library, - she continued after a while. Library was big marble building. It was round with semi circle roof on top of it: - Library was build thanks to generous donations from princess Leanisia almost two hundred years ago. Princess Leanisia was a student in the Magic academy. She was a genius who created several spells. Her theories about magic became fundamentals that are used as basis for many school lessons. Library is open from dusk till dawn. With librarians permission you can take out books from it, but it is forbidden to take the books outside academy. And not all books can be taken outside the library. The building that is located next to eastern walls has a pool in it. Some of students are allowed to use it, but its purpose is to help students learn Water magic skills. You won''t be using it, unless you applied for the lessons that are necessary to learn Water magic skill.


    The building was quit big. Even if I take into account dressing room, storage room and such, there will still be enough space for the pool bigger than any pond.


    Next were dorm rooms. They were farther away, and consisted of two separated buildings.


    - On the left, are dorm rooms meant for the students who attend basic lessons and on the right are dorm rooms that are used by students who are studying specific skills. You all will be placed in dorm rooms that are located on the right side. Also both buildings are separated in the middle. There are two separate entrances on both side of the buildings. Left are meant for boys and right for girls. You are forbidden from entering dorm rooms that are meant for the opposite gender. Later you will be assigned your own rooms. But first we will take a tour in the main building.


    She took as to the building, near which principal gave his speech. Other students were exiting the building, and continuing their tour outside. Inside building our tour guide showed as main locations such as classrooms, dining hall and teacher''s rooms. Once our tour was over, we returned to the dorm rooms.


    - Most rooms are meant for four students. Does anyone want to stay in the same room?


    - We would, - I picked up my hand and together with Myne we approached the young student.


    - You are Avone and Myne, right?


    - Yes. Very well. Here are your keys, - she gave as two keys and wrote something down in her notes: - Your room will be number eighteen. Don''t forget that you need to use entrance on your right side. In the dorm rooms you will find a caretaker, she will provide you with uniforms. You can change in your room. Your first orientation lesson will start an hour after midday. Do you know how to use sundial to tell time?


    We nodded and she gave us our keys. We went to the dorm rooms, where we were greeted by a large woman dressed in apron.


    - Greetings young students. Are you just starting to attend the academy, or have you been here before?


    - It''s our first day, - answered Myne.


    - I see. Then you will need to learn our rules. Since most of the students are under age, they apply to all, to ensure the safety of all our students. No visiting boys dorm rooms. No staying outside later than one hour after sundown. There are bells that ring five times a day, during lesson days. First ring is at sunrise. That''s when you need to get up and go to have breakfast. Lessons start one and a half hour after that. Second ring is one hour before midday. Third is in midday, that''s when your lessons usually end, unless there are more scheduled for you later. Lunch is just after midday. Fourth ring will alert you to diner. Last bell is at sundown, that''s when you need to return to your dorm rooms. Is it clear? - we nodded and she continued: - Let''s see you sizes, - she took a good look at us and nodded: - Wait here.


    She entered the room behind her and returned with two sets of close.


    - Here, these should fit you. Let me know if you need a different size. I wash the clothe during your rest days, but you can get new ones if yours get dirty. Uniforms must be worn all the time during your stay in the academy. What room number you have?


    - Number eighteen, - I showed her the key.


    - Good. Eight door on the left.We went to search for our room, and woman greeted next student.


    Room was locked and we used our keys. It was not fancy but there was enough space for four beds, along with four tables and chairs. Near every bed was a chest, with a lock and a key inside it, and a closet. Since all beds were empty we chose two that were the closest to the window. We examined our uniforms. There were long ankle long skirts, white shirt, sandals and black robes. I sighed. Well it could be worth. We started to change, when someone knocked at the door. It opened and around fifteen year old girl came inside.


    - Hello, my name is Cleo. I was given the key from this room.


    - Come inside, - smiled Myne: - My name is Myne, and this is Avone. Look likes we will be roommates.


    - Nice to meet you, - she looked around and chose the closest bed. Unlike us, who had only their magic bags, she carried a huge bag. She put it near the bed and also decided to change into a uniform.


    Another girl soon joined us. Her name was Sheyla. She was cute blondie, around fourteen years old.


    We still had time, before our lessons and we spend it getting to know each other. Both Cleo and Shayla were born in a small villages, but after reaching age of six, priests discovered that they had a mage job. That was not good enough to get them a place in Magic guild, but local lords decided to send them to Magic academy and pay for two year lessons. That gave them enough time to learn four magic skills, so later they could became powerful mages in the lords employment. Their lords did not want to spend money for three year education, and before sending them to magic school hired them private tutors, who thought them how to read and count, and some basic knowledge about magic and spells.


    First magic skill that they needed to learn was Wisdom, so they were my classmates at least during first semester. Soon we heard second bell and went to school to get some lunch.

 Chapter 2. First lessons.

    Dining hall was actually several huge rooms, that were big enough for six hundred students to eat inside them. This time there were only first year students, since lessons for the rest of the students started only tomorrow. We found one off the tables covered with food, from which we could choose and fill our plates. Food was simple, but there was plenty of it. It consisted of bread, soup, drinking water and meat dishes.


    We occupied one of the tables, surrounded by chatting girls and quieter boys. After lunch we went to look for our classrooms. Classrooms had numbers on their doors witch made them easier to find. Me, Cleo and Shayla entered classroom sixty, while Myne went to a different one.


    Counting us there were only seven students in the classroom, when one of the professors came inside. It was Doranius, the same professor that registered me for the academy.


    - Look likes everyone is already here. My name is Doranius, I will be the main teacher for Wisdom skill. Since you will need to attend also basic lessons, you will have also other professors, but most of the lessons you will receive from me. These are books, that you will need to take out of the library, - he passed all of us paper sheets with names of seven books on them: - Rest of the students are already informed about this, but since you are first years you have this orientation lesson. Just to remind you. You can do monster hunting in your free time, but until the end of the semester, you are forbidden from using leveling crystals. Also, make sure you follow all academy rules that you are informed of. Breaking them could be grounds for expulsion.


    In case if you were told to choose Wisdom skill, but don''t know what can it actually do for you. Most of the spells are divided by five levels. Almost everyone is capable of learning level one spells, but with every level spell circles become more and more complicated. It takes someone with extraordinary memory to learn level two and level three spells, but using them is incredibly difficult. Wisdom skill improves your memory and helps you to remember and manifest magic circles inside your mind.


    Now let''s talk about skills and how you actually get them. When someone kills a living creature or undead, that possesses mana, we acquire part of that creatures life force. But our bodies can keep only part of the life force. The rest of it in time evaporates from our bodies. Leveling crystal help us to change that excess life force into skills or stats. If you never killed someone with mana, then you will get a skill in exchange for your own life force. That will affect your health and shorten your life span. You can replenish lost life force later, by killing another creature and stealing his life force. Sometimes of course you get a new skill even without leveling up. That usually happens in nature when you work hard to obtain a skill or get a lot of life force in short amount of time. Such skills are marked with word "New" during your use of leveling crystal. Long ago sages that could use Appraisal skill spend years researching new skill phenomena natural appearance. Later they came to these conclusion and created first leveling crystals. Later research also led to more advance leveling crystal that also could change excess mana into stats, that can increase your health points, mana, strength, defense and spell power.


    All skill orbs are actually artificial means of doing the same thing that nature and gods intended for our bodies to do naturally. Increasing strength stats, is actually weaker variation on evolving into stronger being, a feature that monster and other races than humans possess naturally.


    Like I mentioned before, hard work can help you to obtain a skill naturally, but such training can led to acquiring skill that may be similar, but not exactly what you want. In Magic academy, just like in other academies, teachers use knowledge that was accumulated over thousands of years by researchers to develop lessons, that will help you acquire the exact skill that you want to receive.


    That''s why it is important to attend your every lesson and learn hard, or you won''t get expected results.


    In order to learn a Wisdom skill you will learn knowledge about magic spells and spell circles. Their history and structure. You will need to train your memory and do a lot of memory exercises. Every lesson is important and perfected by countless generations. Previous experiences and knowledge passed down to us by our previous generations is what makes academies such special places for learning skills.


    Those of you who have only level one, will have to visit the dungeon under a supervision from senior students and kill some monsters before you get a wisdom skill. That will conclude your lesson for today. Make sure you visit the library and pick up your books. You will need to bring them with you to your lessons, but also feel free to read them yourself.


    That concluded my first lesson in the academy and we went to library to pick up our books. First lesson turned out to be more interesting and informative than I expected, and my expectations rose up quite a bit.


    We entered the library, and it immediately felt like a different world. There was a mild light and cool air. In front of us was a huge reading room. In the middle of the room were many tables with chairs near them. Further away we saw many bookcases filled with books.


    The tables had many small book piles on them. As soon as we entered, old, grumpy looking librarian moved towards us.


    - New students, are you? - she asked us.


    - Yes, - I nodded: - We were told to come here and pick up books, that we will need for our lessons.


    - What skill are you planning to learn?


    - Wisdom skill. All of us.


    - I see. I have books prepared for you. Please state your names and names of your benefactors.


    After writing down our names, she showed us the book piles, that were prepared for us. All together there were seven books, in different topics. The biggest book was called Magic circles in all magic schools. Others were books like: Magic history, Basics in spell learning and spell casting, Geometry, Mathematics, Races and their natural affinities for magic and Magic use for beginners.


    We thanked the librarian and returned to our room. I did not expect to learn math in the academy, and was not looking forward to it. Never liked math, even in my previous life. I spend my time looking through the books and reading passages that seemed interesting.


    * * *


    Next day I woke up with the first bell. I asked Myne to help me with my haircut, so I could conceal my elf ears under them. I did not know what prejudice may humans have towards the elves, and had no interest in dealing with it.


    After the breakfast, that consisted of bouillon with bread, our lessons in Magic academy finally began.


    Once a day we had a lessons about spell circles. It was taught by Doranius. First part of the lesson consisted of learning different spell circles, parts of them, that was used in different magic schools. Second part of the lesson we practiced drawing them. I was one of the worst in it. Most of the students were second years and had much more practice in it than me, not to mention that they used quills for writing and drawing from their childhood. I also had to learn algebra and geometry, and had to relearn formulas from the beginning, since I successfully forgotten them after my early school years. Surprisingly their use and understanding in these topics was quite good. Geometry had uses in building castles and churches, as well as war machines such as ballista and catapults.


    We also studied history of magic, which was boring, and consisted of mages their discoveries, and years when it happened. Other lessons were about other races and their natural abilities for the use of magic. That was useful and interesting information. The same time I could learn about other races that lived in this world and also about their strengths and abilities in using magic.


    Most students were younger than me and I had as little interaction with other students as I could. I mostly spend my time with Cleo and Shayla. Ninety percent of the students were nobles and they felt superior towards us. Things became easier for me, after I started wearing my adventurers badge over my shirt, were everyone could see it. It was not like adventurers were respected, but many younger kids admired them, especially legendary A rank adventurers Some of them were national heroes, and even received land and noble titles in Ashgrin. It was a way for kingdom to keep the adventurers in kingdom''s borders, to strengthen it capabilities of fighting monsters and keep dungeons in check. For that reason, kings of Ashgrin spend time making adventurers job a desirable one and granted special benefits to noble families whose sons or daughters reached high ranks as adventurers.


    Some young kids even approached me, asking me stories about my adventures. For Myne things were similar, but Cleo and Shayla had to deal with some discrimination from older students, who resented them, and thought of them as servants, who did not belonged in academy. But fear of most professors and their disapproval of such behavior kept their insults at tolerable level.


    During our free days we met with Luara and Trevor and hunted in nearby dungeon. To make our hunting more efficient, we usually departed in the evening after our lessons and spend the night close to the dungeon, so we could spend at least day and a half inside it.


    There were three dungeons around capitol. Mid ranking dungeon called Golden goose, was the only one that we visited. It was similar to Grimsburg dungeon, except that corridors in it looked like manmade insides of a building, made of huge rectangular stones. But they led to similar caverns where monsters sometimes attacked us, and gave us much needed magic stones and experience, along with their life force.


    Other dungeons were too dangerous for us, so we avoided them. Second, called Dead man''s chest, was similar to Golden goose, but had higher ranking monsters in it. Only C rank parties were allowed to go inside it.


    Third dungeon was called Cemetery dungeon. Thousands of years ago it used to be the town of the dead. People who lived during those times buried their dead inside it. They probably knew how to prevent them from turning undead or did not have such problems back then. But more than thousand years ago, cemetery transformed into a dungeon. It did not have underground floors, instead the giant cemetery with thousands of mausoleums became the dungeon. In the beginning it was low ranking dungeon with some of the weakest monsters. But after centuries and thousands of newbie adventurers who died killed by undead, monsters evolved and those of them who survived became stronger and stronger. These days it was considered a very dangerous dungeon, and only B rank adventurers of higher were allowed to go there. Few years ago C rank adventurers also were allowed to go there, but after several C rank adventurer parties disappeared there, Adventurers guild decided to let only B rank adventurers go there, to prevent the undead from becoming stronger. The artifacts that could be found in there were all used by undead monsters. But since probability of monster stampede from Cemetery dungeon was very low, guild never posted the dungeon clearing quests for it. Because of it, Cemetery dungeon was the least popular and almost never visited by adventurers.


    Since we could afford to stay inside the dungeon only day and a half, we did not earn as much as we used to in Grimsburg, during our dungeon visits. But we could take it slow and take no risks. Even so we earned enough for Myne to save enough money to pay for next semesters in Magic academy. Trevor and Luara had to pay only forty gold coins for every semester in Adventurers academy, so they needed less money than Myne.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Several month passed by quickly. I read a lot of books in academy''s library, that we had free access to, but there were still hundreds of books, that I wanted to read. But I did not have a lot of free time, that I could devote to my library visits.


    We also were getting use to our lives in capitol, and Myne started to talk about staying in capitol longer than two years.


    - I want to learn a skill Increased maximum mana points, - she told me during lunch, that we always had together: - It takes a whole year to learn it, but I still have one skill, that I can learn, and it would be very useful, especially for casting high ranking spells.


    - I was also thinking that we could stay longer in the capitol. I thought myself a lot about it, and was really interested in learning Weapons master skill after Magic academy. But I don''t think that Luara will like that idea. She complained a lot about staying in the capitol. Don''t think she likes big towns.


    - I heard that all beastpeople badly tolerate staying in such big towns for long periods of time. Something has to do with their sensitive noses.


    - Can''t argue with that, - I sighed: - That one time that we went close to poor part of the town was horrible for my nose too. I think some people in there have a habit of dumping their night buckets on the street below their homes, instead of using gutters. The drainage systems in Grimsburg were much better in less wealthy parts of town, than they are in the capitol.


    - Well I hope she will agree to stay longer.


    We finished our lunch and went to our classrooms. In front of us appeared four girls. They were different ages, but all pretty. Their school uniforms were probably special ordered, with sewed decorations on them. They were the current year queens of the academy. All from high ranking, rich and powerful noble families, their treated school like their private domain, dictating who is popular and who is not. Their leader was Mortana. Twelve year old girl, with waist long blonde hair. She was the daughter of archduke Kurgan. Kurgan ruled over territory that covered almost five percent of Ashgrin. But regardless of Kurgan''s power and bribes, his oldest son was not accepted in Magic academy, and joined the Knight academy. Unlike her brother Mortana had Mage apprentice job. She told everyone, that her father decided that she will be the mage in her family, while her brother will represent warriors strength. No one was brave enough to tell the truth to her eyes, but rumors anyway spread around the school.


    We stepped aside and let them go past us. Teenage girls could be very cruel and we did not want to get on their bad side.


    I walked Myne to her classroom and then went to mine. It was time for my lesson in benefits of the birth given jobs and their differences. Professor Luakvilly in his lessons always used examples from real life, which made his lessons more interesting and easy to understand.


    I took my place in the front and prepared several papers and my quill. In academy we were provided with school uniforms, dorm rooms, food and books, but supplies like paper, ink, quill and anything else that we needed for our daily necessities, we needed to buy ourselves. For that reason some of quills that students used were different sizes and made from all kind of materials, including monster feathers. Rich students used it as opportunity to show off and impress their classmates. Since even princess and princesses attended magic academy, no noble was beneath it and children of most powerful noble families of Ashgrin attended Magic academy. And such little things as quills were the only way to show their importance.


    - Today we will talk about stats, that you see when you use leveling crystals. There are also other ways to find out about person stats, but today we will talk about their importance and what exactly they do for us. You already know, that stat growth until level ten is influenced by your job. Jobs like mage will have high mana points and spell power, but as high ranking job it also influence your strength and defense stats. While if you have only commoner job you stats growth will be minimal and spell power usually stay at zero, until you reach level ten.


    I listened carefully, writing down anything that seemed interesting to me, so I could later read it and remember it better for the future. Unlike my previous school, Magic academy did not use tests or exams. Everybody paid for their lessons and it was up to students, to learn or not. Only students who sign up for three year lesson, which included eighteen months of basic studies, had to prove their knowledge after first three semesters. That was a way for academy to get rid of those who showed no interest in lessons and were too lazy or disinterested in using magic. Those who failed the exams were immediately expelled from Magic academy. Hundred years ago even royal prince was expelled from academy, so everybody who wanted to learn magic skills, took their lessons seriously, remembering examples from the past.


    - Like you already know, after reaching level ten, if your job doesn''t change, your stats will increase by one after every level up, - continued professor Luakvilly: - Some of you probably think that some of the stats are more important than others, and that some of them will be useless to you, but that''s where you are wrong. Every one of them is important, and this lesson will help you understand why.


    Like you should already remember, there is Health, Mana, Strength, Defense, Spell power, Luck, Speed and Morale.


    Mana, after you reach level ten will increase by ten after every leveling. It could be different if you have high ranking magic job such as sage, but for the rest of you it will be ten mana. It is constant increase and the amount of mana determines how many spells you can cast. It also can influence effectiveness of you spells. For example if your spell power is zero, you can still heal more serious injuries by using more mana. Some people think that it influences your spell power, but it is wrong assumption. Using more mana has the same effect as using the cure spell several times. There is no difference between spending fifty mana or casting Cure spell five time, each time using ten mana.


    Now let''s talk about luck. It influences the causality. The more Luck points you have the greater will be possibility that in battle your enemies attack will miss you, or at least miss your vital organs, and that your attack will reach your opponent. That goes both for physical and magic attacks. Most people, except undead, who cannot receive luck points and are unaffected by morale or feelings, have basic luck of one. If your luck is one it simple means that you have it, and won''t have any effect. High enough luck could be you ultimate weapon, since with luck of one hundred fighting opponent who has basic luck, you would never lose. Most of your opponents attacks would miss, while yours would always reach him. But it is impossible to increase your luck, during leveling. Only magic artifacts or real skills can increase your luck. Most powerful amulet known to mankind, can only increase your luck by three, which isn''t very much.


    Next, speed. Speed influences your ability to move faster. There are races like some beastmen tribes or high level monsters, that can move or, so you better understand, run faster than humans. Even slowest human child with commoner job at age six shows speed stat of three. Some beastmen have speed six, which means that they can move faster than humans, but these benefits will show themselves at their peak only after you reach at least level two. Only then the speed stat will help you move faster. If your speed is twelve, you will be able to move twice as fast as a grown up human male, even without any benefits of training, that can naturally increase your movement speed farther. It is also impossible to increase your speed during leveling. But it can change after you receive a more high ranking job or evolve, in case of monsters and non human races. Speed stats can also be increased using artifacts, but most powerful artifacts, known to mankind, can only increase your Speed by two. Which is still quit significant change.


    Morale determines your mood and ability to fight. Usually your morale is always neutral, but there are spells that can change it to negative, in which case you will lose your will to fight, and in worse case won''t even try to protect yourself during an enemy attack. High morale will keep you at peak of your abilities and influence the mood of your party members or soldiers, that are under your command. If your morale is high, your soldiers will never retreat, betray you or run away from battlefield, and spells that create fear won''t affect them. Undead have no morale stat, since they are incapable of human emotions. Moral also cannot be changed during level up, but it can be changed using artifacts. Your morale will always show itself as neutral, negative, high or very high.


    Next Health, Strength, Defense and Spell power. After you reach level ten one of these stats will increase by one after every leveling. First Health then Strength, then Defenseand then Spell power. And again from the beginning.


    Spell power is very important for mages. Since if influences the effectiveness of your spells. Let''s use the same example with Cure spell. If you need to spend ten mana for a single spell and need to cast Cure spell five times to cure a wound with spell power zero, then with spell power of five you will need only single Cure spell that uses ten mana. The same principle applies to battle spells. If you are using Magic arrow, and have high Spell power, it will be just as powerful as more high ranking Lightning spell if it is used by someone with Spell power zero. It also determines how long will last spells like Slow, or Haste, or protection spells. The higher Spell power stats you have, the better protection your spells will grant, and will last longer. Also there are skills and artifacts that grant magic resistance. You will need to use high ranking spells against such opponents. Some creatures or people with master level Magic resistance skill will be unaffected by even level four spells. But will be defenseless against level five spells. But if your spell power is fifty, then your level one spells will be as effective as level two, level two as level three and so on. Which means that even if you use level four spells against someone with master level Magic resistance skill it will be as effective as level five spells. But reaching level fifty spell power will be unreachable dream for almost all of you even using artifacts, so do not feel bad if your spell power stats are five or ten. It is still considered very high and helpful.


    Next Health. For many it is most desirable stat. Everybody starts with health ranging from one to one hundred, depending on your race. Level one humans always have health measurement of one, while dragons have one hundred. Health point increase influences your abilities to heal be it from physical wound or disease. It also can increase your life span. Creatures, whose health is measured in hundreds, lifespan last for thousands of years. Of course there are creatures like high elves or arch devils who stop aging after reaching adulthood or evolving, but for humans the only way to increase their natural lifespan is by leveling up and increasing their Health points.


    Health points also determine how much life force you will receive from a monster after you kill it. The more health points your opponent have the more life force you will receive, and faster reach next level, - professor chuckled: - Most girls consider these stats the most important of all. Since the high Health stats will improve their skin condition and make their hair look better.


    That was important. My hair were much shorter than I wanted, and their grew so slow. Also washing them, was a torture for me. Maybe if my Health stats go high enough, my hair will stay silky and I will never have to worry about dandruff again.


    - Strength stats determine your physical strength, - continued professor: - All humans are different from birth, some are physically stronger, some became stronger after training, but Strength stats can increase you physical abilities. Everyone have Strength stat of zero, once they are born. But it increases after you stat leveling up. Ordinary humans strength measured in stats would be six. Let''s assume that as mages, who rarely care about their physical abilities can pick up something which weighs forty kilograms. If your strength stat is six, and assuming that ordinary human can lift something as heavy as forty kilograms, then by reaching strength stat of six you will be able to lift something as heavy as hundred kilograms. At Strength stat seven, one hundred and ten kilograms, and at strength stat eight, one hundred and twenty kilograms. And so on. For that reason, high ranking mages, who spend their times practicing magic and reading books, are physically stronger than most humans, even if those humans spend their time training to increase their strength naturally.


    Most humans with warrior jobs have also high ranking strength stats, that they increase a lot until reaching level ten. They also put a lot of importance in strength stats, for obvious reasons.


    Now last - Defense. Let''s use dragons as an example. Ordinary human with a sword would be able to scratch a dragons scales. In terms of stats humans body have defense stat of one, while dragon''s would be fifty. Defense stats mostly help to survive physical attacks, but at high enough level they also protect against battle magic spells. After all fire ball is only fire, created using magic and lightning in magically recreated less powerful lightning that appears in nature. The most famous example was when an S rank warrior adventurer was attack by level one commoner with a knife in a tavern. Commoner stabbed the adventurer, but his knife only slightly cut him, because of the adventurers high defense stats. Warrior type adventurers put a lot of importance in Defense stats, since if helps them survive enemies attacks.


    I wrote down, most of the lesson and later spend time reading it to better remember. I did not even realize, that high defense stats protect from attack oriented spells, or that Health stats influenced someone''s life span. I started to regret, than instead of committing to three year studies in Magic academy, I chose to prioritize skill acquirement. Myne''s lessons were not so all encompassing. Her lessons were oriented on everything that had to do with Fire magic. She attended several lessons that I had. Such as spell circle lessons, when we learned about Fire school magic spell, or magic history lessons that were about mages who made most discoveries concerning Fire magic, of created Fire magic spells.


    According to her they spend a lot of time learning about fire, its properties, had to learn how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, and spend a lot of time simple staring at the bonfire. We started to get use to our new life and six month passed by, without us even noticing.

 Chapter 3. The tournament.

    Our first semester came to an end and our party gathered in Adventurers guild. Myne was the only one who learned a new skill - Fire magic, and was able to use leveling crystal to increase her levels, before the start of next semester. She reached level eighteen, but her skill choice was not great, so she had to increase her Agriculture skill to basic level.


    We had one month long break before the beginning of next semester and gathered to discuss our plans.


    - Should we explore deeper floors in the dungeon, - offered Luara. Until now, we could only go as far as third floor, because of our limited time. But we were strong enough to handle stronger monsters, that lived in the lower floors.


    - Actually I wanted to do something else, - said Trevor.


    - Really? What is it?


    - You already know that once a year during winter break king organizes a tournament between the first year students of the Adventurers academy and the Knights academy. Principal offered me a chance to participate. I agreed, because of the prize that king every year promises to the winner of the tournament.


    - What kind of prize is it? - I asked interested.


    - King promises a small favor to whoever wins the tournament. I wish to ask him, to order one of his mages to grow back master Evan''s arm. I heard that there are magicians in the king''s court that are capable of such miracle.


    - But you cannot even participate, - objected Luara: - Only those who are below level ten can participate in the tournament. And you reached level ten in Grimsburg already.


    - Actually I registered as a level three knight, in the academy, - blushed Trevor: - Because of that I am qualified to participate in the tournament.


    I laughed, and Trevor blushed even more.


    - I was so proud of my knight job, that I didn''t mention my previous job. I told principal about it, but he said that his records say that I am level three Knight, so that''s not a problem. There are plenty of nobles who also hide their previous commoner job, so there is unofficial agreement between tournament organizers that only current job and level is considered.


    - That''s great. Hope you win. Is there a money prize as well? - I asked.


    - No just a honor from a victory, and favor from the king. I think that it is more valuable than any amount of coins. But for last ten years all of the victors were students from the Knight academy. All participants are allowed to were armor and use any artifacts, that are their possessions. Low ranking adventurers can''t compete with students from Knight academy because of that.


    - I heard that current favorite is some archduke''s son, - commented Luara: - Bookies accept rates on him one to one hundred. He will probably be covered in artifacts, like dragon in scales. Nobles who fail entering Magic academy always use this as opportunity to get king''s recommendation. That is their second and mostly only chance to get acceptance for Magic academy. Last year that boy had fourth place, and lost because of the lack or sword skills. This time it will be different, he probably already has at least two warrior skills, and even more artifacts than last year.


    - His name isn''t Graig, is it? - asked Myne.


    - Something like that. You also heard about him?


    - His sister goes to Magic academy. She will be second year student next semester.


    - I see.


    - When will this tournament start? - I asked.


    - In one week. It gives time for teachers to chose academies representatives and students have time to prepare for it. Well, aristocrat sons have time to receive more artifacts from their parents.- I don''t think I can win, but this is a chance for me to repay master Evan.


    - One week is enough time for us to visit the dungeon and find Trevor some artifacts, - I offered: - We could still visit the dungeon and come back in time.


    - Oh, I like that idea, - agreed Luara: - Let''s do it.


    - I can''t ask you that.- What are party members for then, - Luara tapped Trevor on the shoulder: - It''s decided. Let us buy enough food, and be on our way. Everyone has their equipment with them?


    We all had magic bags and usually carried our possessions inside them, so we all were ready to go. Luara ordered food supplies from guild worker and we packed them inside our magic bags.


    - Well our mission is finding an artifact for Trevor or earning enough money to by one, - declared catgirl: - Let''s go and do it.


    We all smiled and fallowed our fearless leader.


    We went through first three dungeon floors and entered the fourth. Monsters in there were stronger and were in bigger packs, but we managed to get past them.


    Finally we reached floor five. We heard rumors that this floor was different and no maps were available for it. All we were told that exit to the floor six is on the other side. As soon as we entered it, we understood why there were no maps.


    First - the floor was bright. Light resembled the one that we had outside, during the day. There were huge glowing crystals on the ceiling providing the light to all floor. Unlike other floors, there were no caverns and corridors. It was one huge kilometers wide cavern with forest covering all of its surface.


    - Not what I expected, - I said surprised.


    - Neither did I, - agreed Luara. We spend a lot of time simple standing and looking at it. Finally Luara shook her head and started moving.


    - No reason to just stand here. We need to get to floor six, if we hope to have a chance of finding a single artifact for Trevor.


    We fallowed our leader, still feeling surprised, by the sight in front of us. No wonder there was no map for this floor - I decided. No use making a map for one giant forest floor with no roads. I put my bow inside its sheath and took out my sword. It was a thick forest and my arrows would be useless in it. Luara smelled the air, and sneezed.


    - Too much pollen, - she said with tears in her eyes, rubbing her nose. First attack came from an unexpected source. Myne was passing by one of the trees covered with vines, when vines suddenly started moving and wrapping around our mage. Myne screamed, when vines lifted her in the air and started moving her towards the tree. Trevor grabbed her waist, trying to prevent vines from pulling her away. I jumped in the air and cut the vines. I needed several slashes, before Myne finally fell in Trevor''s arms. We quickly retreated from the tree, with vines shaking and reaching towards us.


    Myne shook of the vines that were still on her and angrily glared at the tree. She extended her staff and fireball flew towards the tree. It burned down several vines and scorched the tree. Vines shook, and it looked like there were in pain.


    - Burn down the vines, - advised Trevor: - If they are trees only weapon, we will be able to cut it down afterwards.


    Myne nodded and used seven more fireballs until most of the vines were burned to ashes. I did not even know, that she learned Fire ball spell. We approached the monster-tree and used our swords to chop it down. Ordinarily we would not use swords for that, but all our swords were made from adamantium or orichalcum, and we did not risk dulling them. Tree was more that a meter wide and we chopped it from four sides. When I cut deep enough, blood came out of the tree trunk. I stopped and stepped back.


    - There is blood coming out of it.


    - From my side too, - said Trevor.


    - I don''t like it. I think that tree learned its lesson. Let''s just leave, - said Luara. We all agreed and quickly left the weird tree behind us. We carefully avoided all trees with vines, but we should have paid more attention to other surroundings. Earth opened up under Myne, and she started falling into a pit. I barely managed to grab her arm and fell on the ground, slowly slipping down with Myne. Trevor and Luara grabbed my legs and slowly pull us both out. After we reached safety we looked inside the pit. There was water in it and something moved inside it. We recognized leeches. As long as human appear arm there were more than a dozen of them, probably even more in the water.


    Myne shuttered imagining what would happen to her, if she would fell inside.


    - Watch your step, - said Luara, who also looked scared and disgusted. This forest turned out to be like nothing that we expected.


    We continued walking for an hour when we finally were attacked by normal monsters. At that point we were almost happy to see them. They looked like armadillos, around meter and a half long, reaching to our waists, and armed with long claws and small sharp teeth in their mouth. First we heard them, which gave Myne time to prepare her Slow spell, and me to prepare Magic arrow. As soon as we saw them, Myne casted her spell and I used Magic arrow to blew away first monsters head. They had tough armor that Trevor only damaged, even using all his strength. But, while attacking, they left their heads vulnerable. With Slow spell, slowing their movements, they were easy prey for us. Soon we disposed of eight monsters. Myne used her Magic arrow to kill two of them, while the rest died from our swords. We had to roll them over on their backs, to cut out their magic stones, Armor on their stomachs was thinner, but we still needed almost half an hour, before collecting all magic stones. Three hours later, we finally reached the other side of the floor five. We walked by the stone wall for half an hour more, until we finally found the stairs, that led to the floor six.


    Floor six resembled the usual dungeon floors, long dark corridors and caverns with occasional monster attack. We killed two huge rat packs, and one horned bear. We slowly moved towards floors right side, hoping that it will be the lucky one.


    Then we encountered bee hive, and I finally get to use my archery skill to its full potential. There were almost thirty bees, but thanks to their loud bussing, we noticed them early enough and Myne and me casted all protection spells that we knew, before challenging the cat sized bees. Thanks to our protection spells we avoided being stung by their stingers, and only suffered light injuries. That was the first time, that Trevor ended up unharmed, unlike the rest of us. His armor protected him from bee stings and he managed kill more of them than Luara and Myne. We started collecting their magic stones, when one more monster entered the cavern. He slowly approached one of the bees and after eating it, looked at us and licked his lips.


    We were standing still, pretending that we were frozen in fear. Well, mostly pretending. It was a floor guardian. With all the adventurers earning money by collecting magic stones, the floor guardian was the last monster, that we thought we would encounter. He looked like a bull sized tiger, covered in flames. He was called Burning tiger. A low ranking floor guardian, but still a floor guardian. What was it with floor guardians and our party?


    Floor guardians overconfidence and willingness to see fear of their victims, gave us time to prepare. I managed to cast Haste spell, and Shield barrier, and also prepare Magic arrow, while Myne also casted Shield barrier on herself, Trevor and Luara. She also prepared her Slow spell and casted it on Burning tiger, as soon as he started running towards us. Trevor, Luara and me run towards the monster. When the distance between us reached five meters I used my Magic arrow and wounded monsters leg. We all acted in complete silence. By this time we all knew what needed to be done, and also strong and weak sides of our party members.


    We separated, surrounding the monster. Burning tiger jumped on Trevor and he used his shield to block monsters attack. Mine and Luara''s swords wounded his sides. Burning tiger used his paw to hit Trevor''s shield and he flew away several steps. Myne''s magic arrow hit monster''s face and Burning tiger roared in anger. One of his eyes was damaged and bleeding. Luara stabbed the tiger in his side, but the wound was not deep. She could not use her body''s weight, to inflict more serious damage, because she could not get too close to the monster, because of the flames that surrounded his body. But she managed to distract the monster, and I used opportunity to cut off his back leg. Trevor got up and joined the fight. Monster tried to attack me, humping on his three legs, but Myne''s second Magic arrow wounded another one of his legs. Tiger fell on the ground and we surrounded him. We attacked monster from all sides, using opportunities when he turned his head toward one of us. Myne used her Magic arrows to further weaken the monster. It took as some time, but finally monster stopped moving and his flames went out. We were covered in sweat, from jumping around and heat that monster generated. He was covered  in wounds and blood, and for a moment I regretted that. Monsters hide could bring us a lot of money, but it was too damaged now. I cut out few pieces of undamaged hide, maybe I could use them to make me gloves.


    After short rest, Luara cut out his magic stone, while Trevor and me removed his largest claws and fangs. We got our hands on one more magic gem. As big as chicken''s egg, the magic gem was red like flames.


    - We will finally earn a lot of money, - happily said Luara. I remembered Tanot''s experiments with immortality elixir, and his need for magic gems. Selling this beauty would be such a waste. I still had three orichalcum coins, that I earned in Grimsburg and decided to take a chance.


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    - If you all don''t mind, I would like to keep it to myself. In exchange I can give everyone one orichalcum coin. That should be an approximate cost of the stone.


    Luara curiously looked at me: - I don''t mind. But why do you want it?


    - I heard that alchemists can use them to make artifacts. Maybe one  day I could need it. Call it investment in the future. Or gamble.


    I took out three orichalcum coins and stretched out my hand. Luara shrugged her shoulders, and took one coin.


    - Fine by me, - catgirl gave me the magic gem and I put it inside my magic bag. Myne and Trevor felt uncomfortable taking money from me, but took their coins.We finished collecting magic stone from bees, and continued our search for artifacts. Three days later we killed many monsters, but did not find any artifacts. Luara sighed and took out two maps.


    - At this point I think that we have only one chance of finding an artifact, - she pointed at one map: - There is a hidden room on floor seven. It''s a floor guardian room. I heard that other adventurers avoid it, because... Well it is floor guardian''s room. Floors seven and eight don''t have traveling floor guardians, instead every floor guardian that appears on those floors, after previous one is killed, ends up in that room. Since high ranking adventurers prefer hunting in Dead man''s chest dungeon and only low or mid-ranking adventurers come here, they avoid that part of the dungeon. According to guilds records last time someone tried to kill that monster, was five years ago. C rank adventurers party never came back, and since then no one tried to approach the hidden room.


    - What is the hidden room? - asked Trevor.


    - Unlike ordinary caverns, the entrance in this one is hidden by overgrown glowing moss. This room was first discovered around a century ago, when some adventurer decided to collect the glowing moss. Since then no one went there or at least came out for many years, it will be the only part of the dungeon where no one has looked for artifacts for many years.


    - But there will be floor guardian, - objected Myne.


    - And we don''t even know what kind of monster it will be, - agreed with her Trevor.


    - We have all kind of potions, even if it can use petrifaction or something similar, we can protect ourselves. And Avone has her Night vision skill, that will warn us early enough. If it''s too strong for us, Myne will use her slow spell and we will run away. Unless we go there, by this point we can forget about finding an artifact for Trevor.


    After discussing it some more, we finally agreed to try visiting the hidden room. We needed half a day to reach it, and before going to hidden room, we decided to take a nap.


    Floor seven was overgrown with glowing moss and it was easy to go past the entrance to the corridor, that led to floor guardians chambers. We had to search the cavern were the entrance was supposed to be, and without knowing exact cavern were it was supposed to be, we would never had find it.Trevor''s sword went through the plant, without hitting the wall. He used his sword to cut the moss and we saw long corridor.


    - Get ready everyone, - ordered Luara: - Corridor is supposed to be around three hundred meters long, with huge cavern at the end of it. Myne, Avone cast your protection spells.


    I used my protection spells, Haste spell and finally Bless spell to increase my strength. Myne used her protection spells and prepared her Slow spell. We went ahead with me in front of the party. When we reached the cavern, I, as silently as I could, peaked inside it. In the middle of the cavern was stone structure resembling an altar. Floor guardian was there, using the altar as his bed.


    He resembled a large human with hound''s head. That was the archon - servant of one of the gods who according to the legends ruled the afterlife. His big bronze body, was covered in muscles. Unlike other monsters he had a piece of cloth draped around his hips and groin, and sandals. I never read about such beings being floor guardians.


    I stepped back and after we retreated deeper in corridor, told the others what I saw.


    - Do you think we can win? - asked Trevor Luara. She thought for a while and nodded.


    - Yes. Don''t see why not. Let''s attack right now, while spells are still working.


    I took out my orichalcum arrows and replaced them with my ordinary ones. We all mentally prepared and stepped into the floor guardians chambers. Myne immediately casted her Slow spell, and I released my arrow. I wounded floor guardian in the shoulder and small stream of blood flowed from the wound. He immediately jumped off from the altar and grabbed a greatsword, that was concealed by his body. My second arrow went inside his chest. He pulled took it out and dropped to the floor. He also took out my first arrow and broke it in two. My arrows did not go deep enough in his body, but they could at least pierce his body and inflict wounds.


    Archon roared battle cry and run towards us. Myne used her Magic arrow, but he cut it with his sword. Even slowed down by Myne''s spell he still moved almost as fast as Trevor. His speed stat must have been at least eight or even nine, since Myne''s advanced Earth magic skill increased her spell''s power, reducing her opponents speed by half.


    Trevor put his shield in front of him and stepped forwards. More agile Luara run to the side. She did not use her shield probably judging that she was not strong enough to block floor guardians attack, even with her artifact-shield. I stayed behind. I wanted to inflict as much damage as I could with my orichalcum arrows, and I wanted to make sure, that our mage will be safe.Trevor and archon exchanged blows. Trevor was slightly faster, but archon was much stronger. Any ordinary shield or sword would have been cut to pieces by archon''s greatsword, but adamantium armor was a match for servant of deity and his sword. Luara cut monsters back, and Trevor moved slightly to the side. I used the opportunity and wounded archon''s leg. Annoyed archon used his left arm to pull it out, and missed Trevor''s attack. Trevor used all his strength and cut the monster''s left shoulder. He probably wanted to cut him in two, but blade went only as deep as clavicle. Trevor tried to pull out his sword, but it got stuck. In return archon used all his might and hit Trevor from above with his greatsword. Trevor tried to protect himself with his shield, but monster''s strength was too much for him. Shield flew to the side and greatsword hit Trevor''s head. Adamantium helmet protected Trevor from lethal wound, but he fell on the ground, with blood flowing out beneath his helmet. Luara immediately jumped forward and wounded archon''s shoulder. He turned to face next opponent and Luara jumped back. She avoided archon''s attacks, but could not find an opening to counterattack.


    - Myne keep your Slow spell ready, - I ordered and took out my sword to join the fight. Sadly Myne could not use her spell while monster was still affected by it. She needed to wait till the effects of the spell wore off to use it again successfully.


    I already prepared my Magic arrow, and used it as soon as I got closer. Cluster of magic energy hit the monster''s torso and he lost his balance. My sword hit the hound''s head and left a deep cut. Blood flowed in monster''s left eye, and he blinked, trying to clear it. Luara slipped by him and cut one of his legs.


    Monster could not use his left arm, and had to rely only on one hand to swing this greatsword. It slowed down his movements even further. Luara and me had advantage in speed and we used it in fullest, jumping around archon and cutting him whenever he turned his back towards one of us. Monster started to weaken from the blood loss, and I started to hope that we have a chance to kill him. Then suddenly his speed increased and I missed archon''s attack. His sword went directly to my heart and hit my chainmail. My orichalcum armor protected me, but I felt one of my ribs breaking. The impact threw me back and I fell on the ground. I hit the ground and lost my breath. Sharp pain from the broken rib overwhelmed my mind.


    Through my cloudy vision, I saw earth bubbles forming beneath the archon. Slow spell wore off for a moment, and he used the opportunity to its fullest. Archon faced Myne and run towards her. Myne used Magic arrow, but he again cut it apart with his sword. Luara tried to stop him, but he ignored the catgirl.


    I could barely move and was in no shape to cast spells. I reached for my magic bag and took out an elixir. No time to be stingy and use ordinary healing potion. I swallowed the liquid and my wounds immediately started to heal.


    Myne tried to retreat, but monster caught up to her and swung his sword. Myne tried to avoid attack and also used her staff to block archon''s attack. She partially succeeded and sword did not cut her in two, the way archon intended. But greatsword left deep wound in Myne''s body and she fell on the ground, with blood flowing out of her. Her adamantium chainmail partially protected her, but Myne was in no shape to continue the fight.


    Luara cried in despair and doubled her attacks, trying to stop archon. He stepped back trying to keep his balance and Luara cut his torso in several places. He kept retreating, using his sword to protect himself from Luara''s attacks.


    I felt better and used again my Haste spell. No time for anything else. I got up to join the fight. Angered monster used his wounded left arm and caught Luara''s sword. The blade left deep cut in his palm, but he squeezed his fingers, holding Luara''s sword in place. She pulled as hard as she could, but monster was too strong. Archon pick up his greatsword and Luara rolled aside to avoid the attack. She had to leave her sword on archon''s hand. He threw it aside and followed Luara cutting the ground, in places where she was moments ago.


    With Myne, wounded and dying it was a matter of time before archon could use his speed and strength to its fullest and cut us to pieces. We had to finish the fight now or it will be too late. Thanks to elixir I regained all my strength and felt rested, in top of my fighting abilities. But I had to finish it in one blow. Archon noticed me and again used the same attack that he used before. Horizontal slash from right corner to lower left corner. I avoided his blade by an inch, and trusted my sword with all my strength. Tip of blade went into monster neck, beneath its animal head. Blood flowed from his mouth and archon fell on me.


    He was heavy and I could barely breath beneath him. I tried to pull him off, but he was too heavy. Luara helped me and we rolled the body to the side.


    - Myne, - gasped I, catching my breath. Luara nodded and approached our mage, taking out healing potion. She used it on Myne''s wound, but it only managed to slow down bleeding. Luara took out several vials from Myne''s magic bag and had to use three potions, before Myne''s wound finally healed. After catching my breath I approached Trevor and used Cure spell on him. I removed his helmet and touched his head. His skull seemed to be whole. Helmet was slightly dented, but it protected Trevor''s head, and he looked just unconscious. Just in case I used one more Cure spell and went to see now Myne is doing.


    - She will be fine, - said relieved catgirl: - But no more fights with floor guardians. We are far from ready for them.


    I nodded. Could not agree more. We got lucky fighting low level floor guardians, but stronger ones would definitely kill us. And even now, we all survived only thanks to our orichalcum and adamantium armor. Luara cut out the archon''s magic stone, while I was watching over Myne and Trevor. Soon they regained their consciousness and were relieved to find out that everyone was fine. We searched the cavern, but did not find anything of value. Few pieces of rusted armor, probably all that was left from adventurers who previously challenged the archon.


    - We got lucky, - said Luara: - But it is time for us to leave. We just have enough time left to get back to capitol, so Trevor could have some rest, before the beginning of the tournament. Besides, we at least got floor guardians greatsword.


    I looked at the sword, it was heavy, and placed on the ground reached to my chest. The blade was more red than steel color. Trevor could probably use it, but it was two handed weapon, and Trevor''s strength stats were too low for him to use it with one hand. Unless it enhanced users strength or something similar, it will be useless to us.


    - Let us take the sword to guild and pay for appraisal there, - said Luara: - Maybe it is just the advantage that Trevor needs.


    We all agreed and after a short rest prepared for departure. We needed two days to get out of the dungeon. Fifth floor again surprised us with some nasty traps. This time it was pitfalls with spikes on the bottom. But thanks to Luara''s senses and trap detection skill we successfully avoided them. Weaker monster of the floors were no match for us and the evening of the second day we reached the capitol.


    After spending a night in the tavern we went to Adventurers guild to cash in our loot from the dungeon.


    - Hello again, - greeted us one of the receptionists. After six month we were familiar with most of receptionists, and they were used to us, bringing steady supply of magic stones. This one was a cheerful bunny-girl, who was always in good mood and greeted us with a smile: - One more successful dungeon hunt?


    - You can say so, - Luara took out most of the magic stones and monster materials that we got from our hunt.


    - Much more than usual I see. I will need some time to count and appraise it all.


    - We can wait.


    After counting our earnings it came to nine gold coins, five silvers and two copper coins. We all got two gold ones, and Luara kept the rest to replace the potions, that we used in the dungeon.


    - We also have something that we need guild to appraise. Can we talk somewhere more private.


    - Of course, - nodded receptionist: - Please follow me.


    She took us to one of the back rooms and Luara took out the greatsword and archon''s magic gem from her magic bag.


    - We want guild to appraise the sword and sell the magic gem.


    - Appraisal will cost you three silver coins, - impressed bunny girl took the magic gem and looked at it: - Magic gem, those are incredibly rear.


    - Yes. We got lucky, - Luara handed her three silver coins and receptionist put the magic gem and sword in her magic pouch: - Please wait here, it will take some time.


    We got comfortable in the soft chairs and waited for a while. Bunny-girl returned with old man, who still had the body of a warrior.


    - Greetings, - said the man: - I don''t think we met before. My name is Donar I am the current guild master. And you are Grimsburg dungeon party, then. Interesting things you brought, - we all stood up, but Donar waved his hand: - Please sit. Adventurers were never known for their good manners, so keep it simple.


    He nodded to receptionist and she put the greatsword and magic gem on the table.


    - First the sword. Its name is Sword of the undertaker. It is a mid ranking artifact. No curse on it, so anyone qualified can use it. The necessary qualification lowers and raises its value. One of you will need advanced level of Swordsmanship skill or something similar to use it. Sword increases magic resistance of the user and can cut through magic, even high ranking spells.


    I remembered archon cutting through Myne''s Magic arrows. So that''s how he did it.


    - If you wish we will gladly by it from you, or you can try selling it in auction. Some nobles will gladly by it, with proper advertisement, that only chosen swordsman can wield it.


    Luara thought about it, but shook her head.


    - Our warrior will keep the sword for himself. It will be useful to us, once he can use it. Unless you can offer us some similar weapon in exchange. We will consider a trade even for less valuable sword?


    - Sadly, we currently don''t have anything, that I can offer to you in exchange for it. But as you wish. If you ever decide to sell it, our doors are always open. Now the magic gem, as you already determined it is of higher value than magic stones. May I ask, were you got it?


    - We would like to keep that information to ourselves, and also keep our transaction private, - I quickly said. We already discussed it, and I convinced the others to keep our success quiet, explaining that this way Trevor''s opponents will underestimate him.


    - Strange request for adventurers party?


    - Myne and me are students in Magic academy. We wish to avoid unnecessary attention to us, - I came up with explanation.


    - I can understand that. Relations with nobility can be difficult for all adventurers. It will be done as you ask. About the money. I can offer you two hundred and eighty gold coins for it.


    Seventy gold coins for everyone. That was better than I expected. Our attempt to get Trevor an artifact failed, but at least we earned a lot of money. With the orichalcum coins that everyone received from me, by now they had enough money to complete three year studies in their academies.


    - We agree, - nodded Luara: - Can you pay us in gold coins, so we can divide them between us.


    - That won''t be a problem. Hope you stay in the capitol, after you graduation. We could always use skilled adventurers, who aren''t afraid to hunt in the dungeons, - guild master stood up and bowed to us: - Good luck to you in the future endeavors.


    We bowed in return and guild master left the room. Receptionist soon returned with our coins and we happily divided them between us. Usually we would spend the time celebrating after such success, but this time our male adventurer needed rest, to keep his strength for the tournament.

 Chapter 4. Trevors ambition.

    Next day we went to arena, build in the capitol. There were three such buildings, smallest for small tournaments, middle sized for more important ones, and biggest, for great fights or races.


    Streets near the coliseum were full with merchants who sold food, and things that in my world would be souvenirs. Trevor and Luara left earlier. As a fellow student, Luara was chosen to support the Trevor - help him with putting on armor and tend to him between the matches.


    Myne and me could only be spectators. Until now in the capitol most of the time I spend in Magic academy, and usually only used familiar streets that led to Adventurers guild, gates and few taverns that we used. I was so occupied with my studies and dungeon hunts during rest days, that we never even walked around the capitol. This was also first festival that I attended. Only festivities were in the small area around coliseum, but it was still a town celebration. We bought some food, and went to coliseum. Luara warned us, that seats are limited, and we arrived earlier to make sure that we get inside. We paid a silver coin for the entrance and found us seats, closer to the arena. I looked around. There were simple wooden seats, but also alcoves for richer audience with decorated chairs, small tables and roofs that protected them from sun. The coliseum had enough seats for more than a thousand people. Right now around the third of them were occupied, but more and more people were arriving.


    According to Trevor there were two stages to determine the best academy, between Adventurers and Knights academies. First the strength of a group and then individual abilities. First stage of competition was battle between ten students from each academy. They faced each other in single combat and the students who won the most fights were declared victors. In case if every academy had five victories, it was declared a draw.


    Then remaining students drew lots and fought each other until the final victor was determined. For last ten years the Knight academy was the winner of the competition, and almost all champions asked for king''s recommendation to join Magic academy. In the past, some of such students received Spellsword job, later in their lives, which was equivalent of Heroes job.


    We waited for almost an hour, until the beginning of tournament. By then all seats were occupied and several people were able to get inside, but had to stand between seats. Only few seats for rich viewers were occupied, but most of them were empty.


    Tournament was overseen and judged by a royal knight. Also there was a mage near him, his job was to cast protection spell on participants and heal them in case if they received wounds. Victor was determined by a blow, that would be deadly in real life. Also it was not important if sword hit the armor or flesh. Even hit to the cuirass, as long as it was to the place where heart was located, was considered a win. The participants could also win by disarming the opponent. Breaking the opponents weapon, also counted as victory.


    During first day of tournament ten adventures will face ten Knight academy students, next day were fights between winners of these fights, and on third day two remaining warriors, fought for the champions title.


    The royal knight declared the beginning of tournament, and on both sides of arena gates opened. Ten students from both academies entered arena and faced each other on the other sides of the arena. They had to fight the opponent in front of them, to make sure that they faced as random opponents as possible. I noticed Luara and few other adventurer students, peaking through the gates, that they fellow students used.


    According to the rules, students were allowed to use armor and weapons that were their property, with no help from academies or other benefactors. Most adventurers had leather armor or no armor at all, and from what I saw, simple steel swords. Trevor was an exception, wearing light armor. All his weapons and armor were made from pure adamantium, but they looked like steel ones, thanks to similar color of both metals.


    Students from Knights academy had decorated armor and swords, and also some jewelry. Probably at least some of their equipment were artifacts, that enhanced their stats or gave them other advantages. That was one of the reasons why Knight academy students were superior to low ranking adventurers.


    Trevor and Luara shared with as some of the rumors about Knight academy. Students there learned only battle related skills. One of skills that all students had to learn was Knight skill. It was equivalent of Weapons master skill taught in Adventurers academy. Both skills needed minimum two years of studies. Difference between them was that Weapons masters fought with all kind of weapons, but usually did not wear armor. Knights fought in heavy armor and also fought on horsebacks. In exchange they used limited amount of weapons, which included swords, spears, shields, maces, flails and battle axes. They could chose to learn the Knights skill first or last, and freely chose other battle skills that they wanted to learn. If I would have to guess, I would say that almost all of students participating in tournament chose to learn Swordsmanship skill first.


    Royal knight put up his hand and declared first match of the day.


    * * *


    First two students entered arena and saluted with their swords. Knight was armed with shield and sword, while adventurer had only a short sword. Mage casted a spell and barrier of light appeared around them. I recognized the basic Shield barrier spell, just its stronger version, thanks to mages higher rank.


    Adventurer tried to use his mobility, but knight successfully protected himself, using his shield. Finally knight used advantage of his longer weapon and stabbed adventurer in heart. Shield barrier protected student from deadly wound and attack left only a scratch on him.


    Royal knight declared victory and crowd cheered, congratulating the victor. Rest of the fights went similar. Most knight won, thanks to their superior armor. From what I could judge, their sword skills were similar or even superior to mine.


    Most adventurers relied on their agility, but some of knights were faster than adventurers, even in their armor. Among them one of the knights excelled in speed and technique. He was around seventeen years old in winged helmet and gold decorated armor. That was probably Graig, son of the archduke.


    By the end of the fights only three adventurers were victorious. Trevor was one of them. His years of training showed themselves in excellent sword technique and his skills and stats helped him to easily defeat his opponent.


    Royal knight declared the superiority of Knight academy in their teachings, and declared that tournament will continue tomorrow. We waited for Trevor and congratulated him on his victory. He thanked us, but seemed depressed.


    - What''s wrong? - asked Myne.


    - He is worried, that he won''t win the tournament, - answered Luara: - Apparently he doesn''t believe that he has any chances of defeating the archduke''s son.Stolen novel; please report.


    We tried to cheer him up, but were not too convincing, since we saw the abilities that Graig demonstrated on the arena. He may not have been good enough for Magic academy, but his sword skills with were apparent.


    * * *


    Next day we again arrived earlier, but almost half of the seats were already occupied. Second day of the tournament attracted more attention.


    By the start of the tournament all seats were occupied, this time even more expensive ones. People in expensive clothing accompanied by their families and in some cases guards, occupied them. Probably family members of the Knight academy students, or other people connected to them. I noticed Mortana and her friends in one of the alcoves.


    Students already drew lots, and first of them came to arena. One of them was Trevor. His opponent was a knight dressed in red cloak. Judging from its looks, it was most likely an artifact. Just like Trevor he used shield and sword, but his sword was one handed blade. It was thinner and lighter than Trevor''s, but just as long.


    As soon as royal knight declared beginning of the match, knight moved with inhuman speed and launched series of attacks. Trevor managed to hide behind his shield and used his first opportunity for heavy downward strike. His opponent laughed and block Trevor''s attack with his sword. That was a mistake. Trevor''s sword broke thinner blade in pieces and struck his helmet. Knight stepped back, momentarily disoriented.


    Royal knight loudly declared Trevor''s victory and we loudly cheered for him. Most of people, who watched the tournament, were commoners and they hoped that one of them will be the champion, instead of the knights, so Trevor received a lot of applauses.


    In second and third matches also participated adventures against knights. Both adventurers lost. In third match adventurer faced Graig who took his time humiliating his opponent, by striking his body, and only developed finishing blow after adventurer fell helplessly on the floor. He used all his strength and managed to cut his head even through the barrier. That was first time when mage had to cure someone. Second two matches were between knights. Then Trevor again stepped on arena.


    His opponent was the victor of second match. Unlike the rest of the knights, he used sword and mace in his left arm. His technique was not very good, instead he relied on brute force. Trevor protected himself with his shield and when knight showed an opening struck his heart. His opponent stepped back. He was unarmed, but strength of the blow, pushed him away. Crowd loudly cheered and angry knight left arena cursing and throwing angry glances at Trevor.


    Next victor was Graig, and then Trevor had to fight his last opponent for the day. His last match lasted longer. Trevor''s opponent was skilled fighter and Trevor missed two attacks, that struck his shoulders. Luckily for him, they were not deadly, and Trevor could continue.


    Then Trevor manage to hit knight''s leg on the side of his knee, and when his opponent fell on one knee finished attack by striking the side of his neck.


    People in spectators seats cheered as loud as they could. Everyone started to lose hope for Trevor''s victory when he missed first two blows, and were glad to see their new hero defeating the knight.


    Trevor was heavily breathing, but he smiled and waved to people. Royal knight summoned Graig, and declared that two students will face each other tomorrow, for this year''s champion''s title.


    Myne hugged Trevor when we meet him on the street, and I also happily congratulated him. We were on our way to tavern were we stayed last days, when we run into Mortana and her three friends.


    - Oh, isn''t it Myne and Avone, - smirked Mortana: - What are you doing with this adventurer?


    - He is the member of our party, - proudly said Myne. I sighed in my mind. This will led to problems.


    - Is that so? One more commoner, ha. You do now that you have no chance to defeat my brother? - she turned towards Trevor. He already realized, that she was Graig''s sister, and nodded.


    - Your brother is excellent swordsman. From what I saw he is the strongest member of the tournament. I may lose to him, but I won''t give up and fight as good as I can.


    - That won''t amount to much. But at least you realize how inferior you are. Let''s go, - she left, and her friends loyally followed her.


    - Geez, what a brat, - grimaced Luara, after they were far away and could not hear us.


    - Don''t worry so much, - said Myne: - I believe that you will definitely win.


    - Me too, - agreed Luara.


    - Sure, me too, - I added, but unlike Myne, we did not sound convincing enough.


    * * *


    Next day we arrived even earlier than usual, to make sure, that we could get inside coliseum. Streets were full of people. Rumors spread, that for the first time in years a student from Adventurers academy, will fight in final match, for the champion''s title, and people were eager to see the fight.


    When Trevor entered arena people loudly cheered for him. He managed a smile and waved to his supporters. Graig received only few welcome cries. I noticed Mortana, waving at him, but Graig ignored his sister. Mage again used Shield barrier spell, and royal knight declared beginning of the match. Both opponents carefully approached each other and exchanged few blows, testing each other. Soon it started to show, that even in his heavier armor, Graig was slightly faster and stronger than his opponent. Their sword skills might be similar, but Graig had an advantage. Trevor had to go on the defensive. Unable to counterattack he barely managed to protect himself. He missed hit to his shoulder, but barrier and his armor protected him.


    Graig attacked him several more time, but Trevor used all his experience to stay in the fight. Graig grew more impatient and his attacks grew bolder. Trevor missed strike to his leg, but was still in the fight.


    Graig cursed and threw away his shield. He took his sword in both arms and pointed it at Trevor. Trevor carefully observed him, behind his shield. Then Graig launched series of quick and powerful attacks. All Trevor could do was hide behind his shield and slowly retreat. Then he tripped and fell on the ground. Graig laughed and continued hitting him with all his strength. That was not against the rules, but people in spectators seats, screamed in disappointed and whistled at Graig.


    Graig continued his attacks, loudly laughing. At this point it was a matter of time till Trevor will lose the fight. Then after one of the heavy sword strikes, Graig''s blade broke into pieces. Pieces of steel flew to all sides, and surprised royal knight entered the arena. He examined Graig''s broken blade, and had no choice, but to declare Trevor the winner of the tournament.


    Graig screamed something in protest, but royal knight shook his head. Rules of the tournament were clear. When Graig''s sword broke, he lost the match. The only reason for it was Trevor''s adamantium shield, which was superior to any steel weapon, but Graig did not knew that. Angry Graig threw handle of his broken sword at the knight and left arena.


    * * *


    We celebrated Trevor''s victory in the Adventurers guild, were most of the adventurers and guild personnel, congratulated the rookie hero. Even guild master came down and tapped Trevor''s shoulders. Three days later Trevor attended the celebration in his honor in king''s palace. According to the tradition, Trevor could ask king''s favor then as a victor of the tournament. Next morning we impatiently waited for him in adventurers guild. Myne smiled widely and we all waited for good news. Ordinarily, at best we could see the king from afar, and for a commoners like us, seeing the king up close and even talking to him was a dream come true.


    Trevor entered the hall and joined as at the table. He looked slightly depressed, and we got the feeling, that things did not go as good as we hoped.


    - What happened? - asked Luara: - Did king refuse you?


    - Not exactly, - shrugged his head Trevor: - King was surprised by my request, but at least he wasn''t angry. I told the king about master Evan and my request. King confirmed that one of the mages, who served him, could indeed help master Evan to get his hand back. But currently that mage was suppressing monster stampede in kingdom''s west, and it will be a while until he comes back. Also one of the mages told me, that such powerful spells could be used only few times a year. For that reason, it couldn''t count as a small favor, that king grants to the victor of the tournament. After consulting, king decided that I will receive his final answer only after I graduate from Adventurers academy and get the Weapons master skill.


    - At least he didn''t say no, - tried to calm him down Myne. But we all were a little depressed. Trevor''s dream was not fulfilled, and we all tried to convince us that it still could come true.

 Chapter 5. Training students.

    Soon after the tournament ended our second semester started and we devoted ourselves to our studies. Our party members still meet once a weak four our usual dungeon hunts. We did not earn much, but enough to be safe that we all will be able to pay for our next year studies.


    Month flew by and long awaited time for my skill acquirement came closer and closer.


    We had less than a month left before I could finally learn Wisdom skill. I was impatient to finally receive it. And more importantly increasing its level, since then I could start learning mid ranking spells. Our adventurers party completed several quests in the dungeon, that were convenient to us. Mostly they were quests that required us killing specific monsters and bringing back their parts, such as venom or other body parts, that were used by alchemists or blacksmiths. After successful mission completion or party rank was changed to C rank party. We also had enough money for two more semesters in our academies, and were trying to convince Luara to stay in the capitol for at least three years.


    One day me and Myne were summoned to professors Doranius room. We knocked on the door, and after hearing a response went inside.


    - Please sit down, - Doranius invited us, and we took a seat in front of him: - Don''t worry you''re not in trouble. Actually I wanted to ask you two a favor.


    - I favor? - we looked at each other, surprised by the teachers words: - What kind? - I asked.


    - You are already D rank adventurers, and you visit one of capitol''s dungeons frequently. Don''t you?


    - Well, yes.


    - Good. You are familiar with it then. As you know, before learning a skill, our students, who still have only first level, must kill some monsters to increase their life force. It is my responsibility to make sure that they do it safely. Most of students will do that accompanied by members of their households, but among them there are still five students, who will need academy''s help with that. I would like you two to accompany them to the Mid-ranking dungeon, and help them with killing monsters. Your levels are high enough to handle anything in dungeons first floor. In exchange I can teach you any elemental spell up to level four of your choosing.


    - Any spell? - asked surprised Myne: - What about a Blindness spell?


    - Yes, I am familiar with it, and can teach you it, - nodded Doranius.


    - Do I have to chose the spell now? - I asked.


    - No, you can take your time and choose a spell later. But before you graduate the academy.


    - Mmm, how about teleportation spell?


    - I know about it. But it is level three spell, you will be unable to learn it now.


    - Yes, but if I increase my Wisdom level before graduating, you will be able to teach me. Right?


    Doranius laughed:


    - You know how to bargain. But a promise is a promise. Fine. If you can increase Wisdom skill to basic level, I will teach it to you.


    - When do we have to leave?


    - Day after tomorrow. That is the day that our level one students will have three days to increase their life force.


    - Can you get the students some weapons. They will need them, if they can''t use spells.


    - Of course. They all will be provided with spears. Anything else.


    - Food and water for three days. Magic lanterns or bracelets with glowing stones. That should be enough. Weather is warm enough, so we won''t need tents.


    - I will arrange everything, - nodded Doranius: - Nice to see, that you know what you are doing. And thank you. Myne you don''t have any lessons. If you wish I can teach you Blind spell today.


    - Oh, thank you! That''s great.


    I left Myne and went to my next lesson. Probably our roommates Cleo and Shayla will be the students who will need our help. I wanted to take the time and think of possible strategies to help them kill monsters and keep all students safe at the same time.


    Two days later we gathered near the gate. Sun was barely showing itself in the east, and it was still chilly. Professor Doranius also came outside, to wish as good luck.


    - Like you were informed today you will visit the dungeon, so you can kill monsters and increase your life force. Our students Myne and Avone will accompany you. Follow their orders and you will be just fine.


    They turned towards us, nervously holding their short spears. Everyone had a backpack on their shoulders, with lantern hanging on the sides of the backpacks. They were dressed in uniforms, but with warm cloaks and short spears as their weapons. Among them were our roommates Cleo and Shayla. One more peasant Tom, and two children from noble families, whose lands were close to Ashgrin borders. They were fourteen year old Megan, and our youngest member twelve year old Timmy.


    I stepped in front of them.


    - As some of you know, my name is Avone, and this is Myne. We are students in the academy, but we also are D rank adventurers. We visited the dungeon dozens of times and even reached its third floor. We won''t be going that far, and will only visit dungeons first floor. Our goal is for everyone of you to kill at least ten monsters. Both Myne and me during our adventures have killed hundreds of monsters, and know how to survive in the dungeon. Do what we say and you will be fine, but fail to follow our orders and we won''t guarantee your safety. Even dungeons first floor is dangerous and single mistake could cost you your life. So be on guard, follow orders and stay close. Myne and me will wound monsters and your job will be to deliver a final blow. If anyone isn''t ready to kill a monster then step back and stay here, since there is no reason for you to go to dungeon or continue your studies.


    Students looked at each other, but no one stepped back.


    - Good, then let''s go.


    Guard opened gates and we departed for Golden goose dungeon. Myne and me were familiar with road to the dungeon after using it dozens of times. By now we were also familiar with the layout of dungeons first three floors, and did not even need maps for them.


    Road went through forest. Citizens of the capitol almost never used it, but two adventurers parties went by us, on their way to the dungeon. After two hours walk we stopped for a breakfast. After almost a year, I still missed coffee, maybe one day I could find coffee beans in this world, and introduce the wonders of caffeine to humans of this continent. We eat bread with cheese, and washed it up with water, and then continued our journey. Usually it took my party members five hours to get to the dungeon, but with children of the academy we needed more than seven hours to finally reach the dungeon. Time was just past midday and we made a camp and had lunch.


    Academy packed us enough supplies, most of which was smoked meat. We also had more bread and cheese, but only enough for first two days, after that we will have to rely only on our meat supplies.


    - Everyone stay close to each other, and don''t run away on your own, even if you get very scared.


    Students nodded and we entered Golden goose dungeon. The entrance was huge stone arc, in the middle of the meadow, that lead deep underground. Like we, during our first dungeon visits, all students felt sense of fear and discomfort, coming out of the entrance. I took the lead, while Myne stayed behind. We needed both of us in front of our party, but first we decided to make sure that no one would panic and get lost.


    We crossed almost fifty meters long corridor that led us to a cavern with six exits. I chose middle one on the left side. It led to big sized caverns that big packs of weak monsters preferred. We wandered around for more than two hours, before finally encountered first monsters. They were dog sized moles, with frog back legs. We saw them before. These monsters, unlike their animal counterparts, jumped around using their frog legs and used their front legs with sharp claws as weapons.


    - Myne, - I called: - Prepare your Slow spell.


    Mole-monsters were blind, but with excellent hearing. As soon as I started to speak they turned, and started jumping towards us.


    Myne came to the front. Behind her, students were squeezing their spears and trying to look through the darkness, beyond lanterns light. I took out my bracelet with glowing stone and threw it towards the moles. As soon as Myne saw monsters she casted her spell, and earth bubbles appeared under the monsters. Six of them slowed down. Six out of eight. Not bad. I used my bow, to kill those who were not affected, and took out my sword.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    -  Stay with Myne! - I ordered our charges and disappeared from their side. Mole were considered weak monsters, and did not pose much of a threat for me. Still their claws were dangerous enough for anyone, capable of killing a human with a single blow.


    While running I casted Haste spell on myself, and then used my sword to wound moles frog-legs. With our speed difference, I easily avoided their attacks. Few minutes later all moles were on the ground, slowly crawling towards me. I used my sword to disable their front legs, and called to the students.


    - It''s safe to approach now!


    While they slowly came closer, I picked up my bracelet and hid it in my magic bag. Unlike the rest of the students, Myne and me used magic bags, and did not have huge backpacks on us.


    - Don''t come too close to them, and use your spears to kill them, - I ordered. Scared students slowly and carefully approached monsters. They hesitated, until Cleo finally closed her eyes and stabbed one of the monsters.


    - Don''t close your eyes. And don''t stop, until they stop moving.


    Cleo nodded, took a deep breath and stabbed monster three more times. It stopped moving, and she exhaled in relief.


    - Good. Cleo kill one more. The rest of you too. Chose a monster and kill it.


    Students slowly approached and started stabbing monsters with their spears. Myne and me closely watched them, with our Cure spells ready to use, in case of any accidents.


    Finally all monsters were dead. Megan stepped back from her victim and fainted. Myne run towards her, but after making sure that girl is unharmed, left her on the ground.


    I sighed. Well, at least they did kill monsters, and Megan fainted after doing her part. Sheyla was tending to Megan, while Myne and me cut out moles magic stone. I gave each student one magic stone, and told them to keep it. Monster claws were also materials that we could sell in the guild, but removing them was hard work, and one set of them would only earn us a single copper coin, so we left them with monsters.


    After Megan woke up, we took a short rest. I gave the girl her magic stone and congratulated with good job. She was embarrassed, but we already warned other students to keep quiet about it.


    Six hours and four more monster encounters later, I decided that it is late enough and we stopped for night rest. Myne used warning crystal and after dinner, students prepared for sleep. By now Myne and me easily fell asleep in the dungeon, but my first night I barely fell asleep before sunrise. I doubted that students will have more success, but there was nothing about it that we could do.


    I slept with my sword by my side, and when loud ringing alarmed us to monster presents immediately jumped up, with sword in my hand. It was a huge lizard resembling a komodo dragon. Monster was distracted by warning crystal loud sounds, but after seeing the monster, girls screamed in fear, and lizard turned towards them.


    I cursed and jumped towards it. My job was to distract the monster, until Myne could cast her spells. I screamed to attract monsters attention and sliced his shoulder. It worked and lizard-monster turned towards me. Tom decided to use that opportunity and attack the monster.


    - Stay back! - I shouted, but it was too late. Tom''s spear wounded monster back leg. Wound was not deep. Only spear''s tip entered monster body. Monster hissed in annoyance and swung his tail. Tom flew back and hit the ground, I noticed blood coming out of the corner of his mouth.


    Myne''s spell finally worked and monsters movements became slower.


    - The boy! - I ordered her and devoted all my attention to monster. He opened his mouth and moved towards me. I jumped aside and slashed lizards leg. Wound was deep and monster bended towards one side. I moved towards his second right side leg and may slash almost cut it off. Monster loudly hissed, and fell on one side.


    Next was his tail, I left only small part of it, and the disabled monster''s remaining legs.


    - How''s the boy? - I asked Myne after monster posed no more treat. Myne stood up wiped off sweat.


    - He will be fine. Broken ribs, leg and arm. But my Cure spell took care of it, - Tom moaned and opened his eyes: - How are you felling? - asked him Myne.


    - I''m all right, - he touched his body and surprised noticed blood stains on his robe: - What happened?


    - You almost died. How many times did we told you to stay away from monsters. Say thank you to Myne for healing you from the brink of death. Cleo stab the lizard in the eye, to kill it, but watch out of his teeth.


    Cleo nodded. She was scared, but mustered her courage and managed to stab the monster.


    - Deeper, - I ordered, and she pushed the spear with all her strength. Monster''s body trembled and he fell quiet.


    - Good. Cleo you should have enough life force to level up. All of you pack your things. We will continue after breakfast.


    - But, Tom almost died, - objected Megan: - Should we not return?


    - No, we are not finished yet. And Tom is fine now, well except for his stupidity. Remember all of you. Myne and me don''t need your help. Your job is to stay away from monsters until we order you otherwise. It the monster would have been even a little stronger, Tom would have been already dead. Remember this lesson, and never forget it.


    Students were depressed, but had no other choice than follow my orders. Without our help they would not be able even get out of the dungeon, without getting lost. I cut out lizards magic stone, and one of its claws.


    - Here, - I threw it to Tom: - Keep it as a reminder, that unnecessary bravery will get you killed.


    - Can I get one too, - shyly asked Timmy. I smiled at him and nodded. I removed one more claw and gave it to our younger member. Girls had mix expressions on their faces. They probably also wanted a souvenir, but monster claws was not something that girls would want to keep in their room. Unlike them Timmy happily looked at the claw, and carefully put it in his backpack.


    Rest of our hunting went better. We managed to encounter five more small monster packs, and two solo monsters. I killed stronger monsters myself, to keep students away from danger, but Myne and me managed to disable rest of them. Myne used her new blind spell, but it was not as effective in the dungeon as she hoped. Most monsters had bad vision from beginning and relied more on their other senses. By the evening I decided that students killed enough monsters. There was a chance that not all of them could level up, but they were getting tired and less careful. So after talking to Myne we decided prioritize their safety and leave Golden goose dungeon, early in the morning.


    Night was uneventful and we successfully left the dungeon. Cleo fell on her knees after exiting the dungeon, and said quick prayer, thanking the gods.


    - I never want to go back there? - shuttered Sheyla.


    - As a member of lords household, you may not have a choice, - I shrugged: - It gets easier in time. Once you level up and kill some monsters yourself.


    Shayla shook her head and Cleo agreed with her. Tom recovered after almost dying, and looked back to the entrance. He had doubtful expression in his eyes. But boy was brave. Brave enough to become a great adventurer, as long as he survives.


    We returned to academy shortly before dinner. Professor Doranius congratulated everyone with successful return, and us with job well done.


    We were just in time to get to dinner, but only Myne joined me. Rest of the students were too exhausted and fell asleep in their dorm rooms as soon as their heads touched the pillows.


    * * *


    One months later finally came time for my first graduation and skill acquirement. Myne already had basic Fire magic skill and it was her second time of graduating and receiving a new skill. But for me it was first time. To my surprise I was just as nervous as Cleo and Shayla. Academy made a big deal out of it, with principal giving the speech and telling students that not all of them my get the skill today, and regardless of the outcome to continue studying and getting more diligent about it.


    Then we were divided in groups and told to wait for our turn. We spend almost an hour, when professor Doranius nodded to his group and we followed him inside one of the buildings, that I never visited before. It looked like a long temple, and all I knew that students visited it when they received a skill. We formed a line and Doranius took us inside one by one.


    Finally it was my turn and I followed my teacher inside the building. There was just one huge hall inside it. Near the walls were dozens of crystals, all different sizes and colors.


    - What is this place? - I asked surprised.


    - These are skill acquirement crystals. All our academies use them. That''s why you are not allowed to use ordinary leveling crystals until you learn a skill. They interfere with these ones function and decrease your chances of acquiring desired skill. All these orbs can help you get one specific skill, and only it. Every one of these crystals is made by sages. It took academy centuries to gather them all.


    He took me to purple crystal on a pedestal that looked like a dragons arm.


    - Here put your hands on this one.


    I put both my hands on a crystal and waited for a while. White fog appeared inside the crystal and then enveloped me. Fog disappeared and familiar message appeared in front of me.


    Elf, LV 19


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Skills:


    Wisdom (Novice) New


    - It worked, - I exclaimed satisfied.


    - I didn''t doubt that it will, - smiled Doranius.


    - What would happen if I try using other crystals? - I asked looking around.


    - Without necessary preparations crystal would not work. Even worse you would lose the opportunity to ever getting the skill that crystal is meant to give you.


    - Doesn''t than mean that if I didn''t get the Wisdom skill now I would never get it? - that thought scared me: - But principal just said that if we wouldn''t get the skill we should continue our lessons?


    - He likes to scare young students, - smiled Doranius: - The truth is that me and other professors watch the students to determine if they are ready to use the crystal or not. If we are not satisfied with our students successes we don''t allow them to use the crystal and they are required to study six more month. Such cases are rear, since we expel most of unworthy after third semesters exams. But once in a few years there are some stuck up nobles who run to their  parents and demand the skill. In those cases we warn them of danger and they sign a contract that specifies that they take full responsibility in case if they lose the ability to acquire desired skill forever. Four out of ten usually still take their chances and only one out of hundred actually gets the skill. But out of students that are allowed to use the crystal by academy''s teacher, in seven hundred years, everyone has succeeded.


    That calmed me down:


    - Thank you professor.


    - Now let us go outside. The rest of your classmates are waiting, - we went outside and I waited until all my classmates learned the skill. Cleo, Shayla and me congratulated each other. After that we all attended the feast. All students that received a skill were invited to dining hall that had tables filled with all kinds of food. I was not even aver that there was so much different kind of fruits and cakes that were available to those who could afford it. Myne, Cleo, Shayla and me eat as much as we could, but there was still food left.


    Our stomachs were so full that we barely were able to reach our dorm rooms.

 Chapter 6. Cemetery dungeon.

    Next day we had to sign new contracts and pay for next semester. Myne already had Earth, Fire and Water magic skills, so she chose Air magic skill as her next goal. I chose Earth magic skill, just as I planned, and we paid for next semester. Cleo''s and Shayla''s benefactors already paid for them, and also for their stay in dorm rooms until next semester.


    Myne and me had two weeks, before next years lessons so we decided to spend them in town. Unlike us Trevor and Luara still had one week, before their graduation, so we had one week left before they could join us.


    So we decided to visit Adventurers guild and increase our levels. This was the only time we could do it. Our summer break was opportunity for us to visit the dungeon for a whole week and use leveling crystals to increase our levels and possible our adventurer ranks. I did not level up for a whole year and expected to finally reach level twenty and C rank.


    Receptionist took us to leveling crystal and Myne put her hand on it.


    Human, LV 18 - 19


    Name - Myne;


    Job: Mage;


    Status:


    Health: 27 - 28;


    Mana: 190 - 200;


    Strength: 13;


    Defense: 10;


    Spell power: 12;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 5;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:Earth magic (Advanced);


    Knitting (Novice);


    Agriculture (Basic);


    Wisdom (Basic);


    Intelligence (Basic);


    Fire magic (Novice);


    Water magic (Novice)


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Knitting (Basic);


    - Fire magic (Basic);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    - Only level nineteen, - Myne sighed. Well, she used leveling crystal six month ago, and we were taking it really slow in the dungeon.


    - At least you can increase your Fire magic skill level. That''s very useful. You will be able to cast fire spells faster now.


    - Ye, that''s great. But I really hoped to reach level twenty.


    Myne chose to increase her Fire magic skill, and stepped back from the crystal. With high expectations I put my hands on the crystal, but, just like Myne, was highly disappointed with the message.


    Elf, LV - 19


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Even after a whole year I still could not level up and reach level twenty.


    - Don''t worry. I''m sure you are close to leveling up.


    - I hope so.


    I slouched, and in depressed mood returned to main hall.


    - We still have one weak, want to go with me to Mages guild and learn new spells?


    - No, I''m in no mood for more learning. Maybe I take some easy quest to pass the time. Killing monsters always helps me to relax.


    Myne sighed: - Fine. Just be careful and don''t do anything reckless.


    I nodded and Myne went to Mage guild. I still had one weak and had no idea what to do. It would be wise, to go with Myne and learn a level two spell or two, like she suggested, but I was tired of learning and felt depressed by my luck of leveling up. I dreamed of reaching level twenty three, and was very disappointed. Never thought that reaching level twenty will be so hard, after jumping through levels in Grimsburg.


    I decided to take a look at quest board, but nothing interesting caught my eye. Myne told me not to take risks, but only reason why I reached level nineteen in Grimsburg, was by taking risks.


    I considered visiting dungeons. It was risky, but I was confident in my abilities and equipment. Still Dead man''s chest dungeon could be too dangerous, and the usual Golden goose dungeon did not caught my interest. That left only Cemetery dungeon. According to rumors it  was filled with high ranking undead. But undead monsters were mostly dangerous because of their magic. I learned Dispel spell, and at my level could use it to counter any low ranking spell. And it''s not like their will be any high ranking magicians in there. Right?


    I had my doubts, but decided to try it out. After all if things go bad I will simple run away. I ordered some food from guild worker and went to Cemetery dungeon. Technically, as D rank adventurer I was forbidden from entering it, but it''s not like the dungeon was guarded or anything.


    Cemetery dungeon was located four hour walk from the capitol. The road was rarely used and mostly overgrown. But it was still visible and it was hard to lose way. When I approached Cemetery dungeon the smell in the air changed and it stunk like rotten flesh. I shuttered and took out my sword. Usually I use bow and arrows, but they never work against undead, so this time I will have to rely on my sword and spells. I hid behind a tree and took a close look at Cemetery dungeon. In front of me was land covered with withered grass, broken tombstones, and old mausoleums. I did not see anyone. Somehow I imagined it being covered by swarms of skeletons and ghosts. The worse thing about undead monsters, was smaller amount of life force, that they had comparing to other creatures. But at least they had life force, which was surprising in itself.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I took a deep breath, It was not too late to change my mind. But just as in previous life, most of time I was cautious person, who preferred to take things slow, but then once in a while I made reckless and stupid decisions that I always regretted later. Nothing had changed, even after my reincarnation.


    I entered the dungeon and hid in the shadow of one of mausoleums. I casted View earth spell, hoping to find all kind of treasures, but nothing was there. Well no surprise. All mausoleums, especially so close to dungeon''s borders were searched by swarms of treasure hunters hundreds of times. This place probably had not a single copper coin left inside it.


    I hoped that stronger monsters will be in the middle of the dungeon, and went deeper inside. My plan was to scout outskirts of Cemetery dungeon, to make sure that I can spend nights outside its borders. No need to take unnecessary risks.


    I finally encountered first monster. It was a ghost. slowly drifting in the air it aimlessly flew around cemetery. From my studies in Adventurers guild, I knew that ghosts, and other incorporeal monsters were immune to physical attacks, but could be killed, using magic weapon or spells. I did not know if my sword could kill or harm it, but it was perfect opportunity to find out. A blade made of pure adamantium could not harm a ghost, but my sword and daggers were made from orichalcum or adamantium and floor guardians fangs and claws. Technically they were not magic weapons, but added monster materials could make a difference. I armed myself with my sword and dagger and casted Haste spell on myself. Then I prepared Slow spell and stepped on the street. Ghost noticed me and immediately flew towards me. Undead-incorporeal monsters could not cause physical damage, but their touch could drain person''s life force, and sometimes also age them in mere minutes.


    I casted Slow spell and earth bubbles appeared beneath the ghost. His flight speed decreased, which meant that my level one magic was powerful enough to affect undead monsters.


    My sword slash went through ghost, but it still shuttered and moved back. At least my sword caused some damage. Next was my dagger. I jumped forwards and used it to cut monsters face. It shuddered again and retreated further away.


    Good. Weapons did not kill it, but caused damage. Several more attacks with my sword and monster turned to fog that fell on the ground. Then pieces of fog came together and formed magic stone. I was wandering, why ghost did not have one inside him. Guess that was the answer. I put the magic stone in my magic bag and continued my exploration. Next ghost I killed using my Magic arrow. My spell blew it to fog pieces that solidified into magic stone.


    Soon after that I encountered the wight. It was a type of ghost. But unlike ghosts, that I could see trough, wight had red cloak on it and no legs. It screamed and flew towards me with outstretched arms. Monster had life draining touch, and only magic armor could protect against it. My Magic arrow destroyed monster in one shot, and just like ghost it disappeared and left behind magic stone.


    That day I did not encounter any more monsters and left Cemetery dungeon when sun started to move towards west.


    Early morning I continued my hunt, but only monsters that I encountered were ghosts and wights. Four days later I killed more than fifty ghosts. I considered going deeper into dungeon, but fear of death stopped me from doing so. Evening was approaching and I decided to leave Cemetery dungeon, when a zombie stepped onto the street in front of me. Unlike usual zombies, this one had the remnants of the wizards robe on it. Just in case I prepared my Dispel spell. Zombie pointed his finger at me and between us appeared several meters wide magic circle. I never saw anything like that before. The magic circle glowed and when its disappeared, it left behind four dog sized spiders. They were black, and top of their legs looked like scythe''s. I recognized death spiders. According to legends they were servants of Spider goddess, worshiped by necromancers. Huge dangerous spiders with strong venom that could kill even a drake. Undead mage used summoning magic. I made a mistake preparing Dispel, I should have used Magic arrow or Haste spell. I turned around and run away. I glanced back, spiders were following me, but undead-mage stayed behind. I turned left and run around one of the mausoleums. It gave me enough time to prepare Magic arrow. Spiders run after me, but I was slightly faster. I run around mausoleum and back on the street.


    Summoner was still standing on the street. I released my magic arrow, and mass of magic energy flew towards zombie. He picked up his hand, to protect himself, but my spell blew away his hand and most of his upper body. I turned around. Spiders were still following me. I hoped that they will disappear, after I killed mage, but no such luck. I continued running for a while and casted Shield barrier and Stone skin spells on myself. That should be enough.


    I faced spiders and took out my dagger. Four on one, was not the best odds, but I should be able to take care of them. I jumped towards closest spider and stabbed his forehead with my dagger. At the same time I used my sword to cut off second spiders front legs. Third spider tried to jump on me, and I jumped to side. I had to leave my dagger inside monster''s head, but I already expected that.


    Spider''s attack missed and he turned towards me. He prepared for an attack, but a second too late. My sword cut the front of his body in two. Fourth spider used scythe''s on his legs, trying to cut off my leg, but my spells protected me, and all I suffered was a light cut. He tried to launch a second attack, but I was faster and pierced his forehead. I turned towards wounded spider. He tried using his remaining legs to jump at me, and I used my sword to cut him in two.


    I exhaled. I won, and survived my encounter with a mage. Well, weak undead mage, but still a mage. I cut out spider''s magic stones and gathered their venom. I had several empty vials inside my magic bag, just for such cases. I used four vials, to gather venom from all spiders. I decided to keep it, and use as a weapon, instead of selling it. I wanted to gather also undead mages magic stone, but my spell destroyed it. That was a shame. I used Cure spell, to heal my leg, and finally exited Cemetery dungeon.


    Next morning I spend wondering around and only closer to evening I found a lonely ghost and killed it. Probably I already killed all the nearby monsters and decided to return to capitol next day. I had two days left before, meeting with my party members anyway. I picked up ghosts magic stone, and wanted to put it inside my magic bag, when chills run through my spine.


    - Who dears to enter town of the dead, and disturb the sleep of the departed! - voice was deep and angry. First I did not realize where it was coming from, but then I saw a monster. It had man''s head on top of lions body. Behind him were two large bird wings. His mouth was filled with sharp animal teeth, and his eyes glowed with yellow light. It was lamasu, guardian of the dead, servant of god Lama, the main god of necromancers. From what I understood by reading the books in Adventurers guild, lamasu were not undead - more like living guardians of cemeteries and similar places.


    That was bad. Lamasu was as big as a bull and looked dangerous. His wings will also give him an advantage. My spells already stopped working. I started casting my Haste spell and tried to talk my why out of the fight.


    - I didn''t disturb anyone. I did not enter a single house of the dead, - that was true. No point going inside without any chance of finding reasures, and with possible undead waiting to sprang a trap on me.


    - You disturbed the dead by coming here with evil intent. And you killed guardian spiders. Prepare to die intruder.


    No chance for peace then. And fight it is. I hoped that monster had no long range attacks, or my chances of defeating him will be pretty bad.


    Lamasu jumped from the roof and spread its wings. It tried to land on me, but he underestimated my agility. I jumped aside and above and cut his wing. My sword left a deep wound, and I nearly cut off monster''s wing.


    Lamasu roared and after landing turned towards me. He glanced at his wing and put it closer to his body.


    - Impudent mortal. You will die for that!


    Like he was not planning killing me before.


    I took out my dagger and prepared for a fight. Monster looked dangerous, but thanks to my increased stats and weapons I was more than a match for it. After his first attack failed, lamasu was more careful, he slowly walked around me waiting for an opening. I decided to attack first. I started moving towards him, but at the last moment I jumped to the side. My sword left deep wound in his shoulder and monster roared in pain. Instinctively he moved back. I predicted his movement and followed him. My dagger went deep inside monsters body and pierced his heart. With his last movement, lamasu tried to bite my shoulder, but his teeth could not pierce my chainmail.


    Lamasu fell on the ground and I sat down by his side. That was my first time defeating monster without magic, well my Haste spell did not count.


    But I had enough of warnings. I cut out magic stone and quickly left Cemetery dungeon. It was time for me to stop risking my life and return to capitol.


    After selling my magic stones I earned only two gold coins. I expected more, but lamasu''s magic stone turned out to be of less value than I expected.


    I still had two days before Trevor and Luara would get their vacation and decided to use them to rest. I used my two gold coins to rent a room in an expensive tavern that we used before. The tavern had excellent room and huge bath that I could use for free there. I decided, that I earned some rest and relaxation, before my next journey.

 Chapter 7. Evolution.

    We spend a weak hunting in Golden goose dungeon, and resumed our usual study and hunt schedule. Luara successfully learned Infantryman skill, and decided to learn Night vision skill next. She also used leveling crystal, and just like Myne, reached level nineteen and leveled up her hunting skill to basic level.


    Cleo and Sheyla, who reached level four after our dungeon hunt, started learning fire magic, and most of my fellow students changed for this semester.


    Lessons also were different. We studied in depth the Earth magic spells, their history uses and the capabilities of earth magic school.


    After Trevor won the tournament, Mortana felt humiliated and used every opportunity to get back at Myne and me. Luckily we did not have any classes together and we avoided her as much as we could.


    Some of my lessons were really weird. One time we were buried in earth up to our necks and had to stay that way whole day.


    But some of lessons were really interesting. I learn about Earth magic spells, their names and capabilities. There were many spells that I wanted to learn, but they were high ranking spells, and I was not skilled enough to learn them yet.


    It took me six month, but I finally graduated and received Earth magic skill. Myne and me applied for one more semester. Myne chose to learn Lesser mana use skill, while I decided to learn Water magic skill. I decided to continue my magic studies, instead of going to Adventurer academy, because of the Teleportation spell. It was Water magic school spell, and what kid did not dream about teleportation.


    After my second graduation feast we went to Adventurers guild to meet with Trevor and Luara. We had month long vacation between semesters and planned our longest dungeon hunt yet. We arrived after Luara and Trevor, and they told us to go and use leveling crystal. Luara already did it and was disappointed since she was not able to reach level twenty. But she got Night vision skill and next semester planned to learn Dual wielding skill. I always thought that dual wielding skill users used only two swords, but turned out that this skill users used also daggers, as a second weapon, or trained to use only two daggers. That sounded interesting, since I also sometimes used my dagger as a second weapon in a fight.


    We entered leveling room and Myne used leveling crystal. Just like Luara she failed to level up. Next was my turn. I had low hopes for it, since both of my friends already failed.


    I touched the crystal and at first was happy with the results. I finally broke the level cap, and reached level twenty!


    Elf, LV 19 - 20


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:Health: 18;


    Mana: 180 - 190;


    Strength: 11 - 12;


    Defense: 7;


    Spell power: 9;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 6;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Archery (Advanced);


    Night vision (Advanced);


    Mana rapid recovery (Novice);


    Magic resistance (Basic);


    Wisdom (Novice);


    Earth magic (Novice);


    Butchery (Novice); New


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Wisdom (Basic);


    - Tracking (Novice);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    Then I noticed my New skill. Butchery, I got Butchery? Guess that was not a surprise after all monster magic stone and material removal, but that was one of the skills that I did not want to have. After all my dreams and planning, to get a balanced and useful skills I got butchery. That was so unfair. All my plans to be a user of both carefully chosen magic and warrior skills were ruined. I sighed and chose basic Wisdom skill.


    Myne started to congratulate me, but then saw my face.


    - What''s wrong?


    - Didn''t you saw it. I got Butchery skill.


    - Well, Luara has it, and she is very skilled in magic stone removal, thanks to it.


    - I don''t want it. I want to give it back. I wanted to keep one skill slot for later and learn Throwing and Swordsmanship skills.


    - Our teachers at the academy always say that useless skills don''t exist, - tried to comfort me Myne. I sighed. I wanted to scream and say that Butchery was garbage skill, but did not want to offend Luara, who were proud of all her skills.


    Seeing my gloomy face, Trevor and Luara assumed that I also failed to level up, and I told them truth.


    - Oh, you got Butchery skill, that''s very useful, - happily said Luara.


    - That''s what I said, - added Myne.


    - Let''s just go, - I said depressed.


    - Don''t you want to increase your adventurers rank first? It will be good to finally have a C rank adventurer in our party.


    - Maybe once we return. No use of wasting time and I can do that after we return.


    - Well, that''s true, - agreed Luara. Everyone except me was in good mood, happy for me about my success in becoming mid rank adventurer. After all most people saw even D rank adventurers, just as low ranking ones.


    General view was that F ranking adventures were rookies, capable only of low ranking jobs, like herb gathering. E and D rank adventurers were low ranking adventurers who knew how to do their job. And finally C rank adventurers were mid rank adventurers who survived plenty encounters with monsters, and most of them were seen as powerful existences who broke through level cap of level twenty. Most adventurers staid only as D rank adventurers and mostly claimed ranks by achieving necessary amount of jobs, unable to reach level twenty. B and A rank adventurers were high ranking adventurers and kingdom''s heroes, while S rank adventurers were special existences, almost demi-gods.Stolen story; please report.


    I felt depressed all our dungeon hunt that lasted for more than three weeks. We thoroughly explored floors two, three and four, then quickly passed floor five and explored floor six. Luara managed to kill more monsters this time, thanks to her improved vision. We failed in finding any artifacts, but hunted down plenty of monsters. We were on floor six and managed to kill one of floors stronger monsters that resembled a red bull with snakes tail. Luara managed to cut his neck and monsters fell on the ground, taking his final breath. That was a huge success for us. This monsters horns were valued monster materials, and there was even a quest for them, posted in adventurers guild. Unless someone already took it, we would earn five gold coins, just selling them.


    Luara started working on removing his horns, when she suddenly started to glow. We stepped back from her looking around and searching anyone  who could cast a spell on her. Luara also surprised looked at her hands. Then the light faded. We looked at Luara. She seemed fine, but somehow different. Her hair were darker, and I had a feeling that her facial features were somehow different. Her ears also changed they were rounder and shorter.


    - What happened? - asked Trevor.


    - Did you evolve? - Myne curiously looked at Luara.


    Evolution! I forgot about that. Beatsmen could evolve, just like elves and monsters. And Luara was close to reach level twenty, if she received enough life force, evolution could explain what happened to her.


    - Maybe, - Luara looked around: - I feel little different. We will need to return to the Adventurers guild, to find out for sure.


    - We have been here long enough, and I doubt that we will found anything of value. Since we''re not planning to go to floor seven, we could return now, - said Trevor.


    We all were curious about Luara and agreed to go back. During our return I noticed that Luara''s movements were faster and she also seemed stronger and more agile. I wondered if it could be because of evolution or I was seeing things.


    Five days later we entered the leveling room and Luara put her hands on leveling crystal. Message appeared before her and we all curiously read it.


    Panther girl, LV 1


    Name - Luara;


    Job: Scout;


    Status:


    Health: 16;


    Mana: 120;


    Strength: 0;


    Defense: 0;


    Spell power: 2;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 6;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Foresight (Novice);


    Scouting (Novice);


    Martial arts (Basic);


    Hunting (Basic);


    Tracking (Novice);


    Butchery (Novice);


    Trap detection (Basic);


    Infantryman (Novice);


    Night vision (Novice)


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Butchery (Basic);


    - Scouting (Basic);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    - I am a panther now! - happily shouted Luara. I had no idea what exactly it meant, but judging from Luara''s reaction that was good news. I also noticed that her speed stat increased, so her faster movements weren''t my imagination.


    - What does it mean? - asked Trevor, who apparently was as clueless as I was.


    Luara chose to increase her Scouting skill and turned to us, with smile all over her face:


    - It means that my race changed now. It is a high honor to evolve into a higher being. Granted by beast men god, this is a sign, that I earned his favor. Also I can change my adventurer rank, just like Avone. You too Myne try using leveling crystal.


    Myne did as told, but the previous short message appeared before her, which meant that she could not reach level twenty. Myne was not disappointed since breaking the level cap was not that easy.


    Luara exited the leveling room and with wide smile, informed the bunny-girl receptionist.


    - I evolved, and Avone also reached level twenty. We would like to increase our ranks.


    - Really! That''s wonderfull, - bunny-girl clasped her hands: - It is my dream to evolve too, but I am not an adventurer, so my dream will never be fulfilled. What race you evolved to?


    - Panther, - proudly declared Luara.


    - Wow, that''s so rear. Please follow me, I will need to confirm your evolution and miss Avone''s level first.


    We followed her to a private room and receptionist gave as familiar crystal.


    - I will need a drop of your blood, please.


    Luara went first and pricked her finger. After confirming our levels, bunny-girl nodded and soon returned with new, silver adventurer tags. We used our blood, to personalize them and Luara proudly showed her new adventurer tag to Myne and Trevor.


    - See, I did it. Next year you two will definitely reach the level twenty and we all be C rank adventurers.


    After we exchanged our magic stones and monster materials, we all received fifteen gold coins. Luara took us to celebrate our promotion. We still had three days before the beginning of semester and we spend it exploring the capitol. We finally had some free time, that we spend acting like my original world''s tourists.


    * * *


    After the start of the semester I found professor Doranius and asked him to teach me Teleportation spell.


    - You managed to level up your Wisdom skill already? That''s impressive. Were you not already at level nineteen?


    - Yes, - I showed him my adventurer tag: - I reached level twenty and my Wisdom skill is at basic level.


    - Congratulations. Breaking second level cap is impressive. Your dedication is very impressive. As promised I will teach you Teleportation spell. But you should know that teleportation spell is one of the most difficult spells in Water magic school to master. It will be easier for you to use, once you have Water magic skill, but you should know, that not all mages can use it successfully, even with Water magic skill.


    - Yes, I remember that, from my lessons. But I want to master it anyway.


    - Well then, - Doranius took out the parchment and handed it to me: - You know what to do now. Give it back to me, once you successfully copied it.


    I worked in evenings, trying to draw perfect Teleportation spell circle. With all the drawing lesson during my Wisdom and Earth magic skill studies, I was confident in my drawing abilities. But Teleportation spell circle was several times more difficult than any spell that I mastered before. Not counting surrounding spell circles the middle of magic circle resembled man disappearing in the smoke. By itself it was piece of art, and my drawing skills never were any good. I needed six weeks, before I finally was confident enough to draw it inside my grimoire.


    I was so consumed with the spell that I spend all my free time drawing it, even during my dungeon visits, I kept imagining it and because of it missed several monster attacks and ended up wounded. Luara gave me a speech about flying in the clouds and I felt like a child being lectured by a parent.


    I was lucky that there were no tests in academy, I would definitely fail them. After Luara''s lection I reevaluated my behavior and started to pay more attention to my Water magic lessons. Just like Earth magic skill lessons, they consisted of learning everything connected to Water magic. Once a week me and my classmates also visited the pool. We spend two hours swimming in water, using every possible swimming style. We also learned to hold our breath under water longer and had to do all kind of breathing exercises. I was already a good swimmer, but had feeling that my swimming abilities will improve by much, by the end of semester. But whenever I had free time, I used it to master my Teleportation spell.


    My obsession paid off and seven weeks later I presented my drawing to Doranius.


    - Eight out of ten students give up at this stage, - he smiled: - Your teachers in Grimsburg Mage guild described you accurately.


    I remembered recommendation letter, that I gave him during our first meeting. I wanted to know how exactly Mesmer described me, but was afraid to know. Maybe those were good things, like diligent student or something?


    - We can start with practical lessons then. Let''s go.


    After almost two years in academy, this was my first time visiting training grounds for mages. We went to one of many fields that were on academy''s grounds. There were two spell circles chiseled in stone floor.


    - This is the place where I learned Teleportation spell, - smiled Doranius: - These spell circles will help you to survive your attempts to jump through time-space. Before they were created nearly ninety nine out of hundred students died or crippled themselves trying to master the spell. These spell circles will prevent you from using Teleportation spell in a wrong way. You will need not just to imagine spell circle and fill it with mana, but also imagine yourself disappearing from one spell circle and appearing in another. These spell circles will also assist you in doing that.


    I nodded and stepped inside one of the circles. They were located six meters from each other, close enough for me to see them. I started imagining the spell circle in my mind. After obsessing with it for seven weeks it was easy, but filling all of it with mana was more difficult.


    Doranius occupied a stone bench and opened a book that he brought with himself. That was little annoying. But I cleared my mind and concentrated on a spell. Two hours later Doranius declared end of the lesson. I did not even came close to activating the spell and tried to object, but Doranius shook his head.


    - It is late, and I have other matters to attend to. Do not worry, we will continue tomorrow and spend two hours every day, until you give up or master Teleportation spell. Myne told me that you visit dungeon all rest days, so we will practice four days a week.


    - Thank you, professor, but I won''t give up, just so you know.


    - Yes, I understood that from recommendation letter.


    Geez, just what was written in it anyway?

 Chapter 8. Obsessions.

    My lessons in Water magic continued, but now I also spend every evening practicing my Teleportation spell. Soon I understood, why Doranius usually brought a book or some other school related papers with him, that he needed to attend to, and paid no attention to me.


    Four weeks later I did not even manage to fill god dammed circle with mana. Only at the end of week five I started to manage to slowly fill it with my mana. Another three weeks and I was able to fill ninety percent of magic circle before losing my concentration. I could do it around ten times in two hours, and Doranius did not even needed to share his mana.


    - How do other students learn? - I sighed after another failure.


    - Usually it is advised to have basic levels in Wisdom, Water magic and Intelligence skills, and also experience in mastering at least ten spells, out of them at least three level two spells. And even such mages need at least four weeks of complete dedication to learn that spell.


    - Why didn''t you tell me that earlier?


    - Would it change anything?


    - No, - I grumpily agreed.


    Two more weeks later I finally felt something. I managed to fill magic circle with mana and my body started to disappear, but then I fell on the ground, on the same spot.


    - You didn''t even try to imagine moving from one circle to another, - said professor, without even taking his eyes away from a book, that he read.


    I wanted to say something rude to him, but stayed quiet. Of course he was right. I spend weeks trying to fill circle with mana, and completely forgot about the other part. Two more weeks and my body disappeared and then appeared in second circle. I jumped around and loudly shouted:


    - Success! Success!- Good, - nodded Doranius you needed less than five month to finally achieve first step. Now you need to successfully activate the spell ten out of ten times. I talked to principal and explained him everything. You are allowed to use this training ground after dinner, until sundown. Let me know when you succeed successfully casting spell ten times out of ten inside the circles. And do not use it outside them. Do you understand?


    - Yes.


    - Good then you can continue on your own tomorrow.


    One week later I was successful four times out of ten. I was definitely getting closer.


    During next rest days Myne and Trevor were busy and we decided to cancel our scheduled dungeon visit. I got nothing to do, and after exiting academy ended up in Adventurer guild. I did not plan to go there, but I was deep in thought, about Intelligence skill, and how much I needed that skill, since it assisted mages in spellcasting. But that useless Butchery skill completely ruined all may plans. Even six month later I was still angry at it. Deep in thought I somehow let my legs guide me and was completely lost in my thoughts, after going inside guild hall. I went to quest board, pretending that it was exactly why I came.


    During first year in capitol we checked quest board regularly, but after increasing our party''s rank to C, we forgot about it, preoccupied with our lessons in academies. I lazily read the job offers and requests. Guarding merchants, guarding merchants, herd gathering, herb gathering, request for monster parts. Boring, boring, boring, then I saw word dragon. That was interesting, there were no dragons in Grimsburg, as far as I knew, and true dragons did not appear in dungeons. Dragon slaying request. It was posted under other pamphlets, and looked like it had been there for a while. Interested, I read the description.


    "Offer to any adventurer party or individual adventurer. Job requirement - kill the dragon who took residence in mountains near capitol. B rank job. Reward - skill orb for the skill of adventurer''s choosing."


    Skill orb for the skill of adventurer''s choosing - I swallowed and just in case read these words four more times. Skill orbs were magical orbs that can be used only one time. They allowed anyone to acquire the specific skill, without any necessity for learning or leveling up. There were several such skill orbs sold in the auctions, but they costed several hundreds of gold coins. It was way cheaper to go to one of the academies, and I also could not afford them.


    But skill orb, for any skill of my choosing. What about Double skill slot skill. That would solve all my problems. I grabbed the request and went to one of receptionists.


    - Could you tell me about this job, - I put the parchment on the table.


    - Gladly, - she smiled, but her smile disappeared, after seeing the request: - Miss Avone right. As C rank adventurer you can take this request, but you see...


    - What is there some kind of a problem? Did someone already took the job? - my heart starter loudly beating. What if someone took the job? Was I too late? Did I miss the opportunity of a lifetime?


    - No. Two adventurer parties took the job in the past and were completely annihilated.


    That sounded bad, but not as bad as I feared.


    - And?


    - You see, this is what we call o low priority job. And also you will not get any assistance from the guild, if you take it. Also usually kingdom provides help in dealing with high ranking monsters, but it won''t this time.


    I did not really care about that.


    - So I can take the job right. And can you tell me about the reward more.


    - You can take the job, yes. But I am afraid, that I cannot tell you more about the offered reward. You will need to talk directly with the client about it.


    That sounded annoying.


    - Who is he? And how can I talk to him?


    - It is sage Norris. You can visit him if you want.


    - I want, - I wanted to scream that I definitely want that, and barely managed to keep my voice calm: - Can you tell me how can I find him?


    Receptionist described me the house were sage lived, and how to find it. I took request paper with me. Could not risk anyone else taking the job.


    Following instructions, I easily found sage''s house. He lived in a big house surrounded by two meters high wall. House had glass windows, which was a sign of wealthy owner. At least he used to be. Through the bars of the gate I saw an overgrown park. Judging from the condition of a house, previously someone took good care of it, but now it starter to look like some abandoned mansion. I opened the gate and it creaked. Road that led to house was in good condition, but overgrown grass was already approaching it.


    I knocked at the door, but received no answer. I knocked louder, and again after a while. Finally someone opened the door, and unshaven man in dirty rob unpleasantly looked at me.


    - What is it? I don''t accept any requests, - he said in high pitched voice.


    - Are you sage Norris? I came to talk about this, - I showed him job request. He squeezed his eyes and stepped aside.


    - Fine, come in, - he sighed. He seemed like a man, who lost all hope.


    I came inside and he waved towards one of chairs, located in living room. Room was dirty, and light barely came inside it from unwashed windows.


    I sat down and sage took a seat in front of me.


    - So, you want to become a dragon slayer, ha?


    - No. I have some questions about the job, and reward. I have no interest in becoming a dragon slayer, and have no intension of risking my life, and lives of my party members. If I decide, that it is not worth it. And actually even if we do succeed, I would prefer if amount of people, who knew about it would be small.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    - Oh. So you don''t want to be famous? Aren''t you here to become famous dragon slayer?


    - The only reason why I am here is reward. Nothing more, nothing less.


    - I see. Very well. I will answer your questions, - somehow he seemed more interested in conversation than in the beginning.


    - First. Tell me more about the circumstances. Guild receptionist told me, that two adventurer parties already died, trying to kill that dragon. But she also told me, that it is low priority job, and that kingdom and Adventurer guild won''t provide any support. Explain what she meant.


    - You don''t now, ha! Very well. You may not be aware of it, but dragons are intelligent creatures. They are officially considered to be one of the intelligent races, that can be negotiated with. This dragon lives near mountains, east of the capitol. Almost a year ago he attacked merchant caravan and killed everyone, including adventurers that guarded it. Among the adventurers was my daughter. Later when king send his men to negotiate with the dragon, he said that those people attacked him first, and that it was self defense. What nonsense! No sane human will attack the dragon. He probably provoked them, or just attacked. But king decided to accept that story and since dragon only hunts in the mountains and forest, were are no human settlements nearby, he decided to leave dragon alone.


    - Why would he leave alone such dangerous creature?


    - Because of what happened in the past. Around twenty years ago different dragon decided to make a nest in the same area. King send his men to kill him, but dragon escaped. He retaliated by burning down several villages, and then just flew away. Our kingdom, has no means to hunt down such powerful creature if it decides to fly around and burn down villages, instead of fighting.


    - Then why were you allowed to post this quest?


    - Because he killed my daughter. Kind warned the dragon, that some individuals will want revenge, and that he cannot stop every adventurer that decides to become a dragon slayer. He also declared, that not all merchants were guilty and that not receiving help from kingdom will be dragon''s punishment. I heard that dragon just laughed at these words. King highly values my skills, in artifact making, and after I begged him to avenge my daughter, that was, what he came up with, to appease all sides.


    - I see. So until dragon poses no threat, no one wants to antagonize him, and king closes his eyes, as long as dragon doesn''t go too far. But he lets you trying to deal with him, pretending that it is dispute between two kingdom''s citizens.


    - Yes, you can say it that way.


    - What kind of dragon is it?


    - It''s the red dragon.


    Red, blue, indigo and black dragons were considered servants of evil gods. Red ones were some of weakest ones among them. That was at least something. It also meant that it did not evolve and was not an ancient dragon.


    - So low ranking one, at least that is good. You mentioned that reward is any skill orb of my choosing?


    - Yes. I am known as sage, and have a unique Skill orb creating skill, and also Artifact creation skill. As someone who has master level skill, I am of great value to king. That is the only reason I received this "special treatment", - he grimaced.


    - Sadly I am a member of a party. In order to have at least a chance of killing this dragon, and since we won''t have any support and could get in trouble, if things go bad, I will need the minimum of two skill orbs, of my choosing.


    - You seem sure, that you have a chance. Aren''t you afraid that your party will be wiped out, just like the last two.


    - If things go bad, we will do everything possible to run away. Besides I have a plan.


    - Really. My I ask what is it?


    I took out two vials from my magic bag and passed one of them to sage.


    - Can you tell what this is, and will it help?


    He opened the vial and smelled it. Then he let one drop to fall on the table. Wood turned black and smoke rose up from it.


    - Death spider venom?


    - Yes, getting it wasn''t easy. Will it work against the dragon?


    - One of the strongest venoms, that I know. Yes it will help, but it may not be enough to kill the dragon.


    - As long as it weakens him, it should be all the advantage that we need.


    - Fine. At least you are not planning to attack dragon blindly, like any ordinary monster, the way previous adventurers did. Boasting about their strength and fame. Agreed, you will get your two skill orbs. But only after the job. And I also can make only one skill orb in a year. I stopped working, so I could pay adventurer, who would succeed in killing the dragon, and returned advance payments for the orbs. That''s why I am experiencing money shortage, but it is temporary. Still you will need to wait, to get your second skill orb.


    - Very well, I can wait, - I nodded.


    - What skills do you wish to learn? Must be something special, if you want to risk a fight with a dragon, and possible wrath of the king, instead of going to Adventurers or Magic academy?


    - Double skill slots skill and that is not negotiable, and also Primordial magic skill.


    Sage sighed: - That is not possible.


    - If you can''t make them, then I am sorry to waste your time, - I thought about getting up and leaving, but his next words stopped me.


    - I can create them, at a great cost. But I CAN NOT. First of all, I can make any skill orb that can help you get any skill that gods created. But the problem is that Double skill slot is, what I call, additional special circumstances skill. And Primordial magic skill is special circumstances skill.


    - What does that mean? And didn''t you just say, that you can make skill orb for all skills?


    - How should I explain. Do you know how many skill it is possible to obtain?


    - Ten?


    - Yes and no. Those with Commoners job can get only ten skills, no matter what. But people or creatures with specialized jobs can get eleven skills. For example even if someone has ten skills, after receiving a blessing from the goddess of light he can get Light magic skill, which will be number eleven. Skills like Light, Black and Chaos magic are what I call an additional special circumstances skills. Since they cannot be normally received and people can get them as number eleven skill. I currently have seven normal skills, but my Skill orb creation skill is additional skill. I received it as a gift from a god. There is also one more important difference. Ordinarily your skills cannot level up to master level, until you have all ten skill at advanced level. But additional skills can be increased to master level without that limitation. That is how I achieved master rank skill, while I have only seven skills, some of which are at basic level. Do you understand what I mean?


    - Yes.


    - Good. Now let''s use the skill classification, that Magic academy and other academies use. They classify skill as ordinary, that you can learn in six month, advanced that you can learn in one year, and exceptional, that you can learn in two years. Are you familiar with that classification.


    - Yes. I am a student in Magic academy. To use your example, it would be Fire magic, Wisdom and Weapons master.


    - That''s right. In order to make a fire magic skill orb I need five hundred magic stones, in order to make Wisdom skill orb, I need three thousand magic stones, and in order to make Weapons master skill orb I need ten thousand magic stones. But in order to make special circumstances skill I need a special materials. More than that, when I received my Skill orb creation skill, god who granted it to me, warned me that creating additional skill orb, can only be done at a great cost, for mortals. I am allowed to make only one such skill orb. Once I do that my Skill orb skill will stop being additional skill, and become an ordinary one. Its level also will decrease as advanced, and I will lose my ability to ever get a different additional skill. Also in order to make a Double skill slot orb, I will need two magic gems from different dungeons. And almost all magic gems end up as property of the king. I would gladly pay the price, for making additional skill orb, but I simple don''t have necessary materials. The same is with Primordial magic skill orb. It can be made only from materials that are primordial in nature. There is only one such material that I know. Dungeon core, but it is nearly impossible to get one, because they are located in the deepest floor of the dungeon, inhabited by dungeon''s strongest monsters.


    - Does that mean, that someone with Double skill slot skill, can actually have twenty two skills. Twenty ordinary, Double skill slot skill as additional one and one more additional skill?


    - Yes.


    - That''s great. I took out two of my magic gems and put them on table. They are from different dungeons. Are these the materials that you need?


    Sage touched them with trembling hands, and carefully examined both magic gems: - Yes. They are exactly what I need. Using them I can make you Double skill orb.


    - And if I get you dungeon core, you will be able to make me Primordial magic skill orb, since it is not an additional skill?


    - Yes. Even if my Skill orb creation skill will be at advanced level, using dungeon core, it will be possible.


    - Good. Then we have an agreement. We will need at least month to prepare, and two or three weeks after that. I will come back after we kill the dragon. Will that be fine?


    - I waited almost a year to avenge the death of my child. I can wait two month. And I have no doubt, that anyone who is strong enough to kill two floor guardians in two different dungeons, and do that not for the fame or money, will be able to kill that dragon. My daughter''s blood cries for vengeance. I will get to work on creating the Double skill slot orb right away. It will be ready, by the time you return.


    I nodded. We still had one month until the end of semester, and technically we could use that time to prepare. Now, all that was left was convincing my party members to kill a dragon.


    - Also, do you know dragons exact location?


    - Yes. I managed to acquire that information, - sage went to one of the shells and gave me a map. I took a look at it. Location was near a mountain, around three days journey to east. Just like sage said.


    - Thank you. I will do my best.


    - My the goddess of light bless you, and stay by you during this quest.I returned to the guild and told receptionist, that I will take the job.


    - Are you sure? - she asked hesitantly.


    - Yes, - I will take the job, even if I have to kill that dragon myself: - I talked to client, and we agreed, that I will complete the job in two month time. Will that be a problem?


    - No, I will register you, and make a note about the time.


    - Thank you.

 Chapter 9. Dragon slayer quest.

    Next week my party members met in adventurers guild. They wanted to depart as usual, but I stopped them.


    - Wait, I want to talk to you about a quest.


    - Really? - asked surprised Luara: - What kind?


    - Dragon slaying quest.


    - Dragon? - asked Trevor uncomfortably. His hesitation was understandable. Dragons were among strongest creatures on the continent. Giant, fire breathing creatures, who could fly, and were also intelligent. Some of them even could use magic. Hunting them was as dangerous as it got.


    - It''s a red dragon, one of a weakest of their kind. And we will have plenty time to prepare and plan everything.


    - Even so, - shook her head Luara: - We might have reached C ranks, but fighting a dragon? That could be too much for us.


    - Besides, - added Myne: - Dragons have natural resistance to magic. Only high ranking spells would affect them. At my level all my spells would be useless against him.


    - Do you know Protection from fire spell?


    - No, but it is first level spell, I can easily learn it.


    - Good, because I have a plan, - I grinned: - We don''t need you then to kill a dragon with your spells. Instead we will poison him. Steel swords would be less effective against the dragon, but our adamantium blades should be tough enough to wound him. We will apply Death spider poison on them. And it''s not like we need to attack dragon head on. We will wait until it is asleep and then launch a surprise attack.


    - Death spider poison? In Adventurers academy we were told, that it is among the most dangerous poisons. But it is incredibly rear and almost impossible to get. And even then it will cost a lot.


    - I already got it, - I answered Luara, and showed her the vial: - I got several vials of this stuff. More than enough for all of us.


    - That could work.


    - There is just one problem. It''s about the reward. It can be used only by one of us. And I want to take the quest because I want to keep it to myself. In exchange you can keep all the money we get for selling dragon''s materials. They are worth a small fortune. We hunt all rest days to make enough money for our academies, - well it was mostly me, but I neglected to mention it: - But after this job you will have more than enough money to stop worrying about it for a while. You always said, that you want to learn more spells, but don''t have enough time or money to learn them: - I turned towards Myne.


    - That is true, - said Myne thoughtfully.


    - I also heard that adventurers who kill high ranking monsters have a greater chance of getting rear skills, and you always dream about that, - I turned to Trevor.


    - Well, yes, but my level is still too low.


    - Don''t worry about that. You will graduate in a month. And then you will have Weapons master job and will be able to level up. You haven''t use leveling crystal in two years and spend all that time hunting monsters. Luara and me already reached level twenty, and Myne was close to getting it too. You will no doubt be also at level twenty or higher, once you can use leveling crystal. And we will fulfill this job only afterwards.


    - Hmm.


    - Do you really think, that we can do that? - asked Luara, who was leaning towards agreeing.


    - Right now, no. But if we spend a month getting ready and planning our moves, then I have no doubt that we will succeed. We already killed several floor guardians, and they are just as dangerous as weakest dragons. Not to mention that we all are much stronger now.


    - Then let''s go for one more dungeon hunt, and then get ready to slay a dragon. We should take a break from the dungeon and use the time to prepare for the mission. Myne you will need to learn Protection from fire spell, and maybe something else useful. Trevor and me will ask around about dragons in Adventurer academy. Avone you also read about them in Magic academies library. We meet then here after graduation and go on a dragon slaying quest.


    - What about the reward?


    - I don''t mind if you keep it. Dragon liver, blood and heart, will earn as more than one orichalcum coin, not to mention his fangs, claws and scales. What do you think, Myne, Trevor?


    - I don''t mind.


    - Neither do I. Maybe I will keep some of the dragons scales to improve my armor.


    Full with hopes and dreams we went for our last dungeon visit, for a while.


    * * *


    Now that I had more free time, I talked to professor Doranius and asked his permission to use training grounds during rest days. He warned me not to overdo it, but gave permission to use them. I bought twenty mana restoration potions, and in just two weeks was successful in teleporting between magic circles ten out of ten times. My casting speed also improved.


    After reporting my results to Doranius, he took me to the training grounds, for the next step in our lessons.


    - I didn''t expect that you will succeed, especially since you needed half a year for a single spell. I never had read such accurate description of a potential student.


    - Just what did the letter said about me?


    - Hmm, did you know that all students spend four to six hours practicing drawing magic circles? During their casting they take breaks at least every hour or so. Most of those who lack talent or skills pay for additional days for learning spells.


    - No, I didn''t know that. So what letter said that I am a hard working student, who learned spells really fast, thanks to her dedication and hard work?


    - No, more like an opposite I would say.I pouted, but Doranius just smiled and continued the lesson.


    - Now you need to use the spell and use teleportation magic without spell circles.


    He used chalk to draw two simple circles next to magic circles.


    - Try teleporting between these two circles. But I should warn you that it will be dangerous. Using Teleportation magic even at this stage could cause harm to your body. I will watch you and use my Cure spell, but I don''t have Air magic skill, and best I could do is to take you to healer in our academy. How confident are you in your casting skills?


    - Well I succeeded ten out of ten times. And my casting speed improved.


    - That is good. But even so you luck talent for magic, and even talented students are known to cast damage to their body''s, that even mages with advanced level of Air magic skill would be unable to heal.


    - Wouldn''t Gods mead be able to completely heal them?


    - Used immediately it would heal you completely. But Magic academy does not have any. And it is very expensive and rear.I hesitated for a moment, but my health was more valuable. I took out the vial with Gods mead and gave it to professor.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    - Use this, if things get as bad as you say.


    - Is this really...?


    - Yes, it is Gods mead elixir.


    - Never even seen one. How did you get it?


    - Mmm, don''t worry about it. Just keep it ready, just in case.


    - Very well. Let us begin then.


    Professor Doranius stepped aside, and I entered chalk circle. I took a deep breath and concentrated. Imagining the spell and filling it with mana, was more difficult without magic circles assistance. I felt magic power inside the circle and guided it towards my body imagining appearing in second chalk circle.


    My vision blurred and I appeared in a different spot. Well technically I was inside second magic circle, just three meters above it. Second moment gravity affected me and I fell on the ground. Thanks to my enhanced defense stats I did not broke anything, even if I felt on my side.


    - Are you all right?


    I sat down and patted myself.


    - I seem to be all right.


    - Good. You really practiced your casting to perfection before. Most students get impatient and attempt their first try too soon, and end up much worse. Do you want to finish for today?


    - No, I am good to continue.


    That day I casted spell five more times. Only my first time was successful and I ended up in the middle of the circle. All other attempts ended with me either outside the circle or above it.


    We ended our lesson and continued next day. Two days later my precision improved and professor decided that I had finally learned the spell. I asked his permission to use training grounds some more, and he agreed to it.


    - No one else is using this particular spot, so you can use it, until graduation.


    - Can I use it between semesters, at least for the first week?


    - You will have to pay for staying in academy''s dorm rooms during break. But I will arrange for you permission to use the training grounds, - sighed Doranius: - No harm will come from that.


    - Thank you professor. I want to increase my accuracy and casting speed, and see how it works, after I get my Water magic skill.


    - You should know that this spell has limited uses. Even with level one Water magic skill, you will be able to cross the distance between ten to thirty meters. Even mages with high Spell power stats can at most jump fifty meters.


    - But my distance will improve if I level up my Water magic skill?


    - Yes. With high enough skill, you will be able to use that spell even to teleport several people at once, at a distance of hundred meters or so.


    That sounded better.


    - I will definitely improve the spell and its uses.


    - Good luck to you.


    * * *


    Professor Doranius returned to his room and opened recommendation letter. This was the longest time he spend teaching student a spell. Myne learned level two Blind spell in two weeks, which was impressive, using their limited study time. And Teleportation spell was incredibly difficult to learn and use. Professor himself needed two month to learn it, until its use was satisfying, and he already then had Water magic skill, that helped him to master it.


    Avone''s determination was admirable, but it was actually different than that. He watched her training during rest days. She started practice after breakfast and continued it till dinner time. Taking a break only once, to eat lunch. After running out of mana and falling on the ground completely exhausted, she used mana restoration potion and continued her training until again exhausting her mana. Few times professor had a feeling that she will vomit, after drinking mana potion, but she managed to hold it in and continue. That was more than hard work and determination.


    Doranius opened recommendation letter and read the lines written in beautiful and accurate letters, which was typical for Mesmer''s handwriting.


    "Avone has no natural talent for the use of magic, but I cannot call her anti-talented either. There are always students who can accomplish much, replacing the lack of talent, with hard work and dedication. But Avone is different in that regard. At first her teachers decided that she is hard working type, but she actually is obsessive to the point of slight insanity. I hesitate to use such words to describe a fellow magic student, but I feel that is my responsibility to mention it. She blindly keeps practicing, with no other thoughts or earthly desires until the minimum amount of success, which is required for the use of a spell. She is worthy of being a student in magic academy, because off her clear interest in magic and spells. And one day she might become excellent mage, and high ranking adventurer, but I advise you not to mistake her one sided obsessions with hard working types."


    Doranius folded the letter and put it inside the drawer. Truer words were never said.


    * * *


    The day of our graduation was happy and sad one. We all managed to acquire skills, but it was time for Cleo and Shayla to leave Magic academy. Their lords paid only for four semesters of magic studies. They already learned Wisdom, Fire and now Air magic spells, and it was time for them to leave. They actually shad tears, when saying goodbye to Myne. We all hugged and saw them off. We waved to them and watched their carriages leave in the distance.


    I sighed, I will miss my roommates. Slightly sad we went to adventurers guild. Our dragon slaying quest, was almost upon us. Just like last year, our semester ended up a week earlier than Trevor''s and Luara''s. We decided to use leveling crystal and then apply for next semester. After that Myne was planning to visit Mage guild and learn new spells, while I was planning to continue my teleportation practice, to get used to it, after getting Water magic skill.


    We entered leveling room and Myne put her hand on leveling crystal. She finally reached level twenty!


    Human, LV 19 - 20


    Name - Myne;Job: Mage;


    Status:


    Health: 28;


    Mana: 100 - 210;


    Strength: 13-14;


    Defense: 10;


    Spell power: 12;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 5;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Earth magic (Advanced);


    Knitting (Novice);


    Agriculture (Basic);


    Wisdom (Basic);


    Intelligence (Basic);


    Fire magic (Basic);


    Water magic (Novice);


    Air magic (Novice);


    Lesser mana use (Novice)


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Water magic (Basic);


    - Fire magic (Advanced);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    Even her skill choice was impressive. With two advanced level magic skills, she will be a power house. Satisfied Myne chose advanced level fire magic. I hesitated for a moment. After last use of leveling crystal I was afraid of getting another useless skill. But I needed all the advantage, that I could get to slay a dragon. I put my hands on leveling crystal and familiar words appeared in the air.


    Elf, LV 20 - 21


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:


    Health: 18;


    Mana: 190 - 200;


    Strength: 12;


    Defense: 7 - 8;


    Spell power: 9;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 6;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Archery (Advanced);


    Night vision (Advanced);


    Mana rapid recovery (Novice);


    Magic resistance (Basic);


    Wisdom (Basic);


    Earth magic (Novice);


    Butchery (Novice);


    Water magic (Novice)


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Air magic (Novice);


    - Magic resistance (Advanced);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    I was level twenty one. That was great. And I did not get any useless skill. Instead I could get Air magic skill, which would make my Haste spell more powerful. My countless times of using Haste spell, probably helped, and I finally got my first magic skill during level up. I planned to learn Air magic skill in Magic academy, but now I could skip that, and learn both Fire magic and Intelligence skills. That was perfect. I chose Air magic skill, and Myne and me congratulated each other with our successes. Myne was impatient to become level C adventurer and I waited until she received her new silver tag.


    Afterwards, having an excellent mood, we returned to Magic academy.


    - Come in, - said professor Doranius: - Glad to see that you decided to continue you studies. So what will it be next?


    - Intelligence skill for me. I want to be able to cast spells during battles as well.


    - Want to become a spellsword I see. And still working on your Teleportation spell, and want to improve it.


    - Yes.


    - I wish to learn Increased maximum mana points skill.


    - So you decided to fully embrace path of magician. That''s commendable.


    - Yes it is my dream to become an archmage.


    - Good. I am proud of you.


    Doranius prepared necessary contracts and we paid for the next semester. We separated after that. Myne went to Mage guild, and I to training grounds. Casting Teleportation spell became easier, I needed less concentration and my precision also improved. One more week of training and I finally had confidence in using Teleportation spell. Then the day of our departure finally arrived.

 Chapter 10. Dragon.

    I was standing in my room, checking my equipment. Hand and a half sword, made from orichalcum and lava worm horn, spare steel sword. One dagger and three throwing knives made out of adamantium and cockatrice claws. Bow and four quivers with arrows, two with steel tips, one with orichalcum and one with adamantium. Adamantium vambraces, short chainmail made of orichalcum, cloak, pants, boots, long enough to cover my knees, four vials of spider poison, vest, with pieces of adamantium armor sowed inside it. Headband, made of silver like metal with black gemstone in the middle. And my newest piece of equipment, pair of gloves that I specially ordered, made from burning tigers hide. They were made from leather, but as thin as possible, and more durable than any ordinary battle gloves. I paid six gold coins for the job. Next semester I will need to be careful about spending money. Well not like I spend a lot even before. I still had piece of adamantium, that I could exchange for orichalcum coin, but I wanted to keep it for emergencies.


    I also had a collection of potions and two Gods mead elixirs, for emergencies.


    I had to myself thirty two gold coins, two silvers and two coppers. Since I will not get any money after the quest, I will have continue dungeon hunting, maybe even alone, since my party members will have enough money to take it easy.


    I put my throwing knives in my magic bag. Could not use them anyway. Then I placed vials with poison inside it and changed from my academy''s uniform. I also put my weapons inside my magic bag, since weapons were not allowed in academy''s grounds, and put hood on my head. A habit that I got after usually hiding my face in Grimsburg.


    Myne was already waiting me outside. As soon as we exited academy''s gates we equipped our weapons. Myne put on her belt adamantium dagger and short sword, and in her hands she had her magic staff, an artifact from the dungeon. We met with our friends in Adventurers guild. Trevor and Luara already used leveling crystal. Trevor reached level twenty and was waiting for his new adventurer tag. He also Increased strength skill to advanced level, and his stats were quit formidable. Luara failed to level up, but she had now Dual wielding skill, that she learned in Adventurers academy. Luara like Myne was armed with adamantium dagger and short sword, and protected by adamantium chainmail, but she also had her artifact shield. Trevor was using his light armor, as well as shield and sword, all made from pure adamantium. He also had greatsword, that we got after killing floor guardian, but was unable to use it.


    Our preparations were finished. After Trevor received his new silver tag, we all were finally C rank adventures, members of C rank Grimsburg dungeon party. It was time for us to go on our dragon slaying quest.


    * * *


    Three days later, walking mostly through forest covered area, we reached small mountain range located east from the capitol. These mountains were capital''s main source of water. Several streams and a river that flowed through the capital began in them. Myne learned View air spell, that she could use to locate living beings in the area. It was similar to View earth spell, but could locate living beings, and at higher level also undead, not the metals and artifacts like View earth spell.


    We needed three hours of Myne casting her spell, until we finally found the dragon. He was inside a cave, probably sleeping. We decided to rest and wait until evening. Dragons usually hunted during the day, our chances catching him sleeping were better at night, or during sundown or sunrise.


    We covered our swords and daggers with Deaths spider venom and I also dipped all my adamantium arrows inside it. It was time for us to depart.


    Myne approached Trevor and suddenly kissed him on the cheek.


    - For good luck, - she said and blushed.


    Trevor was also red faced, but he nodded and happily smiled. Luara and me giggled, and they both became even redder. Did I miss something in their relationship?


    We approached entrance to cave as silently as we could and both me and Myne used all the protection and enhancement spells that we knew, including most important Protection from fire spell. Myne also learned Haste spell and used it on herself and rest of our party members. We both drank mana restoration potions and finally went inside the cave.


    We noticed the dragon almost immediately. He was sleeping deep inside the cave. Covered in red scales with huge back wings. From what I could judge, he was around ten meters long, and would be more than four meters high. Near him was a pile of burned bones, leftovers of his meals.


    We agreed that I will attack first, using my poisoned arrows. After that Trevor and Luara will distract him, while Myne will hide and use her spells as soon as they stop working. I took a deep breath and carefully aimed. I observed the dragon. Scales were smallest and looked most vulnerable on his neck. I released my arrow and it went inside dragons neck.


    Dragon jumped up and roared. Then he turned towards us, but my second arrow, again wounded him in his neck.


    Cave was big enough for us to play cat and mouse with the dragon inside it. Trevor and Luara run inside it while I continued shooting. Dragon avoided my third arrow, by bending his neck, and took a deep breath. Then he released wave of fire. It covered part of the cave and quickly went towards me. Trevor and Luara were too close to avoid it, and all they could do was hide behind their shields. I jumped out of the cave and pressed against the wall. Fire exited cave''s entrance and set nearby tree on fire. As soon as it ended I stepped back into entrance and released another arrow.


    I noticed Trevor and Luara. Both of them were fine. Not a single sign of fire damage on them. Myne''s spell was even more formidable than I imagined. Dragon used his front paw to shove aside my arrow. He glanced at us and squeezed his eyes.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    - Foolish insects! You will pay for this insult with your lives! - he roared loud enough for me to want to close my ears. I already knew, that dragons are intelligent and capable of speech, so I continued shooting.


    Dragon again used his paw to repel my arrow and then jumped towards Trevor and Luara, who were carefully approaching him. Our plan was not to inflict as much damage as we could, instead we were planning to stall for time, until poison started working. Both of them run to opposite sides, avoiding dragon''s attack. Dragon used his paw to hit Luara, but missed, when Luara rolled away from him. Trevor slashed dragons wing, and damaged it. Dragon hissed and one of my arrows again went inside his neck.


    He shook his head and again turned towards Luara. Trevor tried to attack him, but it was a trap. With speed that we did not expect from him dragon bended his body and hit Trevor with his tale. Trevor flew away and smashed into wall. Another arrow wounded dragon, but he showed no reaction this time.


    By now I hoped, that he will start showing signs of poisoning, but no such luck. Dragon again took a deep breath and breathed fire at Luara. She covered herself with her shield and flames completely swallowed her.


    Trevor stood up and prepared to continue the battle. Dragon''s attack was powerful enough to kill any ordinary human, but Myne''s protection spells kept him unharmed. One more arrow wounded dragon''s leg. He turned towards me and licked his lips.


    - An elf! I haven''t eaten an elf in a very long time. I will enjoy my dinner. His flames died down, and I saw Luara. Behind her even stone was melted, but panther-girl was alive and unharmed.


    Dragon did not noticed her. He deflected my arrow and started moving towards me. That was not good. We needed to keep him inside cave or he will be able simple fly away, if things start going bad for him. I run inside the cave, shooting on the move. Dragon was big enough, so there was no need for me to aim carefully.


    Dragon turned his head following my movements and was completely exposed to Luara''s attack. She used the opportunity and stabbed his tale, burying her sword deep inside his flesh. Not wasting time with removing her sword, Luara immediately jumped back.


    Dragon again roared and turned towards Luara. She continued running around him, forcing dragon to turn his back on me and Trevor. One more arrow wound.


    Dragon jumped, and Luara rolled over avoiding his attack. Trevor got close enough and stubbed dragon using all his weight. I grimaced, he should have cut dragon instead and immediately jumped back, following our plan. Adamantium sword went through dragon''s back leg, and dragon lost his step. His leg bended and he almost fell. Trevor tried to jump back, like Luara leaving his sword, but dragon again used his tail. It moved behind Trevor and tripped him. Trevor fell on the ground and covered himself with his shield. Dragon used his paw and hit Trevor with all his strength. His armor and shield protected Trevor, but he again flew away and hit the wall. This time head first. Trevor fell on the ground, not moving. I heard Myne''s scream. Dragon laughed and stepped towards helpless adventurer. Luara continued moving changed her direction towards Trevor, preparing one of her healing potions. One more arrow to the neck. Dragon glanced at me, but did not change his direction. Then he stopped and coughed. He spit out blood and shook his head. Finally poison started working. Luara poured healing potion on Trevor and tried to move him. Dragon laughed at them and took one more step.


    With the corner of my eye I noticed Myne. She run inside the cave and pointed her staff towards dragon. Then a glowing, transparent wall appeared between dragon and Trevor. Wall was about four meters high and eight meters wide. It did not reach the ceiling, but was close high enough to leave not enough space for dragon to jump over it. I recognized Force field - level two Earth magic spell, that Myne learned preparing for the this quest. Dragon turned his head to Myne and grimaced in displeasure.


    Luara used two healing potions at same time and Trevor started moving. They were safe, thanks to Myne, and with force field protecting them, they will have enough time to prepare to continue the battle.


    Dragon coughed blood again, ignored again my next arrow, and instead concentrated on Myne.


    - I will kill you first, and then your friends!


    He took a deep breath and released another wave of fire, this time at Myne. Faint yellow glow around her meant that Protection from fire spell was still working. Myne squatted down and shielded herself with her staff. Fire covered her, reflected from the walls and spread around the cave reaching even Trevor and Luara, who again hid behind their shields.


    Dragon continued breathing fire and again ignored my arrow. I took out my sword and finished preparing my Teleportation spell. During his fire attack, dragon stayed in one place and was completely exposed.


    My vision blurred and next moment I teleported above dragon''s head. I used all my strength to stab dragon''s eye. I bended, using my body''s mass and my sword went inside dragon''s head as far as the hilt. Dragon coughed, choking on his flames, and fell on the ground. I dropped on him, but dragon stayed motionless. He was finally dead.


    I rolled from it and patted myself. I was fine. Not counting Trevor''s injury, this went much easier, than I expected. Then I heard moans of pain. I turned towards Trevor and Luara. They were lying on the ground, covered in burns. They shields were next to them half melted.


    I turned towards the side, were Myne was standing. She was suppose to be there, unharmed, just like Luara and Trevor before.


    There were burned down, barely recognizable remnants of her body. I slowly approached her and touched black figure. It turned to ash and they fell on the ground. There was nothing left. Everything that Myne owned was in her magic bag, and it was just a pile of ash now. Not even her staff remained and three puddles of melted metal were all that remained of her adamantium weapons and chainmail. Probably her protection spell stopped working during dragon fire attack, and now Myne was dead.


    I went to Trevor and Luara and used healing potions on them. Their burns healed and Trevor opened his eyes. He looked at his shield and grimaced.


    - It is to damaged, but adamantium is valuable, you should keep it in case you need adamantium in the future.


    Luara also stud up shook her head, noticing the condition of her shield.


    - Where is Myne? - finally asked Trevor and looked around.


    - Her protection spell stopped working, during dragon''s attack. She did not make it.


    - What? What are you talking about! - Trevor grabbed my shoulders and shook me. I pointed at the ashes and Trevor noticed them. He let me go and approached them. Trevor fell on his knees and started silently crying in front of them. Luara also approached and hugged him from behind. I was never good enough at expressing my emotion, and did not know what to say in such cases. I simply stud there and watched them for a while.

 Part II Chapter 1. New semester.

    I walked aimlessly around the town, and then returned to Magic academy. Tomorrow were the day when our lessons were supposed to start. Myne was supposed to study Increased maximum mana points skill. Trevor chose Increased speed skill, while Luara was still planning how to pass her time, since she already had ten skills. She planned to learn some spells, and took some adventurer jobs in a forest. Guess she will not do that now. I knocked at professor Doranius door and waited for the answer.


    - Come in.I entered the room and froze in the middle, not knowing what to say.


    - You returned already. Was your dungeon hunt successful?


    - We didn''t go to dungeon.


    - Took a quest then? Myne mentioned some big job, that you were planning to go on.


    - Myne died.


    - Please take a seat.


    I sat in front of him, and he put aside the papers, that he was reading.


    - What happened?


    - We took a quest. I took it! And she died. Myne won''t be coming to lessons.


    - I see. I am sorry to hear that. I will inform the principal.


    - Thank you.


    - Is there anything else I can do for you?


    - Can I get individual room. I would like to be alone for a while, at least in my room.


    - I will arrange that. We can cover the expenses using money that Myne paid for this semester.


    - Thank you.


    I stood up and exited the room. I felt professors eyes on me, but there was nothing more to say. I returned to my room and fell on bed. Room was still empty. New students were supposed to arrive only next morning. I had to decide what to do next. There was only one thing to do.


    Next morning dorm keeper lady, told me that a new room is prepared for me. I took my magic bag, all my things were inside it already, and followed her. Room was smaller, but there was enough space for single person.


    Later that day my lessons started, but I had hard time concentrating on them. At least I wrote down most of the things, and read my notes in the evening. Someone knocked on my door, and after I answered, dorm keeper came inside.


    - There are two people at the gate, they wish to talk to you. As you know, only students are allowed inside and you will need to go outside to talk to them.


    - Who is it.


    - A young man, who looks like adventurer and beast-girl.


    - Can you tell them that I am busy, and can''t talk to them. And if they come back, just tell them the same thing.


    - Fine, - she sighed: - But in my experience, you can''t hide from your problems.


    I looked outside the window. Well maybe avoid them at least.


    Next day I was walking in the corridor when I run into Mortana and her ever present friends. It was her last semester, and I heard several times, teachers praising her successes.


    - Isn''t it commoner adventurer, - she greeted me: - And where is your commoner friend? Was she finally unable to pay for the lessons?


    - Myne is dead.


    I went past her, not listening to the whispers behind me. I entered the classroom and tried to concentrate. Lessons were interesting, mostly meant to teach us quick mental reaction and concentration. I did the minimum necessary amount, but mostly I lost my interest. I still wanted Intelligence skill, but I had other plans.


    When our two rest days arrived, I exited Magic academy early in the morning and went to Mage guild. This was my first time visiting it.The guild hall was similar to the one in Grimsburg, but bigger and one floor higher. The usual set of books and receptionist waited me inside when I entered it.


    - How can I help you? - smiled at me receptionist.


    - I wish to learn Destroy undead spell.


    - Good, we can help you. But you should know that this spell is a third level Air magic spell. You need at least basic level wisdom spell to learn it.


    - I have it. I also have Air magic skill. I am a student in the Magic academy.


    - I see. Welcome to Magic guild. We are always happy to see students from magic academy here. Learning the spell will cost you four gold coins.I put four gold coins and two copper coins on the table.


    - I will also need ten paper pages.


    - As you wish, - she gave me paper pages and soon returned with one of the mages.


    - My name is Tuare, I am magician who wields advance level Air magic and also advanced level Wisdom skills. So you are the one who wishes to learn Destroy undead spell?


    - Yes.


    - Tia told me that you are student in Magic academy and have basic level Wisdom skill. Have you experience in learning any high ranking spells?


    - I can use Teleportation spell.


    - Impressive, - nodded Tuare: - Then mastering this spell will be possible for you. Follow me.


    Tia passed him parchment with the spell and he led me to the room, which was similar to the one in Grimsburg.


    - Do you know what to do?


    - This is my first time in capitol''s magic academy, but I learned spells in Grimsburg.


    - Good. Our teaching procedure is exactly the same in all Magic guilds. Ring the bell when you are finished.


    Thanks to my lessons in drawing magic circles I finished this one in half a day. One of the servants brought me lunch, and after eating, I asked her to call master Tuare.


    - You are already finished.


    - Yes, I showed him magic circle in my grimoire.


    - Good. Follow me.


    Training room was located in the basement. Not counting its bigger size, it looked exactly the same as the one in Grimsburg. There were two more students, practicing the spells, under masters supervision. I recognized one of the students. He was a student at Magic academy. We had lessons together last semester.


    Tuare took me to one of the wooden dolls and I put my grimoire in front of me. Learning new spells did not get easier, and I failed to cast it. I returned next day and managed to successfully cast the spell shortly before midday. The wooden doll was surrounded by black light for a short while and then the light disappeared.


    - Good, you did it, - nodded master Tuare.


    - Thank you, - I heavily breathed. Spell took a lot of mana and practicing it for hours without break was exhausting.


    - Your lessons are finished with it. Feel free to come back if you wish to learn new spells.


    - Thank you. I will, if the need arises.


    After leaving Magic guild I kept practicing filling the magic circle with mana until the evening. I used up four mana restoration potions, but my ability to use Destroy undead spell slowly improved.


    I kept practicing the spell every evening after the lessons. Having the whole room to myself was helpful and helped me concentrate.


    Three days later, dorm keeper entered my room and put two letters on my table.


    - Your friends asked me to pass this to you. Beast-girl also asked me to tell you, that she is leaving the capitol.


    - Thank you.


    She nodded and left the room. I looked at the letters for a long time, but finally burned them. I did not wanted to read them. I chose the quest that got Myne killed. There was nothing that they could say that could change it. I closed my eyes, cleared my mind, and kept practicing Destroy undead spell.


    Two more days later my lessons ended and after dinner, I left the Magic academy. I put on sheaths with my dagger and sword, and left the capitol. My use of Destroy undead spell was fast enough, and I had my weapons. I was ready to do what needed to be done.


    I left my bow and arrows in the quiver. I will not need them for a long time. Two hours later I was standing in front of Cemetery dungeon. Thanks to my Night vision skill I was able to see as good as during the day. There was no need to wait for sunrise, and I went inside the dungeon.


    First monster I met was a ghost. He flew towards me, but my Destroy undead spell was ready. Dark smoke covered the undead and he disappeared. Magic stone fell on earth and I placed it inside my magic bag.


    After my first attempt at hunting in Cemetery dungeon, I read as much information about it as possible. It was not much, but I memorized some basic maps. The dungeon was not big. No underground floors, just one town of the dead, that adventurers could walk through in three hours. After searching nearby grounds, and not encountering any monsters, I returned to cemetery''s border and went inside first mausoleum. I had a single room inside it, with stone coffin inside it. Coffin lid was removed and the grave was empty. I searched all nearby mausoleums, but encountered only a single wight. My Destroy undead spell took care of it and I continued methodically search all nearby buildings.


    I still had one piece of paper that I bought in Mage guild, and I used it to make a crude map. I only needed it to mark the area of the cemetery, that I already searched. Two days later, by my estimates I searched around one percent of the dungeon. Seven monsters died, destroyed by my spell. That was not much, but I had more than enough time.


    I returned to academy and resumed my lessons. Next rest days I returned and continued searching buildings on the border of Cemetery dungeon. Then again, and again the same circle. Slowly I was cleaning the dungeon, moving in a circle around its borders, and slowly going deeper. Most monster that I encountered were ghosts, skeletons, zombies and some wights. By the end of the semester I searched more than fifteen percent. After the graduation, I went to adventurers guild and exchanged all magic stones that I got. Counting money that I already had, I barely earned enough to pay for next semester. I asked permission to use leveling crystal, but was surprised, that I managed to advance only one level. I of course heard that increasing level after level twenty gets much harder, and harder with every level, and that most adventurers never get past level cap of level thirty, but did not expect things to get that hard. I looked at my stats:


    Elf, LV 21 - 22


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:


    Health: 18;


    Mana: 200 - 210;


    Strength: 12;


    Defense: 8;


    Spell power: 9 - 10;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 6;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Archery (Advanced);


    Night vision (Advanced);


    Mana rapid recovery (Novice);


    Magic resistance (Basic);


    Wisdom (Basic);


    Earth magic (Novice);


    Butchery (Novice);


    Water magic (Novice);


    Air magic (Novice);


    Intelligence (Novice);Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Double skill slots


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Air magic (Basic);


    - Earth magic (Basic);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    I decided to increase the level of my Air magic skill. I needed it more than Earth magic, since my main weapon was Air magic spell. I returned to Magic academy and counted all my coins. Fifty three gold coins and eight copper coins. Enough to pay for next semester, learn a spell, and by some food that could last me for a month. Not enough money to pay for tavern, but I was not planning to stay in a tavern anyway. But I needed to earn more money, or I will not have enough money to pay for Adventurer academy, that I planned to attend after my last semester in Magic academy.


    Well, I was set for now, and planned to go deeper inside Cemetery dungeon anyway. But until then I needed to learn final elemental magic skill. I went to professors Doranius room, and after hearing invitation went inside.


    - Avone. I was expecting you. So have you chosen to continue learning in our academy?


    - Yes. I wish to learn a Fire magic skill.


    - I see. What about Air magic skill?


    - I already have it. Got it while leveling up.


    - I see, so that''s way you chose Intelligence last year.


    - Yes.


    He prepared the contract and after I signed it and paid for next semester, he asked me to stay little longer.


    - I wanted to ask you some questions, if you don''t mind.


    - About what? - I remembered about Myne, and my heart squeezed inside my chest.


    - First, my I ask what level do you have now?


    - Twenty two. Leveled up recently.


    - I see. Congratulations on reaching such high level. Last year, your party members completed a dragon killing quest, and sold dragon materials as proof. Your party also managed to kill several floor guardians. You may not know that since it rarely done, and we do not advertise it, but our academy has a special classes for students, who manage to complete extraordinary deeds while attending our academy. It was started by princess Leanisia, who during her education, developed several spells. To such students we offer a special program, during which they can learn magic skills, that normally are not available and are very rear.


    That sounded interesting, and for the first time in half a year I was intrigued.


    - Can you tell me more about it?


    - Of course, if you are interested. Like I said this program is offered to only extraordinary students. Thanks to your party successes, and after learning all four elemental skills, you are qualified for these lessons. If you can successfully graduate and learn Fire magic skill you will be able to continue studies in our academy. But there is one final test that you must pass. You can have this semester to do that. And I also must warn you that these skills are difficult to learn. You will need at least one year to learn them and payment for them is double than usual. Also you will need to prove your worth to academy by giving the academy gift, something rear and related to magic.


    - I see, - I thought for a while. Doubt that some monster materials would suffice, and piece of adamantium or adamantium dagger were not exactly magical. I still had two vials of Gods mead. Now that I learned Cure spell and had Air magic skill, it will be possible for me to regrow a hand or eye if I ever lose one, so I could afford losing one bottle.


    - Will Gods mead be enough?


    Professor opened his eyes in surprise, but nodded:


    - Yes it will be more than enough. But are you sure? Such elixir is highly valuable and rear.


    - It depends on what skills can I learn?


    - I see. There are several. Magic spell crafting skill, can be helpful and many think that also necessary to create new spells. It will help you to better understand spell circle structure and you might be able to create new spells. But I should warn you, that even with this skill, creating new spell might not be possible for you, since skills only enhance your natural abilities.


    That sounded not that interesting. Creating new spells could be great advantage and could open many doors for me, but even after all the lessons I had no idea how to even start crating new skill, and did not completely understand principles of spell circles. So this skill could turn out to be useless for me.


    - You can also learn Artificer skill. This skill is necessary if you are interested in crafting artifacts. Another choice it Life magic skill. It is rarely used magic, and mostly forgotten, because it is not battle related. It uses such spells as Holy word that inflicts damage to undead, but it is the most that this magic can do when it comes to battle magic. Mostly it was used in daily life. Its spells can help plants growth, create fire in a fireplace or create water.


    - Can it create hot water?


    - Yeas that is possible, but...


    - How much water? Is there a limit?


    - No, it is only limited by your mana and spell power, but...


    - I want to learn that.


    - Life magic? But you didn''t even heard about the rest.


    - What about spells, are they included?


    - Yes, in this case they are. It might be possible to learn the skill in one semester, but because we also teach the spells it takes two semesters to learn everything. And most Magic guilds don''t teach those spells, but...


    - Then Life magic it is. I want that.


    Doranius sighed.


    - I do not understand why, but fine. You will need a year to learn the skill and all the spells, that we know, that are related to Life magic school. After next semester you will need to pay two orichalcum coins, and leave as the elixir.


    - That''s fine. I can give you Gods mead now, - I could lose it by then, and miss my opportunity to learn Life magic water spell. I could not miss that chance.


    - Are you sure? I can prepare contract right now, but you still can change your mind.


    - That is fine. I won''t change my mind, - I took out Gods mead elixir and put it on the table.


    Doranius sighed, but prepared the contract and I signed it. After leaving the professor, for the first time in a long time I was in a good. Creating water. That sounded amazing. I could create it above me and take showers, as long as I want. For years I had to wash myself with wet towel or piece of cloth. There were of course public bath houses, but I did not have time to visit them. And the pool on academy''s grounds, were reserved for lessons, or rich students. If only I had known earlier about that magic, I would definitely learn it already. The only bad thing was that I will have to wait a year and a half, before I can use it properly. That was a shame, but nothing could be done about it now. I will also need to earn enough money to pay for the lessons. And in order to do that I will need to get stronger, so to the Mage guild we go.


    I had two gold coins, that I could spend, to learn a new spell, and I already knew which one I want to learn.


    - I want to learn Lightning spell, - I told receptionist in Mage guild and put two gold coins and three coppers on table: - And I will need paper sheets for my drawing practice.


    - Of course, - she nodded and went to call one of the mages. My teacher for lightning spell was my familiar master Tuare. He remembered me, and welcomed me back. We followed the usual procedure, but this time I learned the spell in just one day. That was a first for me. The time was approaching evening, when my spell worked and lightning came down from above the wooden doll and strike it. Unlike other spells to cast this one I needed to guide my magic power not towards the target, but above it. I succeeded in casting lightning few times before, but my aim was off, and master Tuare ordered me to continue, until it hit the intended target. That was tricky, since I needed to guide magic power towards the spot that I needed to imagine myself instead of clearly seeing it. Nelly always used this spell with incredible precision, and I had no idea how hard it was to aim the lightning.


    Tuare nodded satisfied, and I thanked him for the lessons. My skills started to help me, and I finally felt a difference that they created.


    It was already late, and I had to spend five more coppers to pay for the room in a tavern.


    * * *


    Doranius exited his room and took Gods mead vial to principal''s room.


    - Doranius, come in. What''s that you have there?


    - Gods mead.


    - That is... - principal put aside papers that he was looking threw and pointed at one of the chairs, in front of his desk.


    Doranius took a seat and glanced at papers. He often thought about academy and its finances and their origins. The fifty gold coins that students paid, could barely cover the expenses for their food. The truth was that it was not nearly enough. Principal kept payment for lessons so low because he wanted to allow students like Avone or Cleo, to attend the academy. That way people with potential had a way to develop their skills and become powerful magicians. Most of the academy''s income came from bribes. Officially they were donations, to the academy, but unofficially they were payments from rich nobles or merchants, to make sure that their children would be accepted in the academy, because otherwise they would be rejected, since academy officially took in students based on their jobs, skills and achievements that they had before trying to become a students in Magic academy.Doranius did not know the amount of the bribes, bet they were enough to pay teachers, keep academy running and even build a small treasury inside the academy.


    Doranius put the Gods mead on the table and thought that it would be good enough bribe to get a mediocre son of a noble inside academy and left a promising student on the other side of the gates.


    - So, where did you get it?


    - Avone accepted our offer for additional lessons to learn one of the rear skills.


    - I see. Which one did she chose?


    - Life magic skill.


    - That is unusual. Not a skill that I would think she would chose. Did you told her that this magic in almost unpracticed, because it has so few applications in battles?


    - Barely. I do not understand why she chose that skill. I didn''t even had a chance to tell her about other possibilities.


    - Strange.


    - Yes, sometimes she could be very strange. But I am worried about her.


    - What do you mean?


    - Like you instructed me, I asked about her in Adventurers guild. Thanks to our connection and cooperation, they send me information about her party and their successes. The information that I received included killing several floor guardians and a dragon, but more personal information regarding Avone they refused to disclose. Some kind of agreement between the guild and adventurers. I kept asking about her, but the things they told, was what she was not doing. Which is what is worrying me.


    - What do you mean?


    - Last year, after Myne died, they disbanded their party. Their leader returned to Grimsburg, while warrior stayed in Adventurers academy. He also received and excepted kings offer to join the royal knights. Before that they always hunted in Golden Goose dungeon. I expected that Avone will continue doing that, even alone. But she wasn''t seen in that dungeon anymore. She wasn''t seen in Dead man''s chest dungeon either. But she is always leaving the capitol, doesn''t stay in academy during rest days.


    - So where is she going? Maybe she is practicing in the woods?


    - I thought so too, but I doubt that. I asked her level, last year her adventurers rank increased to C, when she reached level twenty. Just like Myne before she died, at least that was what Myne told me. But recently Avone leveled up and reached level twenty two. After reaching level twenty, she would need to hunt constantly, to increase her level.


    - So how did she do that, if not by going to the dungeon?


    - You forget, that there is one more dungeon near the capitol.


    - You don''t mean? No that is impossible. No one goes there, for a good reason. Besides only rank B adventurers are allowed to go there.


    - Yes. But since no one is crazy enough to go there, it is unguarded. And since no one goes there, no one would see her there.


    - Still. At level twenty two? She wouldn''t survive there.


    - I discretely contacted Mage guild. After Myne died and their party was disbanded she learned Destroy undead spell.


    - I see now, why you are worried about her, - principal scratched his chin.


    - My I ask, why did you decided to offer her an extra semester in Magic academy? Officially there is such paragraph, but last time we did it, was almost fifteen years ago. And only reason why we did it, was because the student was a prince - the current king, and it was almost an order from a palace.


    - I can tell you, but please keep it to yourself, - Doranius nodded and principal continued: - It was a favor to sage Norris.


    - Famous skill orb creator. But why?


    - You may not know that that, but it was he who posted the dragon slaying quest in adventurers academy. Apparently he felt guilty, when Avone party''s member died during battle with the dragon. That was his way to pay back, for her loss. He wanted to avenge his daughter, but causing more suffering was not his intention.


    - I see. So that''s why.


    - Yes.


    - What should we do about her then?


    Principal shook his head:


    - Nothing. We should not interfere in private life of our students. Besides if you would know for sure that she is breaking the kingdoms rules, by going to Cemetery dungeon, you would be obligated to report her, and me too. So my advice - leave it alone.


    - But she could die!


    - And do you think, that she will listen to you?


    Doranius remembered recommendation letter.


    - No, she will not. She might even leave the academy, if we push too hard.


    - Then be a teacher Doranius. That is our purpose.


    - I will. My I personally teach her some of Life magic spells?


    Principal smiled and nodded. He read Doranius like an open book: - Yes, that you my do.


    * * *


    Next morning I spend all my remaining money on food supplies. They were not enough, but I could probably get by, by rationing.


    I left the capitol and went to Cemetery dungeon. I had whole month to continue my dungeon exploration. I also needed to earn more money to pay for next semester. I took out my sword and entered Cemetery dungeon.


    I kept destroying ghosts and searching mausoleums. In one of the buildings I found four silver coins. My first treasure, that I found in the dungeon. Then I saw a group of zombies. That was my first time encountering more than one monster at once. Judging from their clothe, they were former adventurers. Probably killed by monsters in the dungeon, they later were brought back to life by dungeon''s mana.


    Four of them. And one of them had a staff, probably former mag. That was dangerous. I had my Destroy undead spell, but there was a problem.


    Without Air magic skill Destroy undead spell could be used to destroy low level undead. With novice level Air magic skill, it could be used to destroy mid level undead, at basic - high level undead, at advanced - several undead monsters that belonged to the same species, like ghosts or zombies. And at master level - group of different type undead monsters. At my level I could destroy high level undead, but no more than one.


    I took a deep breath. They did not noticed me yet, so I had an advantage. I waited till they got closer and used my spell on mage. He screamed when black smoke envelope him, but it was too late for him. Pack of bones fell on earth along with the remnants of his clothe and staff. Rest of zombies noticed me and went towards me. I had time to prepare my Magic arrow and blew up second adventurer''s head. Two left. I prepared my sword and run away.


    They followed me, and I kept running until I managed to cast my Haste spell. Once I was ready I turned around and attacked them. They had some sword skill left, but were too slow. I avoided sword slash and cut off the monster''s head. Next opponent was armed with short sword and looked like a former scout. His sword skill were lacking, and after few sword exchanges I managed to cut off his leg. Undead fell on earth, and my next attack took off his head. I looked around, but there was no one left. I searched adventurers, but they had nothing of value. Most valuable thing was probably the staff, but it looked cheep, made of wood, with no crystals of runes on it. Swords were rusted, and looked like ordinary steel weapons.


    I collected their magic stones and continued my search in nearby mausoleums. Night was approaching and fog started to cover the earth. I decided to leave the dungeon and get some rest. I started to walk towards dungeons border, when a dark figure came out from the fog. Undead had dark clothes and black sword, but first thing that I noticed about him was the absence of his head. Dullahan - headless warrior. He pointed his black sword towards me and I immediately run away. Dullahan was a high ranking undead, probably the equivalent of the floor guardian. He waited for a moment, but then started running after me. He was catching up, until I casted my Haste spell. That helped me to keep the distance between as. I already familiarized the surrounding area and managed to avoid any dead ends, until I got enough time to prepare another spell. I used Destroy undead, and black smoke enveloped dullahan. He tripped, but did not disappear like the others. Dullahan slashed with his sword and black smoke disappeared.


    I was afraid of that. Dullahan was too powerful and probably had some immunity skills. He jumped forwards and we crossed blades. He was strong, stronger than me, even with my increased stats. I managed to block his attacks, but had constantly retreat to stay alive. Then I missed an attack and his sword hit my chest. My chainmail saved my life, but I was pushed back. I felt pain inside my chest, probably one of my ribs was broken. Dullahan continued his attack  and tried to split my head. I had no time to block with my sword, and all I could do was pick up my left arm. Dullahan sword hit the vambrace and I was pushed on my knees. Dullahan put up his sword and I rolled away. Pain in my broken ribs almost made me past out. Dullahan turned, following my moves and I jumped on my legs. Wasting no time I run away again, preparing my next spell. My Haste spell was reaching the time limit. But I managed to prepare just in time. Dullahan sword was nearing my back when I disappeared.


    I teleported on the roof of mausoleum around thirty meters away from dullahan. I immediately fell on my stomach and bitted my lip, to prevent myself from moaning in pain. I crawled towards the side of building and watched the dullahan. He turned around, probably searching for me. Wonder, how he was doing that without his head?Luckily he did not saw me and went in a wrong direction. I concentrated and used Cure spell to heal my broken rib. I lost the sight of dullahan and decided not to risk. I used Teleportation spell to jump from point to point until I reached safety, beyond dungeon''s borders. I walked further away and used warning crystal. So Cemetery dungeon had its own floor guardians, and since I was far from its center, probably more than one. I expected that, so that was no surprise for me. Dullahan magic stone, could solve my money problems, but I was far from strong enough to challenge him. I noted the area where I met the dullahan. I will need to avoid that part of Cemetery dungeon, but there were plenty more places, that I could go to.

 Part II Chapter 1. New semester.

    I walked aimlessly around the town, and then returned to Magic academy. Tomorrow were the day when our lessons were supposed to start. Myne was supposed to study Increased maximum mana points skill. Trevor chose Increased speed skill, while Luara was still planning how to pass her time, since she already had ten skills. She planned to learn some spells, and took some adventurer jobs in a forest. Guess she will not do that now. I knocked at professor Doranius door and waited for the answer.


    - Come in.I entered the room and froze in the middle, not knowing what to say.


    - You returned already. Was your dungeon hunt successful?


    - We didn''t go to dungeon.


    - Took a quest then? Myne mentioned some big job, that you were planning to go on.


    - Myne died.


    - Please take a seat.


    I sat in front of him, and he put aside the papers, that he was reading.


    - What happened?


    - We took a quest. I took it! And she died. Myne won''t be coming to lessons.


    - I see. I am sorry to hear that. I will inform the principal.


    - Thank you.


    - Is there anything else I can do for you?


    - Can I get individual room. I would like to be alone for a while, at least in my room.


    - I will arrange that. We can cover the expenses using money that Myne paid for this semester.


    - Thank you.


    I stood up and exited the room. I felt professors eyes on me, but there was nothing more to say. I returned to my room and fell on bed. Room was still empty. New students were supposed to arrive only next morning. I had to decide what to do next. There was only one thing to do.


    Next morning dorm keeper lady, told me that a new room is prepared for me. I took my magic bag, all my things were inside it already, and followed her. Room was smaller, but there was enough space for single person.


    Later that day my lessons started, but I had hard time concentrating on them. At least I wrote down most of the things, and read my notes in the evening. Someone knocked on my door, and after I answered, dorm keeper came inside.


    - There are two people at the gate, they wish to talk to you. As you know, only students are allowed inside and you will need to go outside to talk to them.


    - Who is it.


    - A young man, who looks like adventurer and beast-girl.


    - Can you tell them that I am busy, and can''t talk to them. And if they come back, just tell them the same thing.


    - Fine, - she sighed: - But in my experience, you can''t hide from your problems.


    I looked outside the window. Well maybe avoid them at least.


    Next day I was walking in the corridor when I run into Mortana and her ever present friends. It was her last semester, and I heard several times, teachers praising her successes.


    - Isn''t it commoner adventurer, - she greeted me: - And where is your commoner friend? Was she finally unable to pay for the lessons?


    - Myne is dead.


    I went past her, not listening to the whispers behind me. I entered the classroom and tried to concentrate. Lessons were interesting, mostly meant to teach us quick mental reaction and concentration. I did the minimum necessary amount, but mostly I lost my interest. I still wanted Intelligence skill, but I had other plans.


    When our two rest days arrived, I exited Magic academy early in the morning and went to Mage guild. This was my first time visiting it.The guild hall was similar to the one in Grimsburg, but bigger and one floor higher. The usual set of books and receptionist waited me inside when I entered it.


    - How can I help you? - smiled at me receptionist.


    - I wish to learn Destroy undead spell.


    - Good, we can help you. But you should know that this spell is a third level Air magic spell. You need at least basic level wisdom spell to learn it.


    - I have it. I also have Air magic skill. I am a student in the Magic academy.


    - I see. Welcome to Magic guild. We are always happy to see students from magic academy here. Learning the spell will cost you four gold coins.I put four gold coins and two copper coins on the table.


    - I will also need ten paper pages.


    - As you wish, - she gave me paper pages and soon returned with one of the mages.


    - My name is Tuare, I am magician who wields advance level Air magic and also advanced level Wisdom skills. So you are the one who wishes to learn Destroy undead spell?


    - Yes.


    - Tia told me that you are student in Magic academy and have basic level Wisdom skill. Have you experience in learning any high ranking spells?


    - I can use Teleportation spell.


    - Impressive, - nodded Tuare: - Then mastering this spell will be possible for you. Follow me.


    Tia passed him parchment with the spell and he led me to the room, which was similar to the one in Grimsburg.


    - Do you know what to do?


    - This is my first time in capitol''s magic academy, but I learned spells in Grimsburg.


    - Good. Our teaching procedure is exactly the same in all Magic guilds. Ring the bell when you are finished.


    Thanks to my lessons in drawing magic circles I finished this one in half a day. One of the servants brought me lunch, and after eating, I asked her to call master Tuare.


    - You are already finished.


    - Yes, I showed him magic circle in my grimoire.


    - Good. Follow me.


    Training room was located in the basement. Not counting its bigger size, it looked exactly the same as the one in Grimsburg. There were two more students, practicing the spells, under masters supervision. I recognized one of the students. He was a student at Magic academy. We had lessons together last semester.


    Tuare took me to one of the wooden dolls and I put my grimoire in front of me. Learning new spells did not get easier, and I failed to cast it. I returned next day and managed to successfully cast the spell shortly before midday. The wooden doll was surrounded by black light for a short while and then the light disappeared.


    - Good, you did it, - nodded master Tuare.


    - Thank you, - I heavily breathed. Spell took a lot of mana and practicing it for hours without break was exhausting.


    - Your lessons are finished with it. Feel free to come back if you wish to learn new spells.


    - Thank you. I will, if the need arises.


    After leaving Magic guild I kept practicing filling the magic circle with mana until the evening. I used up four mana restoration potions, but my ability to use Destroy undead spell slowly improved.


    I kept practicing the spell every evening after the lessons. Having the whole room to myself was helpful and helped me concentrate.


    Three days later, dorm keeper entered my room and put two letters on my table.


    - Your friends asked me to pass this to you. Beast-girl also asked me to tell you, that she is leaving the capitol.


    - Thank you.


    She nodded and left the room. I looked at the letters for a long time, but finally burned them. I did not wanted to read them. I chose the quest that got Myne killed. There was nothing that they could say that could change it. I closed my eyes, cleared my mind, and kept practicing Destroy undead spell.


    Two more days later my lessons ended and after dinner, I left the Magic academy. I put on sheaths with my dagger and sword, and left the capitol. My use of Destroy undead spell was fast enough, and I had my weapons. I was ready to do what needed to be done.


    I left my bow and arrows in the quiver. I will not need them for a long time. Two hours later I was standing in front of Cemetery dungeon. Thanks to my Night vision skill I was able to see as good as during the day. There was no need to wait for sunrise, and I went inside the dungeon.


    First monster I met was a ghost. He flew towards me, but my Destroy undead spell was ready. Dark smoke covered the undead and he disappeared. Magic stone fell on earth and I placed it inside my magic bag.


    After my first attempt at hunting in Cemetery dungeon, I read as much information about it as possible. It was not much, but I memorized some basic maps. The dungeon was not big. No underground floors, just one town of the dead, that adventurers could walk through in three hours. After searching nearby grounds, and not encountering any monsters, I returned to cemetery''s border and went inside first mausoleum. I had a single room inside it, with stone coffin inside it. Coffin lid was removed and the grave was empty. I searched all nearby mausoleums, but encountered only a single wight. My Destroy undead spell took care of it and I continued methodically search all nearby buildings.


    I still had one piece of paper that I bought in Mage guild, and I used it to make a crude map. I only needed it to mark the area of the cemetery, that I already searched. Two days later, by my estimates I searched around one percent of the dungeon. Seven monsters died, destroyed by my spell. That was not much, but I had more than enough time.


    I returned to academy and resumed my lessons. Next rest days I returned and continued searching buildings on the border of Cemetery dungeon. Then again, and again the same circle. Slowly I was cleaning the dungeon, moving in a circle around its borders, and slowly going deeper. Most monster that I encountered were ghosts, skeletons, zombies and some wights. By the end of the semester I searched more than fifteen percent. After the graduation, I went to adventurers guild and exchanged all magic stones that I got. Counting money that I already had, I barely earned enough to pay for next semester. I asked permission to use leveling crystal, but was surprised, that I managed to advance only one level. I of course heard that increasing level after level twenty gets much harder, and harder with every level, and that most adventurers never get past level cap of level thirty, but did not expect things to get that hard. I looked at my stats:


    Elf, LV 21 - 22


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:


    Health: 18;


    Mana: 200 - 210;


    Strength: 12;


    Defense: 8;


    Spell power: 9 - 10;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 6;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Archery (Advanced);


    Night vision (Advanced);


    Mana rapid recovery (Novice);


    Magic resistance (Basic);


    Wisdom (Basic);


    Earth magic (Novice);


    Butchery (Novice);


    Water magic (Novice);


    Air magic (Novice);


    Intelligence (Novice);If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Double skill slots


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Air magic (Basic);


    - Earth magic (Basic);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    I decided to increase the level of my Air magic skill. I needed it more than Earth magic, since my main weapon was Air magic spell. I returned to Magic academy and counted all my coins. Fifty three gold coins and eight copper coins. Enough to pay for next semester, learn a spell, and by some food that could last me for a month. Not enough money to pay for tavern, but I was not planning to stay in a tavern anyway. But I needed to earn more money, or I will not have enough money to pay for Adventurer academy, that I planned to attend after my last semester in Magic academy.


    Well, I was set for now, and planned to go deeper inside Cemetery dungeon anyway. But until then I needed to learn final elemental magic skill. I went to professors Doranius room, and after hearing invitation went inside.


    - Avone. I was expecting you. So have you chosen to continue learning in our academy?


    - Yes. I wish to learn a Fire magic skill.


    - I see. What about Air magic skill?


    - I already have it. Got it while leveling up.


    - I see, so that''s way you chose Intelligence last year.


    - Yes.


    He prepared the contract and after I signed it and paid for next semester, he asked me to stay little longer.


    - I wanted to ask you some questions, if you don''t mind.


    - About what? - I remembered about Myne, and my heart squeezed inside my chest.


    - First, my I ask what level do you have now?


    - Twenty two. Leveled up recently.


    - I see. Congratulations on reaching such high level. Last year, your party members completed a dragon killing quest, and sold dragon materials as proof. Your party also managed to kill several floor guardians. You may not know that since it rarely done, and we do not advertise it, but our academy has a special classes for students, who manage to complete extraordinary deeds while attending our academy. It was started by princess Leanisia, who during her education, developed several spells. To such students we offer a special program, during which they can learn magic skills, that normally are not available and are very rear.


    That sounded interesting, and for the first time in half a year I was intrigued.


    - Can you tell me more about it?


    - Of course, if you are interested. Like I said this program is offered to only extraordinary students. Thanks to your party successes, and after learning all four elemental skills, you are qualified for these lessons. If you can successfully graduate and learn Fire magic skill you will be able to continue studies in our academy. But there is one final test that you must pass. You can have this semester to do that. And I also must warn you that these skills are difficult to learn. You will need at least one year to learn them and payment for them is double than usual. Also you will need to prove your worth to academy by giving the academy gift, something rear and related to magic.


    - I see, - I thought for a while. Doubt that some monster materials would suffice, and piece of adamantium or adamantium dagger were not exactly magical. I still had two vials of Gods mead. Now that I learned Cure spell and had Air magic skill, it will be possible for me to regrow a hand or eye if I ever lose one, so I could afford losing one bottle.


    - Will Gods mead be enough?


    Professor opened his eyes in surprise, but nodded:


    - Yes it will be more than enough. But are you sure? Such elixir is highly valuable and rear.


    - It depends on what skills can I learn?


    - I see. There are several. Magic spell crafting skill, can be helpful and many think that also necessary to create new spells. It will help you to better understand spell circle structure and you might be able to create new spells. But I should warn you, that even with this skill, creating new spell might not be possible for you, since skills only enhance your natural abilities.


    That sounded not that interesting. Creating new spells could be great advantage and could open many doors for me, but even after all the lessons I had no idea how to even start crating new skill, and did not completely understand principles of spell circles. So this skill could turn out to be useless for me.


    - You can also learn Artificer skill. This skill is necessary if you are interested in crafting artifacts. Another choice it Life magic skill. It is rarely used magic, and mostly forgotten, because it is not battle related. It uses such spells as Holy word that inflicts damage to undead, but it is the most that this magic can do when it comes to battle magic. Mostly it was used in daily life. Its spells can help plants growth, create fire in a fireplace or create water.


    - Can it create hot water?


    - Yeas that is possible, but...


    - How much water? Is there a limit?


    - No, it is only limited by your mana and spell power, but...


    - I want to learn that.


    - Life magic? But you didn''t even heard about the rest.


    - What about spells, are they included?


    - Yes, in this case they are. It might be possible to learn the skill in one semester, but because we also teach the spells it takes two semesters to learn everything. And most Magic guilds don''t teach those spells, but...


    - Then Life magic it is. I want that.


    Doranius sighed.


    - I do not understand why, but fine. You will need a year to learn the skill and all the spells, that we know, that are related to Life magic school. After next semester you will need to pay two orichalcum coins, and leave as the elixir.


    - That''s fine. I can give you Gods mead now, - I could lose it by then, and miss my opportunity to learn Life magic water spell. I could not miss that chance.


    - Are you sure? I can prepare contract right now, but you still can change your mind.


    - That is fine. I won''t change my mind, - I took out Gods mead elixir and put it on the table.


    Doranius sighed, but prepared the contract and I signed it. After leaving the professor, for the first time in a long time I was in a good. Creating water. That sounded amazing. I could create it above me and take showers, as long as I want. For years I had to wash myself with wet towel or piece of cloth. There were of course public bath houses, but I did not have time to visit them. And the pool on academy''s grounds, were reserved for lessons, or rich students. If only I had known earlier about that magic, I would definitely learn it already. The only bad thing was that I will have to wait a year and a half, before I can use it properly. That was a shame, but nothing could be done about it now. I will also need to earn enough money to pay for the lessons. And in order to do that I will need to get stronger, so to the Mage guild we go.


    I had two gold coins, that I could spend, to learn a new spell, and I already knew which one I want to learn.


    - I want to learn Lightning spell, - I told receptionist in Mage guild and put two gold coins and three coppers on table: - And I will need paper sheets for my drawing practice.


    - Of course, - she nodded and went to call one of the mages. My teacher for lightning spell was my familiar master Tuare. He remembered me, and welcomed me back. We followed the usual procedure, but this time I learned the spell in just one day. That was a first for me. The time was approaching evening, when my spell worked and lightning came down from above the wooden doll and strike it. Unlike other spells to cast this one I needed to guide my magic power not towards the target, but above it. I succeeded in casting lightning few times before, but my aim was off, and master Tuare ordered me to continue, until it hit the intended target. That was tricky, since I needed to guide magic power towards the spot that I needed to imagine myself instead of clearly seeing it. Nelly always used this spell with incredible precision, and I had no idea how hard it was to aim the lightning.


    Tuare nodded satisfied, and I thanked him for the lessons. My skills started to help me, and I finally felt a difference that they created.


    It was already late, and I had to spend five more coppers to pay for the room in a tavern.


    * * *


    Doranius exited his room and took Gods mead vial to principal''s room.


    - Doranius, come in. What''s that you have there?


    - Gods mead.


    - That is... - principal put aside papers that he was looking threw and pointed at one of the chairs, in front of his desk.


    Doranius took a seat and glanced at papers. He often thought about academy and its finances and their origins. The fifty gold coins that students paid, could barely cover the expenses for their food. The truth was that it was not nearly enough. Principal kept payment for lessons so low because he wanted to allow students like Avone or Cleo, to attend the academy. That way people with potential had a way to develop their skills and become powerful magicians. Most of the academy''s income came from bribes. Officially they were donations, to the academy, but unofficially they were payments from rich nobles or merchants, to make sure that their children would be accepted in the academy, because otherwise they would be rejected, since academy officially took in students based on their jobs, skills and achievements that they had before trying to become a students in Magic academy.Doranius did not know the amount of the bribes, bet they were enough to pay teachers, keep academy running and even build a small treasury inside the academy.


    Doranius put the Gods mead on the table and thought that it would be good enough bribe to get a mediocre son of a noble inside academy and left a promising student on the other side of the gates.


    - So, where did you get it?


    - Avone accepted our offer for additional lessons to learn one of the rear skills.


    - I see. Which one did she chose?


    - Life magic skill.


    - That is unusual. Not a skill that I would think she would chose. Did you told her that this magic in almost unpracticed, because it has so few applications in battles?


    - Barely. I do not understand why she chose that skill. I didn''t even had a chance to tell her about other possibilities.


    - Strange.


    - Yes, sometimes she could be very strange. But I am worried about her.


    - What do you mean?


    - Like you instructed me, I asked about her in Adventurers guild. Thanks to our connection and cooperation, they send me information about her party and their successes. The information that I received included killing several floor guardians and a dragon, but more personal information regarding Avone they refused to disclose. Some kind of agreement between the guild and adventurers. I kept asking about her, but the things they told, was what she was not doing. Which is what is worrying me.


    - What do you mean?


    - Last year, after Myne died, they disbanded their party. Their leader returned to Grimsburg, while warrior stayed in Adventurers academy. He also received and excepted kings offer to join the royal knights. Before that they always hunted in Golden Goose dungeon. I expected that Avone will continue doing that, even alone. But she wasn''t seen in that dungeon anymore. She wasn''t seen in Dead man''s chest dungeon either. But she is always leaving the capitol, doesn''t stay in academy during rest days.


    - So where is she going? Maybe she is practicing in the woods?


    - I thought so too, but I doubt that. I asked her level, last year her adventurers rank increased to C, when she reached level twenty. Just like Myne before she died, at least that was what Myne told me. But recently Avone leveled up and reached level twenty two. After reaching level twenty, she would need to hunt constantly, to increase her level.


    - So how did she do that, if not by going to the dungeon?


    - You forget, that there is one more dungeon near the capitol.


    - You don''t mean? No that is impossible. No one goes there, for a good reason. Besides only rank B adventurers are allowed to go there.


    - Yes. But since no one is crazy enough to go there, it is unguarded. And since no one goes there, no one would see her there.


    - Still. At level twenty two? She wouldn''t survive there.


    - I discretely contacted Mage guild. After Myne died and their party was disbanded she learned Destroy undead spell.


    - I see now, why you are worried about her, - principal scratched his chin.


    - My I ask, why did you decided to offer her an extra semester in Magic academy? Officially there is such paragraph, but last time we did it, was almost fifteen years ago. And only reason why we did it, was because the student was a prince - the current king, and it was almost an order from a palace.


    - I can tell you, but please keep it to yourself, - Doranius nodded and principal continued: - It was a favor to sage Norris.


    - Famous skill orb creator. But why?


    - You may not know that that, but it was he who posted the dragon slaying quest in adventurers academy. Apparently he felt guilty, when Avone party''s member died during battle with the dragon. That was his way to pay back, for her loss. He wanted to avenge his daughter, but causing more suffering was not his intention.


    - I see. So that''s why.


    - Yes.


    - What should we do about her then?


    Principal shook his head:


    - Nothing. We should not interfere in private life of our students. Besides if you would know for sure that she is breaking the kingdoms rules, by going to Cemetery dungeon, you would be obligated to report her, and me too. So my advice - leave it alone.


    - But she could die!


    - And do you think, that she will listen to you?


    Doranius remembered recommendation letter.


    - No, she will not. She might even leave the academy, if we push too hard.


    - Then be a teacher Doranius. That is our purpose.


    - I will. My I personally teach her some of Life magic spells?


    Principal smiled and nodded. He read Doranius like an open book: - Yes, that you my do.


    * * *


    Next morning I spend all my remaining money on food supplies. They were not enough, but I could probably get by, by rationing.


    I left the capitol and went to Cemetery dungeon. I had whole month to continue my dungeon exploration. I also needed to earn more money to pay for next semester. I took out my sword and entered Cemetery dungeon.


    I kept destroying ghosts and searching mausoleums. In one of the buildings I found four silver coins. My first treasure, that I found in the dungeon. Then I saw a group of zombies. That was my first time encountering more than one monster at once. Judging from their clothe, they were former adventurers. Probably killed by monsters in the dungeon, they later were brought back to life by dungeon''s mana.


    Four of them. And one of them had a staff, probably former mag. That was dangerous. I had my Destroy undead spell, but there was a problem.


    Without Air magic skill Destroy undead spell could be used to destroy low level undead. With novice level Air magic skill, it could be used to destroy mid level undead, at basic - high level undead, at advanced - several undead monsters that belonged to the same species, like ghosts or zombies. And at master level - group of different type undead monsters. At my level I could destroy high level undead, but no more than one.


    I took a deep breath. They did not noticed me yet, so I had an advantage. I waited till they got closer and used my spell on mage. He screamed when black smoke envelope him, but it was too late for him. Pack of bones fell on earth along with the remnants of his clothe and staff. Rest of zombies noticed me and went towards me. I had time to prepare my Magic arrow and blew up second adventurer''s head. Two left. I prepared my sword and run away.


    They followed me, and I kept running until I managed to cast my Haste spell. Once I was ready I turned around and attacked them. They had some sword skill left, but were too slow. I avoided sword slash and cut off the monster''s head. Next opponent was armed with short sword and looked like a former scout. His sword skill were lacking, and after few sword exchanges I managed to cut off his leg. Undead fell on earth, and my next attack took off his head. I looked around, but there was no one left. I searched adventurers, but they had nothing of value. Most valuable thing was probably the staff, but it looked cheep, made of wood, with no crystals of runes on it. Swords were rusted, and looked like ordinary steel weapons.


    I collected their magic stones and continued my search in nearby mausoleums. Night was approaching and fog started to cover the earth. I decided to leave the dungeon and get some rest. I started to walk towards dungeons border, when a dark figure came out from the fog. Undead had dark clothes and black sword, but first thing that I noticed about him was the absence of his head. Dullahan - headless warrior. He pointed his black sword towards me and I immediately run away. Dullahan was a high ranking undead, probably the equivalent of the floor guardian. He waited for a moment, but then started running after me. He was catching up, until I casted my Haste spell. That helped me to keep the distance between as. I already familiarized the surrounding area and managed to avoid any dead ends, until I got enough time to prepare another spell. I used Destroy undead, and black smoke enveloped dullahan. He tripped, but did not disappear like the others. Dullahan slashed with his sword and black smoke disappeared.


    I was afraid of that. Dullahan was too powerful and probably had some immunity skills. He jumped forwards and we crossed blades. He was strong, stronger than me, even with my increased stats. I managed to block his attacks, but had constantly retreat to stay alive. Then I missed an attack and his sword hit my chest. My chainmail saved my life, but I was pushed back. I felt pain inside my chest, probably one of my ribs was broken. Dullahan continued his attack  and tried to split my head. I had no time to block with my sword, and all I could do was pick up my left arm. Dullahan sword hit the vambrace and I was pushed on my knees. Dullahan put up his sword and I rolled away. Pain in my broken ribs almost made me past out. Dullahan turned, following my moves and I jumped on my legs. Wasting no time I run away again, preparing my next spell. My Haste spell was reaching the time limit. But I managed to prepare just in time. Dullahan sword was nearing my back when I disappeared.


    I teleported on the roof of mausoleum around thirty meters away from dullahan. I immediately fell on my stomach and bitted my lip, to prevent myself from moaning in pain. I crawled towards the side of building and watched the dullahan. He turned around, probably searching for me. Wonder, how he was doing that without his head?Luckily he did not saw me and went in a wrong direction. I concentrated and used Cure spell to heal my broken rib. I lost the sight of dullahan and decided not to risk. I used Teleportation spell to jump from point to point until I reached safety, beyond dungeon''s borders. I walked further away and used warning crystal. So Cemetery dungeon had its own floor guardians, and since I was far from its center, probably more than one. I expected that, so that was no surprise for me. Dullahan magic stone, could solve my money problems, but I was far from strong enough to challenge him. I noted the area where I met the dullahan. I will need to avoid that part of Cemetery dungeon, but there were plenty more places, that I could go to.

 Chapter 2. Cemetery dungeon again.

    Next day I continued my exploration far away from the spot, where I met dullahan. It was my tenth day in the dungeon, but I still gathered only magic stones worth around two gold coins. Geez, the adventurers of previous generations, searched every mausoleum and tomb here, and took everything that had any value and could bring them even a single copper coin. No wonder no one ever came here.


    Week later I encountered second floor guardian. I was hiding behind the stones watching it suck the bone matter from bones of a zombie that this second floor guardian just killed. It ripped zombie apart, as easily as I would rip apart paper page.It was a ghoul, almost human like, but with sharp ears and mouse full of sharp teeth, and dark green skin. Ghoul was wearing pants. His upper body was muscular and his every move was flexible, precise and full of wild beauty. I sighed. Another monster that could solve my money problems, but was way too much for me to handle. I used Teleportation spell to get far away from him.


    Eight days later I was chased around by lugat. Undead vampire-like being, with long fingernails that looked more like lion claws, ability to fly and hide in shadows. He jumped me from behind using mausoleums shadow, and only my chainmail and armored vest saved me. I got lucky, since he tried to cut my back, instead of going for my head. After first strike he retreated to the shadow that gave me time to cast Hast spell. I tried killing him with my sword, but his skin was almost as good as armor. After few cuts he retreated to the shadows. I decided not to risk and tried to retreat, avoiding shadows, and he started to chase me, flying above the ground. I again used teleportation and managed to lose him.


    My map started to show me some order to Cemetery dungeon. As far as I could tell it was separated in areas that had a strong monster, ruling their territory. I tried to confirm my theory and searched next possible location. I found one of the bigger mausoleums, and peeked inside through one of the cracks in the wall. Monster was lying on a catafalque. If I had to guess I would say that it was draugr.


    A revenant - undead brought back to life in corporeal body, whose task was guarding the treasure. Or a magically created copy of a draugr. A very good copy, that was guarding actual treasure. A pile of gems, gold and silver coins, sword, dagger decorated with jewels and golden helmet.


    My mouth filled with saliva. That was biggest pile of treasure that I had ever seen in my life. Also only pile of treasure, but that''s beside the point. There was only one thing to do. Be brave adventurer, kill the monster safe the princess and get the treasure. Don''t make me laugh! Rob him!!!


    I stepped away from the mausoleum and used Haste and then Magic arrow spells. Mass of magic energy hit the wall of mausoleum and created head sized hole in it. One more Magic arrow near it, threw which I saw angry face of the monster. I aimed another Magic arrow at him, but missed when he disappeared from my view. Mausoleum door that was located inside next wall opened and draugr run outside. He looked at me hissed and started running towards me. His claws were near my neck when I disappeared. I used teleportation and appeared inside the building. A hole made by my magic arrows allowed me to see inside it, and it was all that I needed.


    I squatted down to make sure that draugr could not see me and started showing all the treasures inside my magic bag. Draugr probably went looking for me, because I had enough time to clean him out. By the time draugr opened the door and saw me inside his holy place I was already pushing last coins in my bag. He let out loud haul, that sounded beyond angry and run towards me with outstretched hands. But I again disappeared from his view.


    I started running and preparing my spell. Draugr run outside, without bothering to open the door, and went right threw it, smashing it to pieces. He started chasing me, but I again used teleportation, this time choosing the roof of one of the mausoleums. I hid from draugr''s view, and prepared another spell. Fourth spell was my limit. I used mana potion, and regained enough of my mana to use one more spell. By that time I lost the draugr and run out of Cemetery dungeon. Hope he will not follow me to the capitol, but even if he does, then let some high ranking adventurer take care of him. Or guards. They are paid to protect innocent people from bad monsters. Well, I was innocent. It''s not like stealing from monsters was a crime, at least there was no law that forbid it. Just in case, I left Cemetery dungeon and returned to the capitol as fast as I could. Most of my way I looked back, fearing to see angry monster running after me, but it worked out. I kept running until I finally reached the capitol. After going through the gate I finally calmed down, and started breathing more easily.


    My mission for the winter break was accomplished. I got the treasure. I went to Adventurer guild and asked the receptionist where I could sell the treasure that I found in the dungeon. It turned out, that adventurer guild, did not had anything against buying treasure, as long as they kept their twenty percent probably.


    Familiar bunny-girl took me to the private room and I took out all my loot. I also took out the coins, since most of them looked different, older, with animal heads chiseled on them. I also asked her to appraise sword, helmet and dagger, and paid three silvers for the appraisal service.


    Soon she returned with familiar guild master. Donar bowed to me and took a seat in front of me.


    - I see that luck smiled on you, - he smiled and put the appraised items on the table.


    - Yes, I got lucky in the dungeon.


    - Even more lucky than you probably think. I have Identify item skill, and work as guilds appraisal master. Cannot delight you about the dagger. The gems on it are valuable of course, but it is ordinary weapon. The helmet is different. It is low level artifact that can increase users Defense stats by one. It will get you four gold coins. The sword is actually a named artifact. King Gorragod blade, it is called. I never heard of a king with such name, but my skill cannot tell me the artifact''s age, so it is possible that it is the name of a king that lived long ago. Or it is just a name of an artifact. But more importantly is the sword''s abilities. It can increase your Strength, Defense and Spell power stats by two. Each of them. It is very powerful mid ranking artifact. I could offer you two orichalcum coins for it, or we could sell it in auction. You could get more money that way.


    I thought for a moment. Two orichalcum coins would solve my money problems, for two semesters that I will need, to learn Life magic skill.


    - I would like to receive the money now.


    - As you wish. Since you decided to sell everything to us, you total amount will be five orichalcum coins, sixty three gold coins, twenty silvers and six coppers.


    I managed to hide my surprise. That was way more than I expected, but I should have remembered that gem stones are valuable even in this world. I nodded, not trusting my voice, and bunny-girl put heavy looking wallet on a table. She also added two more orichalcum coins, and I put them inside the wallet. I did not count them, but opened the wallet, and after seeing three orichalcum coins among the other coins, put it inside my magic bag.


    - My I also ask you something? - stopped me Donar.


    - What is it?


    - The magic stones that you brought. They a bit unusual. They look like magic stones, that you usually get from undead monsters?


    - I prefer to keep hunting details to myself.


    - I understand of course, - nodded Donar. I thought that he will mention Cemetery dungeon and the rule that only B rank adventurers were allowed to go there, but he just smiled: - Please be careful then. We will also make sure, that no one founds out, from who we got these items. As you asked our guild in Grimsburg. Unless you changed your mind?


    - No, I prefer to be anonymous.


    - Very well. Pleasure to do business with you. Please don''t hesitate to sell us any monster materials and treasures that you find in a dungeon, and be sure, that we will not disclose your name to anyone. Even the king.


    - Thank you, - he nodded and I left the guild. I visited professor Doranius and paid for the rest of my semesters, included private room during all three of them. It costed me three orichalcum coins and fifty gold ones, but I finally could afford them.


    During next month I stayed away from the dungeon. Fear that draugr will come after me or chase me around the dungeon kept me inside the capitol''s walls.


    Instead I used my rest days to learn new spells in Mage guild. I learned Fire ball, Conceal to hide myself from draugr, Blindness, Paralysis and Petrification spells. Only downside of Blindness, Paralysis and Petrification spells was that they could have been used only on a single opponent.


    My lessons in Fire magic skills were similar to previous elemental magic skill lessons. We learned more deeply about fire magic spells. Spend hours just watching burning fire, and learned the history of Fire magic school.


    After a month I finally convinced myself that draugr will not be coming after me and resumed my dungeon exploration. Except that now I was constantly using Conceal spell, that helped me hide from monsters and launch surprise attacks on them. The spell did not made me invisible, there was no such spell, I already asked about that, but it hid sounds of my footsteps, and helped me use natural hiding spots like shadows, more effectively.


    I continued mapping the dungeon, and searching for the rest on floor guardians, trying to figure out their territories. Monsters became stronger, the deeper I ventured into Cemetery dungeon. I encountered undead animals and revenants, but there were also the same ghosts, zombies and wights.


    By the end of semester I successfully acquired Fire magic skill, and after using leveling crystal reached level twenty three and increased my Intelligence skill to basic level. I hoped to get a warrior skill, but my other choice was to increase Mana rapid recovery skill.


    Two weeks between semesters I spend continuing my dungeon exploration. And finally the beginning of my last two semesters and learning my last magic skill begun.


    * * *


    My first lesson was magic history. I entered the classroom, and was surprised by the fact that I was alone. My teacher was the oldest looking professor in academy. His name was Farnos. He had wrinkled face, bent back and moved very slowly using a walking stick. Professor Farnos thought magic history, including magic history of all elemental magic schools.


    - Welcome, welcome, young student, - he greeted me: - Take your seat. So you are the one, who decided and also was allowed to learn Life magic. Good, good choice. Very interesting magic with its own history. A shame that it is almost forgotten now. Since you did not have lessons in basic studies, you will have to catch up. But today we will start with history of Life magic school. You may know it already, but roots of Life magic began with elves. The beginnings of Life magic started when elves came out of their forests and shared their knowledge with humans about their Nature magic.


    I did not know that, and wrote down his every word. Mentioning of two magic schools captured my attention, and I forgot professors boring tone, that usually made students sleepy.


    - Your ancestors, just like you, have natural abilities in Nature magic. Even in these days some elves are born with Nature magic skill. It is used to help trees grow and make elves lives easier in forests. Helps them to become one with nature. But humans were always more interested in war. But in ancient times battle spells were few, and humans relied more on gods. Priestesses who worshipped goddess of light, as legends say, with help that they received from the goddess, created several spells that could have been used in battles. Mostly they relied on holy power and could be used to heal people, or protect them from harmful magic. They were also using spells, that could made their life easier, not relying on rulers from that time. Sisters of light, as they were called, valued their independence so they created such spells as Create water on Start fire. By combining their goddesses teachings, Nature magic and magic that their used in their everyday lives, they created a new magic school - Life magic.


    Now let us learn more about sisters, who helped the Life magic to evolve and helped to shape magic to its more advanced level.


    Next weeks professor told me about more famous sisters of light and other magicians who created new spells, modified them and most powerful and famous Life magic users. That was boring, and even after writing down the names and histories, I did not exactly bothered with memorizing them. That was similar to all other magic schools that I already learned, and I was not afraid anymore, that not knowing the name of every famous magician will affect my ability to acquire magic skill.


    I also had lessons in high elves language. As an elf I was little embarrassed that I had no idea that such language even existed. It was like no any other language that I knew, but grammar was easy, and I never had problems learning new languages. These lessons I attended along with several other students. Apparently it was one of the courses that first year students could choose to learn.


    Four weeks later I finally had lesson with professor Doranius who was in charge of teaching me Life magic spells.


    Unlike my usual lessons, we did not go to classroom instead my lessons were outside, inside the training grounds.


    - Today we will learn Life magic. First you need to forget everything you learned until now. Especially everything about spell circles. Are you ready.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    - No, - I answered honestly.


    - Good, - Doranius smiled and pointed at wood sticks arranged in a pile that was usually used to start bonfire: - We will start by using Life magic to light a fire. You will need to use mana to do it.


    - Don''t I need spell circle to do it?


    Doranius sighed:


    - What did I just say. Forget about spell circles. Life magic predates all that. Do you know how magic resistance and artifacts that grant you magic resistance work?


    - No.


    - When you use spell circles, they transform your mana into magic power. Magic resistance and artifacts grant your body ability to disperse harmful magic power aimed at you. The more magic power is used, which is requirement for high ranking spells or used by mages with high Spell power stat, the more difficult it is for your body to disperse that magic power. Do you understand.


    -Yes, - I nodded. That was easy to understand.


    - Good. By the way what level is your Wisdom skill?


    - At basic level.


    - I talked to your teachers. Your drawing skills are less than impressive. So when you will have time you will attend lessons in which students learn to draw magic circles. That will include, basic lessons, and lessons that involve elemental magic.


    - But why? - it''s not like I hated those lessons, but not my favorite too. Besides he was right, I was not good at them.


    - Because I can teach you only low level spells and beginners use of Life magic. Next semester I will arrange for you access to Life magic grimoire, which is kept in Mage guild. You will need to copy the whole book. And I mean exactly - copy. Once you increase your Wisdom level you will be able to use high ranking spells, and you will need to learn them from that spell book.


    - I see. Thank you professor.


    - Now let us start our lesson. In order to light a fire, you will need to channel mana directly into the wood and light it up. Life magic is unique in the mana use. It makes useless any magic resistance skill or artifact, unless someone has Life magic or some similar, like Nature magic, resistance skill. It would be great asset for magicians, but the problem is, that life magic is not battle magic, and has no battle spells. At least not ones that can be used against living beings. And more importantly, learning Life magic spells is much more difficult than learning magic that uses spell circles. You need to accomplish the same result using just mana without help from spell circles, that were specifically designed to help mages to use magic more easily and much more efficiently. It also uses more mana to achieve the same result. People with low mana, would be able to use only few basic Life magic spells.


    - How fast did you learn Life magic professor?


    - I never did. I tried to learn it. When I was younger I was fascinated by different way of using magic, and learned about Life magic spells and theory of using them. I was fascinated by the fact that Life magic creates actual physical objects not magical constructs. But I gave up on trying to master them, after a month. Learning magic that use spell circles turned out much more fun, and much easier.


    - What do you mean by actual physical objects?


    - How should I explain? When you use magic circles to create a wall of earth, you use magic power that is created by magic circle in which you channel your mana. After a while the magic power disappears along with the earth wall. But when you use mana directly to create for example water, then you transform your mana and it permanently stays in a form of a water. That is why if you use spell circle to create water you will not be able to satisfy your thirst, but Life magic can be used to create water that you can drink. That is what you must learn to do. To use mana directly and shape it into physical objects or phenomena without the assistance of magic circles that transform mana into magic power. Also your Spell power stats will not influence your Life magic in any way because of it.


    - Cant I learn these spells after I get Life magic skill?


    - That is the problem. Currently there are no mages in academy, who can use Life magic. Mostly because no one practices Life magic spells. And you cannot get Life magic skill, unless you learn basic use of its spells.


    - That sounds complicated.


    - Yes, that is right. Now, like I was saying, in order to start a fire, you will need to channel your mana into firewood and imagine the firewood to start burning.


    - That''s all?


    - Yes. You will practice this spell every free period. Find me when you will master it.


    - You will not be staying professor?


    - No. At your level you should have enough mana and it will take you a lot of time. But if you will fail to do that during this semester, then you will never master Life magic.


    - How many students succeeded in learning it?


    - As far as I now, in our academy, during last fifty years, around twenty students decided to learn Life magic. Nineteen chose different magic disciplines.


    - So, one of them succeeded?


    - No, he had to leave the academy, because of family matters.


    - I see.That was "encouraging".


    - Good luck student Avone, - Doranius smiled and returned to his cabinet, thinking about Mesmer''s letter and his description of Avone''s character. According to academy''s records. there were plenty students who tried mastering Life magic. Doranius was one of them. Some were talented, other stubborn and hard working. Doranius lied, because two of them succeeded. But he did not tell that to Avone. Part of him wanted for Avone to choose another battle oriented skill, but another part of him wanted for the girl to succeed.


    After Doranius left and I started my lesson.


    Two month later I got used to my new lessons and schedule. I attended spell circle drawing lessons, started slowly understand high elf language and learned all kind of boring stuff about Life magic history. During rest days I visited Cemetery dungeon and continued killing undead monsters and searching for floor guardian locations. And during free periods I tried to start a bonfire. Two month later I felt that some of the wood pieces were warm. Or, their just warmed up in the sun. I started to lose my patience, but thoughts of warm bath and shower continued hunting me.


    Imagine, imagine - I continued telling myself trying to set these wood pieces on fire. I had enough mana to try creating the fire for one period, but when I had two, I always run out of mana, and spend the rest of the time lying on the ground and waiting for my mana to replenish itself. I considered using mana potions, but my earnings in Cemetery dungeon were low, and I needed to save money, to pay for my lessons in Adventurer academy, where I was planning to go after Magic academy.


    Then two weeks later the firewood started burning. It was great. But I was so tired and tried using my mana and imagination in so many different ways, that I forgot what exactly I was doing. I needed two more weeks until I finally figured it out, and was able to light bonfire at will. Tuned out that I had to channel mana using only the surface of my palm, and not fingers. I also could do it using both of my arms, of just one of them.


    - Good. You finally did it, - congratulated me Doranius after I demonstrated him my abilities: - We have only month and one week, before the end of semester, so you will need to work harder. You still need to learn at least three spells, in order to pass this semesters requirements of learning Life magic. Next spell will be the opposite of fire. You will need to create a ball of water, by transforming mana into water. Use your mana to gather it in front of you and create a ball of water in front of you. It needs to be big enough to fill this cup.


    He placed a cup in front of me. Great I will learn to create water.


    - Just create a ball of water. Once you do, it will fall on the ground. Create it directly above the cup, to make sure that water falls inside it.


    - What about waters temperature? You said that it is possible to create cold or hot water.


    - That is easy part. All you need to do is to imagine cold water or hot one, when you create it. But first concentrate on creating just water. Do not make it more complicated, or you will not succeed at all.


    One week later I managed to create few drops of water. Another week took me to create big enough water ball, but it always appeared in random places. Another week I needed to perfect my water ball''s location and make sure that water fell inside the cup. Doranius was right. Learning how to create fire ball took me two days, and the spell used at least five times less mana, than I needed to start a fire. The same was with water. I needed at least twenty percent of my mana to create a single water ball. But I finally succeeded. I wanted to learn how to create a hot water, but semester was coming to an end, and I still needed to learn two spells. I demonstrated professor Doranius my success and he nodded satisfied.


    - I decided that next you will need to learn level two spell. That will count as two level one spells that you still need to learn. But I should warn you that it is difficult to learn. It is one of two battle spells used by Life magic users. Second spell is actually more powerful variant of the first spell. Both cause damage to undead creatures. So as battle spells they have only limited uses. It is called Holy word. In order to cast it you will need to actually say the spells name in high elf language. And also channeling your mana towards the target and imagining holy energy hitting it. Mana feels the same as magic power that is used by Cure spell. Should I demonstrate it to you?


    - No, I can use Cure spell myself.


    - Good. Then you know what I mean. Use the target doll for your aim. If you succeed, the area around its heart will start to glow. Good luck and practice hard.


    I sighed and aimed at my target.


    Using this spell took me less time that the others. Until the end of the semester was only one week left, and Doranius ordered me to continue practicing the Holy word spell, until the end of semester, aiming it at different places on the doll. I could not imagine practice use of it, but did what he ordered.


    * * *


    Doranius entered principal''s room and old man greeted him.


    - How are your studies with our special class?


    - She managed to learn Holy word spell and perfected it by aiming the spell at different places on doll''s surface.


    - Oh! Could you tell me about your teaching methods? Maybe we should change our approach to life magic teaching.


    - I did nothing different. Started with using mana to light a fire. She tried it for the first month with no success.


    - I know the feeling. I tried learning it myself. Did it in forty days, but then decided to concentrate myself on more rewarding disciplines.


    - I changed my mind after a month with no successes. Almost all students do. Talented ones stop trying after several weeks, when they realize, that their talent won''t help them advance faster. Hard working ones start losing hope in a month after week after week with no advancement. But she continued learning. Week after week. Every free lesson she spend in training grounds. With no rest or breaks from it. Well, technically she did rest. After running out of mana she waited until her mana reserves were restored and them continued again and again until running out of mana again and continuing the circle. Month after month until three month later, after countless tries, she finally learned how to channel her mana directly.


    - Unusual, and little scary. Don''t think I met anyone who would not stop, after so much time without success and support from the teacher.


    - Neither have I. I considered offering her to change her discipline, after a month, but got a feeling, that she would have refused, and would have continued trying even if would have taken her both semesters.


    - Did she managed to learn some other spells too?


    - Just create water, as our program dictates.


    - I see. Well, she is on her way of getting the skill that she chose at least. Continue with your job.


    - Yes, principal.


    * * *


    I spend a month continuing with the dungeon exploration. I also tried using Holy word on the undead. It was useful against both type of undead, weakening them regardless of physical body or its absence. Spell was not powerful enough to kill them immediately, but after some experiments I discovered that aiming the spell at their body parts I can damage the specific part of their body. That turned out to be more useful than I thought in the beginning.


    Most of the time I was distracting, spending all evenings, by perfecting my water ball creation. At the end of a month my dungeon exploration did not progress by much, and I did not earn much, but I was able to use my magic to create both hot and cold water. I was able to create warm ball of huge water ball above my head, and enjoy the resemblance of shower. I also tried to create ice ball using Life magic, but it turned out to be impossible.


    After the winter break I returned to academy and resumed my lessons. This semester I had lessons in magic history, Nature magic, church of light teachings, basics of Light magic and continued my lessons in high elf language, which was used to cast spells in Life magic school. Two days a week I spend in Mage guild. I decided not to buy one more grimoire, instead using my own to copy the Life magic spell book that was part of Mage guild collection. I was allowed to use one of the rooms, that students in Mage guild used to draw spell circles. There I spend hours and days copying every single word and drawing from the ancient magic book.


    Spell book did not just contained the spells, but also the explanations about other uses of magic. I also learned the answer to the question, that was bothering me for a long time. I was always surprised by the fact, that undead monster could be used to level up. Since leveling required gathering other creature life force. According to spell book, necromancers who resurrected the dead, during resurrection changed some of their mana into life force, that was given to the undead, as part of resurrection ceremony. So undead also had life force. They did not needed it to move or live, but apparently mana only could keep them alive, so to say, only if they also possessed life force.


    There were also many spells, mostly protection spells against physical and magic attacks, but also healing and some enhancement spells. During my free lessons, I was allowed use training grounds, and from the Life magic spell book I learned Healing spell. Unlike Cure spell it did not remove spell effects, curses or status ailments, but could heal diseases and even plague, and also was helpful against poisons. Unlike elemental magic spells, Life magic spell effects did not change after increasing Life magic skill, but it made possible to use more high ranking spells. There were many spells that had similar effects, but at higher level were more powerful. More powerful variant of Heal was Regeneration. I really wanted to learn it, but it was high ranking spell and I needed to increase Life magic skill to at least advanced level to learn it.


    Second spell that I learned during second semester was Exorcism. I chose that spell, because it had an ability to remove any curses or negative effects from artifacts. It would allow me to safely us any dark artifact, that I could get in Cemetery dungeon. Exorcism spell could also be used on people, to help with all kind of possessions and curses.


    I was able to learn Heal spell in just one month, but needed the rest of the semester to finally master Exorcism. Even using guidance from the book, I barely mastered it before the end of semester. I also was able to copy the Life magic spell book, and during last weeks, had more time to practice Life magic spells.


    Five and a half month after the beginning of semester I graduated from Magic academy and learned Life magic skill. Professor Doranius led me inside the room and pointed at the Life magic orb. It had warm yellow color. My use of it was successful and we went outside.


    - Congratulations on getting this skill.


    - Thank you. I am grateful for all your lessons.


    - My the gods bless your journey forwards. Hope to hear many great things about you.


    - Don''t count on that professor. I prefer to lead quit life.


    - As you wish. My I satisfy my curiosity and ask why did you chose Life magic skill?


    - The warm water. I really missed bathing.


    Doranius laughed:


    - That is the first time someone chose a skill for that reason. And, did you succeeded?


    - Please extend your palm.


    He did as I asked and I created small waterfall of warm water over his palm. He looked at it surprised.


    - Impressive, I guess.


    - Thank you, - I bowed and left the academy. I had many things to do.

 Chapter 3. Adventurer academy.

    After the graduation I was also able to reach level twenty four and increased my Intelligence to advanced level. To use high ranking Life magic spells, Wisdom, which mostly was used to remember spell circles, was useless, instead to use high ranking Life magic spells mages needed to increase Intelligence and their amount of mana. High ranking spells needed a lot of mana and ability to channel it, the ability that Intelligence skill improved.


    Then I visited Mage guild and bought high elf language dictionary. It costed me ten gold coins, but I felt that my use of the language was still lacking and wanted to improve it.


    I had one week before Adventurer guild will star accepting students for the enrolment, so I used that time to do some hunting in Cemetery dungeon.


    Then I returned to capitol and for the first time visited Adventurer academy. It was surrounded by two meter high fence. Gates were open and after I went inside I saw an old man sitting in front of a table. Actually he was sleeping. I sat down in front of him and coughed. He did not even react, so I hit the table with my palm. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at me.


    - Yes. How can I help you?


    - I wish to learn skills in Adventurers academy.


    - I see. Are you an adventurer?


    - Yes.


    - Your name and rank.


    - My name is Avone. I have C rank, - I demonstrated him my adventurer tag.


    - Quit unusual for someone with you rank to enroll in Adventurers academy.


    - I have some magic skills, but no warrior skills. I want to improve my swordsmanship.


    - I see.


    - Well you are qualified to join adventurers guild. What skills do you wish to learn?


    - First Swordsmanship skill, then Increased speed and Throwing.


    - You will need two years to learn them. All together it will cost you one hundred and sixty gold coins.


    - Can I get a separate room?


    - Yes, but it will cost you forty gold coins, for all four semesters.


    I put my last two orichalcum coins on the table and he filled necessary lines in the contract.


    - My name is Shawn. Sign this. We provide place to sleep and have a diner inside the academy. You will need to pay for food separately. We train five days, then you get two days rest. Lessons continue for five month and two weeks, then months you have free time. After that one semester, week of free time, between semesters. You will need one semester to get Swordsmanship, if you study hard. One more semester to get Increased speed skill, and two semesters to learn Throwing. Be here in one week after sunrise that is when the lessons will begin.


    - Understood, - I stood up and bowed. I already knew, that unlike Magic academy, Adventurer academy was not so rich and students had to pay for food. That was additional expense, but I earned enough money hunting in Cemetery dungeon to afford it.


    After spending more time in the dungeon, I returned to finally learn my first close combat warrior skill.


    Group of adventurers already gathered inside the courtyard. Most of them were young boys, with only few girls among them. There were about twenty new students. To my surprise I also noticed several young men dressed in expensive clothes. They were probably children or less wealthy nobles, who failed enrolment in both Magic academy and Knight academy. Trevor mentioned, that some of them become adventurers with the only purpose of learning skills in Adventurer academy. Soon man dressed in red robe came outside, and everyone fell silent.


    - Welcome to Adventurers academy. I am Sork. Principal of this academy. You all are welcomed here. We will begin your lessons today, after breakfast. Most of the time you will need to work alone, following your teachers instructions. But if you train hard, do not skip lessons, and do what you are told, then you all will successfully get the skills that you want. Now please go to your dorm rooms. Your names will be on the doors, so you will not miss them. Breakfast starts an hour after sunrise, and lessons star an hour after that. Dorm rooms are located to your left. After breakfast gather here and your teachers will tell you your assignments.


    That was different. I followed the crowd looking around. All buildings were made of wood. There were many of them, but their location looked random. I had a feeling, that they were build as needed, replacing old ones and building additional ones in most convenient places, but without any planning.


    Dorm rooms were biggest building in academy. As I searched my name, I noticed that most of the doors had four names, on them and were not separated by gender. Only few had just one name. I found my name on one of doors and went inside. Simple wooden bed, chair and chest for personal things. Room was barely big enough for the furniture, and no magic lamp. That was definitely not the Magic academy. I sighed. Well that had to be expected. I decided to keep my things in my magic bag, and my magic bag with myself. Young adventurers with little income were not known for their honest behavior. I took out one of my wallets and left only three silver coins and copper coins inside it. No need to flash around my remaining gold coins.


    I spend some time laying on the bed and reading my elf language book and then went to dining room. I easily found it. All tables were placed outside, and there was a line, formed in front of a kitchen. I joined the queue and had to wait a while until my turn to buy food came. To my surprise there was no choices, just single choice. Soup, piece of bread and cup of water that costed three copper coins. Food was kind of disappointing.


    After breakfast we again gathered in courtyard and several teachers joined us. They called out the skills that newbie adventurers wanted to learn and took them in different places of the academy. One of them called out for students who wanted to learn Swordsmanship skill and we followed him to one of the training grounds. Separated by the fence they were built on academy''s ground. I counted more than a dozen of such places. with different sizes. There were no fountains and no parks. Just simple ground, only some of it covered with grass.


    One of the students, big bearded man approached me and looked over my body.


    - Hey there little one. Did you came here to meat real men? Then this is your lucky day, - he put up his hand and tried to touch my breast. I grabbed his forearm and squeezed it. I wanted just to squeeze his hand to make it hurt, but underestimated my strength and broke bones in his arm. Adventurer screamed in pain and I let go of his arm.


    - You betch! You broke my arm!


    He fell on his knees, holding his broken forearm.


    Uups, that was unexpected. I decided to pretend that it was exactly what I wanted, and looked at him with disdain.


    - What is happening here? - teacher approached as and looked at the wounded man.


    - She broke my arm, - he pointed his chin at me.I put my hair behind my ears, to let teacher know that I was an elf. I also took out my adventurer tag from under my short, and placed it above my clothe.


    - That low life tried to touch my chest.Teacher looked at my adventurer tag and smirked.


    - You, get to the infirmary. For the rest of you, let this be your first lesson. Never underestimate your opponent, no matter how he looks.


    - Won''t you punish her? - complained wounded adventurer. Teacher kicked him and pointed to the direction of one of the buildings.


    - I said, get to infirmary. And do not even think about causing more trouble.


    After adventurer left, he looked at rest of us.


    - Now does everyone has a sword?


    I also looked around. I was the only one unarmed. I got so used to the Magic academy''s rules, of no weapons, that did not even thought that Adventurer academy had different ones. All other students were armed. They had swords of different shapes and sizes, but all had them. I quickly took out my sword and fastened it on my belt. Teacher looked at me and sighed.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    - My name is Dorian. I will be your sword skill teacher. From this day on you will all have your swords with you. When you train, when you eat and even when you sleep, you will sleep with your sword buy you side. Every morning you will start with some training to increase your speed, stamina and strength. In the afternoon you will spare and receive your sword use lessons. There are only six teachers in Adventurer academy, so do not count on teacher holding your hand all the time. I will be with you during your sparring, to prevent you from killing each other and also teach you sword techniques. But mastering sword techniques and training in the morning you will do alone. If you do not practice, you will not be able to receive the Swordsmanship skill, and even worse you will never be able to get it. So do as you are told. Practice hard and do not be children who skip lessons because you are too lazy. Now form the line and start running.


    We run in circles, until one of us stopped and started vomiting.


    - Good, - said teacher: - Every morning you will start with running. Next some exercises.


    He forced us to do exercises like pull-ups and a push-ups, sit ups, jumping and other exercises. Many of them to strengthen our palms.


    We continued training until midday, when someone rang a bell and we were allowed to go and eat lunch. Thanks to my increased strength stats many exercises were easy for me, but even I felt tired and hurt in many places. I was thankful for the end of morning exercises and did not look forward to next morning.


    After lunch we again gathered in the same training ground. The adventurer whose arm I broke also joined us. I noticed that his arm was already healed. Probably by someone who could use Cure spell.


    - Now, let us see how good you are with your swords.


    - You, - he pointed at me: - Let''s see what C rank adventurer is capable off.


    Other adventurers whispered among themselves. Apparently they failed to notice my adventurer''s tag and its color.


    I stepped forward and took out my sword. Teacher glanced at it, and squinted his eyes.


    - Your opponent will be...


    - Me, - adventurer with healed arm stepped forward and took out his sword. It was a longsword, and he took it in both of his arms. Dorian shook his head, but allowed it.


    - Fine. But no complains later, from either one of you.


    Adventurer pointed his sword at me and spit on the ground.


    - I am Grog the destroyer. Just so you know, I am at level nine. And your increased strength stats will not help you in a swordfight.


    I did not answer and put my sword in front of me preparing for the fight.


    - Begin! - ordered our teacher. Grog so called destroyer screamed and attacked me. He slashed at me from above, using all his strength. If he would have hit me, that would kill me. I could easily avoided the attack, but this fool angered me. I also used my strength and met his sword with my attack. My sword split his greatsword in two and half of his blade fell on earth. I stepped back and looked at broken sword. I got used to fighting monsters and did not expect the steel greatsword to break so easily.


    Grog looked at his sword with surprise and cursed.


    - Enough! - commanded our teacher: - And I said no complains.


    He glared at Grog and destroyer bitted his tong.


    - Show me your sword, - he ordered. I hesitated, but handed over my sword. He looked at it from all sides: - Made from monster materials I see. But I do not sense any magic, so it is not an artifact.


    He handed over the blade: - My I ask who made this sword?


    - Ashurga from Grimsburg.


    - I heard about him. Grimsburg''s best blacksmith. I see that his reputation was not exaggerated. Now let us continue. You and you next, - he pointed at nearest adventures: - But keep in mind that you are training, so no lethal attacks, or you will be expelled.


    After everyone fought, and four adventurers that were wounded came back from the infirmary, Dorian continued with our lesson. He showed us the way how to hold a sword and basic attack and defense moves, most of which I already knew. We continued practicing them for two hours, to make sure that we all remembered them. Dorian corrected those students, who used their swords incorrectly.


    - Good, - he said, after all of us managed to copy all attack and defense moves: - Tomorrow you will practice on your own. I will join you in the afternoon and oversee your sparring. Any fighting in the academy''s grounds are forbidden and are the reason for expulsion, - he looked at Grog, and big adventurer averted his eyes: - Now you can rest. Dinner will be after third bell.


    * * *


    Next morning I woke up after the bell that informed everyone that breakfast will be ready soon. On my way to kitchen, I noticed that many adventurers eat food, that they brought themselves. That was probably cheaper, but I decided to stick with local kitchen''s food. It was not very good, but I was too lazy to shop outside the academy.


    After going to sleep and feeling pain in my body, I thought that I will feel the same in the morning. But apparently my increased health stats were large enough to heal me over the night. I felt refreshed and ready to continue.


    I noticed that other adventurers tried to stay away from me. I did not mind, since I did not look for new friends. I took a seat at empty table, and finished my breakfast without anyone joining me. Apparently I got myself a reputation, after yesterday. I used the toilet, which was a small wooden box, with deep hole, that reminded me of similar ones, that people on earths used too, long time ago.


    I repeated yesterday''s exercises alongside other adventurers and diligently practiced my sword moves after lunch.


    Two hours after lunch ended, Dorian joined us and brought with him wooden swords.


    - Take one of these swords and separate by two.


    All adventurers found a partner, and I was the only one who turned out to be alone.


    - Now practice moves that I showed you yesterday, and try not to lose an eye. You, - he looked at me: - What is your name?


    - Avone.


    - Fine Avone, - I will spare with you: - Continue practicing your moves, until I join you.


    Sounds of wood clacking filled the air. Dorian looked after students, separating two couples when they started hitting each other instead of training. When everyone fall in rhythm, he joined me. We practiced moves that he showed us until dinner.


    My hands hurt and I was even more tired than yesterday. Next day we had same routine, that continued day after day.


    During rest days I continued my dungeon exploration, but it went much slower than before, because after my training in Adventurer academy I felt more tired than before. I had no idea how could Trevor and Luara hunt with us, if they had the same practice every day.


    When we learned sword techniques Dorian showed us new ones. By the end of semester he showed us more and more complicated combinations, that we had to practice until perfection.


    After my first day, rest of adventurers tried to stay away from me. My usual practice partner was Dorian, and I was happy about that, since I could fight against him without holding back. I got used to morning practice and increased the repetition of exercises.


    The hardest thing for me was anticipating my opponent''s movements by the movements of his shoulders or by watching his eyes. I did not manage to master that skill, and failed to defeat Dorian even once, during our practice matches.


    I thought that there will be some kind of special training, but semester ended with the same routine, just with more advanced sword techniques, that Dorian showed us. Then semester came to an end and we used similar skill orbs that Magic academy had. The graduation ended with us using the skill orbs, with no celebration or dinner. We were informed that second semester will start in one month, for those of us who could afford and decided to learn more skills.


    Talk about disappointment, I got used to celebration dinners.


    After graduation I visited Adventurer guild to use leveling crystal, before my yearly hunt in Cemetery dungeon. I got lucky and gained one level and increased my Swordsmanship skill to basic level.


    I spend one month mapping Cemetery dungeon and located additional floor guardians. But I avoided any dangerous battles and mostly refreshed my spell use, that I almost abandoned during semester in Adventurer academy.


    Next semester I chose to learn Increased speed skill. I was the only one who chose it during that semester and exercised alone, in my private training ground. I had to spend most of my time exercising. Sprinting short distances, running, catching objects that instructor Shawn threw at me and doing many other exercises. They turned out to be simple, and there were no secret techniques, that I again expected. But by the end of the semester I got Increased speed skill.


    I had one week of vacation, but decided to spend it in a tavern with soft bed, instead of visiting the dungeon. One year on nonstop exercises tired me out and I decided that I needed rest. I also visited Adventurer guild to increase my level, but to my surprise my level did not increase.


    Next semester I chose Throwing skill. It was one of the more difficult skills to learn and acquiring this skill took two semesters instead of the usual one.


    I had a partner from previous semester this time. But he practiced throwing knives, spears and such, while I got stuck throwing rocks. First I needed to hit center of the target, ten meters from me, then twenty and then thirty meters away. I would have complained a lot, but just like before, most of the time I had to practice alone. Only two month later I graduated from rocks to throwing knives, again with the same goal of throwing them in the center of the target, first from five meter distance, then ten and finally twenty.


    My teacher showed me how to move my wrist during the throw and corrected me until I used it the right way, but rest of the time I had to practice on my own. Throwing daggers into center of a target ten time out of ten turned to be much more difficult than I expected. I needed nine more weeks until I managed to do that and the rest of semester I learned how to throw a spear. That turned out to be much easier that throwing knifes, until distance increased to thirty meters. By the end of semester, my spear throwing still was not perfect, but my teacher was satisfied with the results.


    I had whole month to myself, but I could not afford the rest. I already paid for next semester, but until then I earned only fifty gold coins, and needed to earn much more to cover my payment for last semesters. Especially if I wanted to keep my private room. I was not allowed to use leveling crystal and had to take bigger risks in Cemetery dungeon without even leveling up.


    I already mapped and searched more than a half of the dungeon, but did not find any treasure or artifacts that could bring me a lot of money. There was just one place left, that I could go, to earn enough to cover my expenses in academy. I bought enough food to last me for a month and departed on my most dangerous Cemetery dungeon visit yet.

 Chapter 4. Earning money.

    First week I spend scouting the dungeon until I found the safest route to its middle area. That was the only place that probably was not plundered by other adventurers. As usual I used my concealment spell to hide myself and entered dungeons most dangerous area. After destroying three ghosts and wight I met my first serious opponent.


    It was an archon. Unlike the archon that I met in Golden goose dungeon this one was smaller. As tall as a tall human would be and had only simple steel sword. I hid behind one of mausoleums and after casting my protection and enhancement spells I prepared Slow spell and stepped on the street with my sword in hand.


    Archon noticed me and came closer.


    - How dare you enter the town of the dead?


    Instead of answering, I casted my spell and archon roared in anger, after noticing earth bubbles appearing below him. We crossed swords and I realized that he was not much stronger than me. We exchanged few attacks. He was good with his sword, but too slow and my sword went through his heart. Archon moaned in pain, but tried to counterattack. I jumped back avoiding attack only thanks to my increased speed and decreased his. This counterattack took me by surprise. Archon pressed his hand against his wound and staggered. Blood flowed from his wound down his stomach and legs, but he did not died. But at least flowing blood proved that he was a living creature.


    - Cursed human. You will die for that.


    - I am not human, - I answered and attacked again. Weakened monster blocked my attack, but then I cut off his hound''s head and it fell on the ground, followed by the body.


    I will need to be more careful and not to assume that living creatures die, after receiving wound to their heart. I cut out his magic stone, but like I thought it was too small to be a magic gem. Apparently this dungeon''s archon was just a monster, not a floor guardian. Just in case I also collected his sword and continued my hunt. I encountered several undead former adventurer and killed a dozen more archons. But did not find any treasure. I avoided the middle of Cemetery dungeon, and mostly used surprise attacks alongside Destroy undead and Holy word spells and successfully killed monsters around dungeons center, but my most expensive loot was probably the former adventurer''s equipment. Four weeks later I returned to capitol and decided to sell one of my throwing knives, to earn more money. I received one hundred and seventy four gold coins, most of which was for my knife. That was less than I needed and no enough to cover all my education costs. But there was nothing that I could do about it right now. During my next semester I learned how to throw axes, practiced throwing swords, different kind of knives and even needles. By the end of semester I got my Throwing skill and then reached level twenty six and chose to increase my Magic resistance skill to advance level.


    I decided to learn Hunting skill to get a job connected to my Ranger job and finally increase my potential job as a scout. Some of the skills that I needed for that, like using bow, and throwing knives I already knew, but I also learned how to fight with a dagger and spear. Two more adventurers that wanted to learn Scouting skill had lessons together with me when our teacher Shawn took as to the nearby forest. I finally learned how to track animals and hunt properly. We learned how to read tracks, skin and butcher animals. We also learned how to move in the forest silently and leaving almost no tracks behind us.


    That was most fun and useful skill that I learned to survive in the wilds. I started to feel like a real ranger and also discovered that my hunting lessons helped me with my dungeon visits.


    After getting Hunting skill I visited instructor Shawn to apply for my last skill learning. He sometimes acted like a grandfather towards younger students, and I sometimes teased him because of that.


    - Avone, come in. Have you decided to stay in academy for one more semester after all? I thought that you already have as much skills as you need.


    - No, one more skill I still can learn, - I hid from everyone my Double skill slots skill to avoid the attention and decided to pretend, that I had only one free skill slot left, in case if they knew about my years in Magic academy.


    - So what skill do you wish to learn?


    - Can I choose to learn any skill?


    - Yes of course, - instructor Shawn nodded.


    - You promise, - I pouted, like a spoiled kid.


    - Yes, - he smiled.


    - You really, really promise?


    - I promise that you can. So what have you decided?


    - Do you really, really swear?


    - I swear on the Goddess of light, - sighed Shawn.


    - Good, - I nodded: - Then I chose Weapon master skill.


    - Weapons master, - coughed Shawn: - You do know that it takes two years to learn that skill. As a rule, we allow adventurers to spend only three years learning in academy, and you already spend two and a half years studying your previous skills.


    - Really? Who knew? But you promis-seed. And didn''t you swear using Goddess of light? I thought that such promises are unbreakable? - I put my finger towards my lips and thoughtfully lifted up my head.


    Shawn sighed: - Fine, you can stay. But you will have to pay double amount, for every additional semester.


    - You''re such a baddy, - I almost cried. But I got what I wanted, and I probable could afford the payment. I will need to earn more money in dungeon to cover it all, including my private room, but it was not impossible.


    - Those are academy''s rules. I am sorry, but I can''t break them.


    - That''s fine with me, - I happily jumped up. I paid for next two semesters, but that nearly cleaned me up, and I will need to found a way to earn more coins or sell my adamantium block to cover my payment.


    Visit to Adventurers guild was disappointing, since I failed to level up and my time in the dungeon also did not earn me enough coins.


    I resumed my studies and again had to start every morning with the same exercises that I did while learning Swordsmanship skill. I also learned how to fight using all kinds of weapons like axe, mace, shield, knives and different kind of swords, using both my arms.


    Some of lessons I spend learning how to take care of weapons. How to oil them, clean swords, daggers and axes. How to sharpen all kind of weapons and how to use different kind of whetstones, including the bench stones that blacksmith used. To my surprise some of the whetstones had to be actually soaked in water. And I thought they were just called whetstones.


    During days free of lessons I managed to map most of Cemetery dungeon, but did not earn enough money and had to sell my adamantium block to cover my payment to Adventurer academy. I had to choose between selling one more throwing dagger or my adamantium block, but decided to keep both of my remaining throwing knives.


    Four semesters later I received Weapons master job, and felt ready to finish my business in the Cemetery dungeon.


    After my graduation I visited Adventurers guild and asked bunny-girl Bonnie for permission to use leveling crystal. I did not increase my level in two years and had high hopes about it. But was slightly disappointed. My level increased just by one. Well I spend two years killing only weak monsters, so no surprise there. I took a look at my stats.


    Elf, LV 26 - 27


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:


    Health: 19 - 20;


    Mana: 250 - 260;


    Strength: 13;


    Defense: 9;


    Spell power: 11;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 6;


    Morale: Neutral Skills:


    Archery (Advanced);


    Night vision (Advanced);


    Mana rapid recovery (Novice);


    Magic resistance (Advanced);


    Wisdom (Basic);


    Earth magic (Novice);


    Butchery (Novice);


    Water magic (Novice);


    Air magic (Basic);


    Intelligence (Advanced);


    Fire magic (Novice);


    Life magic (Novice);


    Swordsmanship (Basic);


    Increased speed (Novice);


    Throwing (Novice);


    Hunting (Novice);


    Weapons master (Novice);


    Double skill slots


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Air magic (Advanced);


    - Swordsmanship (Advanced);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    I had a good choice between my skills. I wanted to increase my Air magic level, but decided to go with Swordsmanship. I will need it more than magic this time. I thanked Bonnie and went outside. Sun was shining high above my head. It was good day to die.


    It took me six years, but I completed my map. There were eight floor guardians in, what I called, outside circle. Three in the mid circle, and then there was a center of Cemetery dungeon, that I had not visited yet. I squeezed the hilt of my sword. I was as ready as I could be. It was time to finish it.


    I left the capitol and went to Cemetery dungeon. I felt familiar chills when I approached it borders, but for the first time it did not bother me.


    I went inside towards the area guarded by one of the floor guardians. On my way I encountered only one ghost. My Destroy undead spell took care of him, and I continued my path. Fog covered the dungeon and then he stepped out of it.  Dullahan - headless horseman. HIs dungeon''s version, without the horse. He unsheathed his sword, and pointed at me.


    - Holy word!


    Light came out of my hand and hit the monster. He stepped back and fell on one knee. Dullahan stood up and again raised his sword.


    - Holy aura! - warm light covered my swords blade. After trying out Holy word spell, I confirmed that life magic was affecting the dullahan. It was immune to my elemental spells, but apparently not to nearly forgotten Life magic spells.


    We crossed blades and after few exchanges stepped back. Our skills were equal. Dullahan was stronger than me, but not faster. And I had advantage. Every time may my blade was near him, I saw him shattering, as if the light from my blade was harmful to him. I started walking in circle around him. Dullahan followed my movements turning his body, which was mistake on his part. I was not searching for a weakness, I was buying time that I needed to caste my Haste spell. My elemental magic was ineffective against him, but not on me.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    My spell worked and I attacked. Dullahan blocked two times, and then I used advantage of my spell and increased my speed. Dullahan lost his rhythm and my attack cut off his arm. He stepped back. No blood came out of his wound, and he did not show any sign of pain.


    We again exchanged blows. Dullahan adjusted to my speed, but he was little out of balance. Lost arm changed the weight of his weight and he did not have enough time to adjust to it. Dullahan stepped back, and I also took one step back.


    I was holding my sword in one hand, and was free to point the palm of my left arm at dullahan.


    - Holy word!


    Dullahan was hit by the light and stepped back two steps. I immediately attacked. He managed to block my first three blows, but missed my horizontal attack, aimed at his legs. My blade went through both of his legs and dullahan fell on the ground. My next attack cut of his remaining arm. He was still alive. Then his right arm released the sword and started crawling towards dullahan''s body. I kicked it aside and took out my dagger. I cut open his chest and ripped out his magic stone. Without his core, dullahan''s body slowly turned to ash. All that was left behind him, was his sword. I used Exorcism spell on it, and then placed it inside my magic bag.


    One down, another eleven to go. Next was lugat territory. Undead monster came out from a shadow and hissed at me. I walked already for an hour inside what I judged to be his territory, carefully avoiding all shadows. Finally he showed himself, probably running out of patience.


    He jumped at me, and I used Holy word. Stunned lugat fell on earth and I attacked him with my sword. I held my sword in both hands and used all my available strength and speed cutting his body in pieces.


    He tried to protect himself, but without any weapon, lying on the ground, he was defenseless. Lugat tried to crawl back inside a shadow, but I left him no chance. I cut his body into pieces, and then removed magic stone from his chest. He turned into ash, but four of his claws stayed behind. That was lucky. They probably were valuable monster materials. I put them along with magic stone in my bag, and took a short rest. Time was after midday, and I had enough daylight to face one more floor guardian.


    Next one was undead troll. Except that this one probably managed to evolve after his death. Most common evolution for trolls, was war-troll. Unlike fat bellied trolls, war trolls were more muscular, thinner and more skilled in using weapons. This floor guardian was holding mace. It looked very small, in two and a half meters long monster''s hands. Unlike their living counterparts, undead trolls could not regenerate, but had all advantages of undead beings. But also their disadvantages. I used my conceal spell while searching for him, and had enough time to prepare, after I noticed the floor guardian. I used on me my entire enhancement and protection spells, and only then attacked undead troll.


    - Destroy undead!


    Troll survived the spell but pieces of his rotting flesh fell on the ground. He turned around searching for me, but I was using concealment spell and hiding behind broken fence. Next I used lightning. It struck troll''s shoulder and his left arm was left hanging limply. He noticed me and started walking towards me, waving his mace.


    Before he reached me I used Slow spell and his speed decreased a little. Troll''s mace hit the ground, when I avoided his attack. I run aside keeping my distance, until my Holy word spell was ready. I aimed it at his left arm, and after magic hit him, it fell on the ground. Motionless troll ignored it, continuing his attack. I easily avoided his mace. Even single hit with heavy weapon could kill me. Not even my armor would protect me, but his attacks were simple and easy to doge. I kept my distance until I was able to cast Holy aura. Strengthened by my spell, my blade was powerful enough to cut of troll''s palm. He waved around his damaged arm, trying to use it as weapon. I squatted down, avoiding his attack and cut off his leg. After troll fell on earth, I was able to reach his head, and used the opportunity to cut it off. I needed three strikes to do it, but it killed the monster. I breathed heavily, using so many spells and avoiding troll''s attacks took its toll. I cut out his magic stone, and collected also his mace. First day was over and I was still alive. Six years of studying Cemetery dungeon, and its floor guardians paid off. I read every available book on them trying to figure out their weaknesses and tactics that I could use against them and increasing my strength until I was ready, paid off.


    I left the dungeon and spend a night outside its borders. Rested I continued my dungeon clearing. My next opponent was a ghoul. It was wandering around his area, searching for a prey. There were to ghouls in Cemetery dungeon, and unlike other monsters they killed any corporeal monster inside their territory, and consumed any remnants of their flesh. Killing other monsters probably made them stronger, but my efforts of dungeon cleaning, left them without their prey. I spend many hours watching these floor guardians from afar and by now knew their habits quit well.


    Just like the rest of floor guardians, ghoul was dangerous and without a plan I would never be able to defeat him. Not in a fair fight. I prepared, using my spells on me, and then casted Holy aura on my sword and Slow spell on ghoul. According to my calculations, there was only fifty fifty chance that it would work. I got unlucky and unaffected ghoul turned around searching for me. He noticed me and started running towards me, but I already prepared Holy word spell. It struck him and ghoul stopped. He bared his teeth and continued his attack. There was black burned flesh on his chest, left by my attack. Ghoul used his claws against my sword. I had advantage in my weapons reach, but ghoul was formidable opponent. His claws bypassed my defense several times and left long cuts on my appear arms and cheeks. My chainmail saved me three times, otherwise I would have been lying on the ground with my inner organs exposed.


    Then I managed to launch a successful attack, striking from below, and ghouls arm flew up in the air. Ghoul hissed and retreated, but my enhancement and protection spell were wearing off, by then. Ghoul hissed and jumped at me, trying to cut my throat. I pressed my chin against my neck and used horizontal slash to counterattack. Ghoul''s claws left four deep cuts on my face and I lost my eye and my nose hang on a thin piece of skin. I screamed in pain and took a step back, but ghoul did not continued his attack. His upper body fell on the ground, while his legs fell on the other side. Ghoul angrily glared at me and I cut off his head. I fell on my knees. Pain was horrible. I could not concentrate on my cure spell, but it would not be able to restore my eye anyway.


    I took out gods mead and drunk the potion. Warm light enveloped me and all my wounds regenerated. I blinked with my left eye. It worked. Good, for a moment I was afraid that I will lose my eye forever. I would have preferred to keep gods mead and use it later, in case if I suffered any more serious injuries, but it could be used only to heal fresh wounds. If I would have used it later, then gods mead would not regenerate my eye.


    This battle was harder than I expected. I nearly lost my eye, and now my only gods mead elixir was gone. Four out of eleven and I already lost my safety net. I collected ghoul''s claws and magic stone and squeezed my sword. Nowhere to go, but forwards for me.


    My next opponent was mummy. I increased my magic resistance skill, just for this monster. Mummies were known to use magic, and since killing it with a single attack was impossible, I needed the advantage, that magic resistance could give me.


    I was using Concealment spell that by now was second nature to me, and mummy had not noticed me yet. I hid behind one of mausoleums and as usual used my magic. Covering my sword in holy aura I circled the mausoleum and approached mummy from behind.


    - Holy word!


    Mummy trembled and turned around. I needed to fight him in close combat. Mummy''s greatest strength was his magic, and I needed to take away that advantage.


    Monster turned around and pointed his hand at me. Familiar earth bubbles appeared below me and then disappeared. Low level magic spells were not powerful enough to affect me. Mummy made a mistake by wasting a spell, which allowed me to reach it, while undead monster was still defenseless.


    My first attack landed on its neck and mummy''s head flew up in the air. In landed several steps away. Mummy did not die as I expected. Its body turned around searching for the head.


    Not wasting time I cut it to pieces, kicked away its severed limbs before they could crawl back and reattach themselves. Mummy died only after I removed its magic stone, leaving behind dirty strips of linen. I could not imagine any use for them, and they looked really dirty and smelly, so I left them behind.


    My next opponent was draugr. A monster that caused me many sleepless nights and nightmares. I silently approached its resting place and peaked inside. Draugr lay on its stone resting place. There was small pile of coins near it. Apparently draugr started rebuilding his treasure pile.


    Retreating from its house and casting spells, then coming back took me few minutes. Ceiling in draugr''s mausoleum was high. High enough for a lightning spell. Lightning struck laying draugr and burned its flesh. He jumped up, roared and run outside.


    - Holy word!


    My opening spell damaged its body further and draugr tripped and fell. He almost immediately jumped up and roared again. He put up his lip, revealing sharp predator''s teeth in a threatening way. He was still five meters away from me.


    - Holy word!


    Pieces of darkened flesh started crumbling on him and draugr roared, this time in pain. He decided to attack and I stepped aside, avoiding his attack, at the same time using my sword to cut off his legs. His flesh acted as an armor, but holy aura nullified that defense. I finished draugr by cutting off his head. I collected magic stone and his claws. After it I took his treasure, eight silver coins, four coppers and a ring, that was hidden among them.


    I killed six out of twelve, and managed to kill the monster from my nightmares. The problem was remaining monsters. Next one was one more ghoul.


    Last one crippled me, and I lost my only God mead elixir. This time, if I can sneak up on him, I will have slightly bigger advantage, by not using Slow spell. I needed to hope, that it will be enough.


    I managed to sneak up on him and used Lightning as my opening. Ghoul howled in pain, and turned around looking for me. I hid behind a building and prepared Fire ball spell. I stepped out and ghoul immediately noticed me. He run towards me. I waited until he was close and then threw fire ball at his eyes. Ghoul was too close to avoid it and fire ball hit his face. He howled and covered his face. Moments distraction was his last mistake. My sword took off his head and both of his palms.


    After collecting his magic stone I exhaled the breath, that I unconsciously was holding. This was lucky, and went better than last time. Ghouls were partially alive, and pain and physical wounds still affected them. Using my enemies weakness, was my best chance of winning, but I had no idea what is my next opponent''s weakness.


    It was undead wyvern. He spend all his time laying on top of a mausoleum. And only rarely put up his head to look around. Dangerous sub species of a dragon was dangerous by itself, but coming back as undead and spending who knows how much time killing adventurers and probably getting stronger made him a someone who was equal to low level floor guardian in strength.


    I sneaked up on him and after casting my usual spells used lightning spell on him. Wyvern screeched and used his torn wings to flew up. His sharp eyes immediately noticed me and flying monster flew right at me. He was five meters from me, when I casted Holy word spell aimed at his bat like left wing. It broke in leather pieces and wyvern crashed into the ground, breaking some of his bones. I jumped aside to avoid the falling monster, and after he crushed jumped at him and cut off his second wing.


    Wyverns were dangerous as flying monsters, but much more clumsy on the ground. Wyvern hissed, got up and turned to me, but I already run away from him. Wyvern chased me around the cemetery for almost an hour. I continued casting Haste spell on myself and Holy word on wyvern, while running away and avoiding him. I used up two mana potions and two stamina potions, before he finally fell on the ground, with his undead body too damaged to even stand. Wyvern died after I cut off his head. Surprisingly his magic stone was the smallest one yet. Well his claws where the biggest.


    I left the dungeon and spend the night outside it. There were still three middle circle floor guardians left. Giant spider, one more draugr, and a zombie who looked like former high ranking adventurer.


    Next day I started with draugr. I killed it almost the same way as previous one. He also had a treasure pile, bigger that the first one had. I never stole it, because his lair was too deep inside the dungeon, and I did not want to risk draugr catching up to me, before I was ready to face him in a fight. Among coins and jewels was also an axe, mace several daggers even three grimoire. After using Exorcism spell on them I looked at spells, but first ones were familiar level one spells. That meant that grimoire belonged to former adventurers, and were not some powerful magic books with secret spells, as I hoped. I still collected them, since Mage guild always bought grimoire back, even if they were filled with spells, that they already knew.


    Next on my list was undead adventurer. He was wearing a cuirass and used a sword. Both were in good condition, unlike usual rusted weapons that undead used. That meant that they were either made from high quality metals, like adamantium, or were artifacts.


    Undead adventurer spend his time standing on the roof of mausoleum, staring into the horizon. That looked noble, but for me it made him a good target. I used my usual tactics and hit him with lightning spell. My lightning landed direct hit, but sparks harmlessly went down his cuirass and fell on earth. So his armor protected him from magic. That was bad.


    Former adventurer jumped from the roof and slowly approached me. He was radiating confidence and with a good reason probably. Protected by armor, he moved like an experienced fighter. Protected from magic, and with ranged attacks useless against him, he could probably easily took out B rank adventurer party, depending on his sword skill.


    I slowly retreated from him and casted Slow spell. Earth bubbles fell apart beneath him, and undead adventurer shook his head.


    - That won''t work. You will die today, adventurer. Coming here was the last mistake in your life.


    He stopped three steps before me and raised his sword. Judging from his moves, he was master swordsman. Probably more experienced and skilled than me. There  was only one thing to do.


    - Holy word!


    Spell hit his leg, and his knee bended. Adventurer used his sword to prevent himself from falling on the ground. Elemental magic was useless against him, but Life magic still worked. Adventurer lifted up his head, and the last thing that he saw, was my shining blade, approaching him. I cut his head in two, and its upper part fell near undead adventurer. No fighting fare the undead.


    He was still alive. Undead adventurer stood up waving his sword around him. But my attack landed directly at his eyes, and blind undead monster was no match for me. After disarming him I grimaced. I could not remove his magic stone, by cutting up his chest, because of a cuirass, so I needed to cut off the rest of his head, and then stick my hand inside his body. That was discussing. After his body turned to ash I collected his cuirass and sword. Armor that could protect from magic, will get me a lot of money. I thought about keeping it, but it was forged for a male, and it would interfere with my movements during my use of a bow. So I decided to sell it. After all I already had Magic resistance and the cuirass did not grant him full magic immunity.


    Time was approaching evening. I needed a lot of time to walk around the dungeon, since I avoided going to its middle. I decided to leave the cemetery and leave the spider for next day.


    Spider was giant version of a death spider that I encountered before. Its lair was surrounded by webs and was six mausoleums wide. Previously I spend many days stocking him, before I saw him for the first time.


    He was almost as high as me, when standing on its eight legs. It was black, with eight blue eyes and two sharp fangs, dripping with poison.


    I took out my elixir and put it in my pocket. Usual anti venom potions were useless against death spider venom, and I needed to use more expensive elixir, to cure it. Unlike the others, death spider was living creature, that could give me some advantage. But I had no idea how tough it was, and how effective my spells would be against it. Holy word was useless against it, and I had to rely on my elemental spells.


    I casted fire balls and set the webs on fire. Webs turned out to be less flammable than I expected. I took out fire crystals and threw them inside the webs. Long time ago I bought them in Grimsburg, but never used them. They were supposed to be magical firewood. I used several fire balls and fire crystals started burning. Their fire was much bigger that I expected and of the hire temperature, than any firewood. Soon fire spread and all webs started burning. All six mausoleums turned into one big bonfire.


    Spider jumped out of the fire, with small hairs that covered his body on fire. He turned around himself trying to put out the fire. Then my lightning struck him. Spider raised his front legs, and it looked to me like the expression of pain. Like other arachnids he was not able to make sounds, so he did not scream in pain, like other monsters.


    He noticed me, and immediately understood, who caused fire in his house. Spider started running towards me, but he still was somewhat distracted by the pain, caused by fire. I used Magic arrow and blew of one of the segments of his front leg. Death spider lost his balance, but continued his charge. Second magic arrow damaged his second leg. He lost his speed and all I had to do, was run away from him and use my Magic arrows. Twenty Magic arrows and one mana potion later I ended his agony with my sword, by stabbing his head. His head and mouth were damaged by my spells, and I could not collect any poison, but his magic stone was still intact.


    Now there was only middle of Cemetery dungeon left.

 Chapter 5. Final guardian.

    I spend the night resting, and then departed to face final floor guardian. I never saw it, since I avoided the deepest place in Cemetery dungeon. This was my final test in here.


    On my way to center of the dungeon I encountered several archons, but I killed them using my sword. It would have been safer to kill them using magic, but I needed to save my mana for the unknown. I kept using Conceal spell and doubled my caution during my approach to the heart of Cemetery dungeon. I peeked around the corner of one of mausoleums and immediately retreated.


    I saw the final guardian. It was a skeleton dragon. Most powerful undead monster in necromancers armies. As all dragons, skeleton dragon was immune to low level spells, unless the mage had high spell power stats. They were difficult to kill and were incredibly powerful. Only relief was that they could not breathe fire.


    At my level I doubted that my spells will inflict much damage on him. My sword strikes might be strong enough to inflict some damage, but I would need at least an hour to damage the huge body hard enough for him to die. And all that time I would need to avoid his attacks, every one of which could kill me.


    I closed my eyes and imagined what I saw. Dragon was laying in front of black mausoleum. Probably dungeon core was located inside the building and dragon was its protector.


    There was no other way to go inside, but to get rid of the dragon. Undead did not feel the passage of time, and probably will continue staying in one place for all eternity. So no chance of him taking a walk. Unlike the skeleton dragons dungeons version had magic stone. It was located attached to his spine, on the place where his heart should have been. Skeleton dragons did not have flesh, only bones, and his magic gem was in the open. It was as big as a melon. Probably worth at least a hundred orichalcum coins.


    I took a deep breath and changed grip on my sword. I had only one chance, and if it will not work, sings will go really bad for me. I casted my usual spells, and then prepared only spell that could help me to kill skeleton dragon. When I was ready to used the spell, I peaked around the corner and casted it.


    Second moment later I appeared in front of the dragon. I had seconds before it will notice me and start moving. I located my target and threw my sword. The throwing skill and my countless exercises did not fail me and my sword struck the magic gem. It went through it and magic gem broke into dozen pieces. Dragon noticed me and started turning his head, but then he turned into pile of bones that fell on earth in front of me.


    For a while I just stud there, not believing that it worked. I exhaled and picked up my sword. Then I opened the door and looked inside black mausoleum. In the middle of an empty room was large black crystal, with silver sparks appearing and disappearing in its middle. Dungeon core. The heart of the dungeon, that generated endless mana that created monster, revived the dead and created artifacts. Destroying the dungeon core or removing it from the dungeon will cause dungeon to slowly disappear. I took out large bag and put the dungeon core inside it. I needed six years, but finally I got the thing, that I was looking for.


    I returned to capitol and went to sage Norris''s house. This time the courtyard around his house was clean and when I knocked on the door, servant opened it.


    - Master do not accept any guests, - informed me young woman, after examining my outfit with her eyes.


    - Tell him that Avone came to collect her debt.


    - Please wait here, - she sighed and closed the door.


    I waited for a while, considering the option of braking a door and going inside. Then servant girl returned and invited me in.


    - Please come inside lady. Master will see you.


    She bowed and I went inside. At least he did not forget me. She escorted me to her master''s room and sage Norris happily greeted me.


    - Avone it has been a long time. Please come in. Bring us some wine.


    - Yes, it has been a few years.


    I sat in chair and waited till servant brought us a wine bottle and two glasses. She poured wine inside them and left after bowing.


    - I am glad to see that you are doing well. I have not heard much about you. What have you been doing all this time?


    - Hunting, - I placed my bag on the table: - This is what you needed?


    He looked inside and paled.


    - Yes. I can''t believe you got it. More than five years. You are lucky that you are still alive.


    - Can you make it?


    - Yes of course. But I was currently making another orb. It was king''s order. I will need six month to finish it. And I will need one year to make yours. Will it been fine if I make Primordial orb in eighteen month. I know that it is not what we agreed, but since the orb that I am making right now is for the king, it is difficult for me to refuse him.I drunk some wine. It was dry. Probably some expensive stuff, but I did not like it. Appreciation for expensive wine was not one of my skills. I thought for a while. I knew that sage will need one year to make Primordial skill orb. One year or one and a half was not much of a difference for an elf who will live for hundreds of years. I still looked seventeen, and during these years my age did not change much.


    - I can wait. I will return in year and a half, or maybe later. Keep the orb until I return. And thanks for the wine.


    - Thank you. But are you really sure? Dungeon cores are very valuable. For adventurers and nobles. Even king would be interested in buying it.


    - Why?


    - You don''t know. Well this knowledge is usually kept a secret. To prevent adventurers from destroying the dungeons, that are considered to be valuable. Destroying dungeon core will release its mana and also provide you with life force that is necessary to advance one level. Even level twenty or thirty, that are considered to be some of the hardest to get, for beginning adventurers or mages.


    - I see, - that was interesting, but I already made my decision: - I want the Primordial magic skill orb. Even if it will cost me the dungeon core.


    - As you wish. Can I offer you something else?


    - No thank you. I need to go.


    - Yes of course. I will prepare the skill orb and make sure it is ready for you when you return.


    I nodded and left his house. It was not like I was in a hurry, but social talk was never my strong side. I went to Adventurers guild and asked the permission to use leveling crystal. I was curious, how much life force I gathered from floor guardians. To my surprise I only got a single level.


    Elf, LV 27 - 28


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:


    Health: 20;


    Mana: 260 - 270;


    Strength: 13 - 14;


    Defense: 9;


    Spell power: 11;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 6 (+1=7);


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Archery (Advanced);


    Night vision (Advanced);


    Mana rapid recovery (Novice);


    Magic resistance (Basic);


    Wisdom (Basic);


    Earth magic (Novice);


    Butchery (Novice);


    Water magic (Novice);


    Air magic (Basic);


    Intelligence (Advanced);


    Fire magic (Novice);


    Life magic (Novice);You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Swordsmanship (Advanced);


    Increased speed (Novice);


    Throwing (Novice);


    Hunting (Novice);


    Weapons master (Novice);


    Double skill slots


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Earth magic (Basic);


    - Hunting (Basic);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    I chose Earth magic skill, thinking that leveling has become much more difficult after reaching level twenty. If reaching level thirty was another level cup, I could need another five years to reach it, and I was not that patient. I went outside and told Bonnie that I have some items to sell, and that she should call guild master to spare her some time. Surprised bunny-girl nodded, but summoned guild master, after taking me to private room.


    - Bonnie told me that you have something to sell?


    I nodded and took out all magic stones, except one that I decided to keep to myself, and artifacts and treasures that I got from Cemetery dungeon. When I raised my eyes I noticed that Donar''s face was pale and emotionless. Bonnie looked like someone who was about to faint.


    - I, I see why you thought that my presence will be required. I will need at least a day to examine and appraise everything.


    - I can wait.


    - But I can already tell that these ten stones can be considered magic gems. Since you brought us ten magic gems you can increase your adventurers rank. If you want I can promote you to rank B. Usually we post an announcement about adventurers promotions, but in your case since you prefer to be private, we will not do that. Also as B rank you will have all benefits of B rank adventurer. One of these benefits is hunting in Cemetery dungeon, if you are interested in it.


    Yes, I guess that I was interested.


    - Fine. I agree, but keep everything between us.


    - Of course. You can trust me. Bonnie prepare B rank adventurers tag for lady Avone, and also make sure that no one, and I mean no one, comes in this room.


    - Yes, ser.


    - Everything will be ready by tomorrow.


    - Thank you.


    I had a whole day to myself and first I visited a public bath. I needed to wash myself and relax, after days in the dungeon. I rented a room in a tavern with soft bed and slept in it till late morning. That was the best sleep that I had in years. After breakfast I went to Adventurer guild. As soon as Bonnie saw me, she run towards me and bowed.


    - Please follow me lady Avone.


    I sighed. Talk about not attracting attention. Everyone was looking at as with surprise. I followed Bonnie, happy to escape unwanted attention.


    She took me to the same room as yesterday and gave me my new adventurer tad. This one was made from gold.


    - You will need to mark it with your blood.


    I nodded and cut my finger. Golden tad glowed a little after a drop of blood fell on it and I gave Bonnie my old adventurer tag. She bowed and left the room. Soon she returned with guild master. He seemed a little scared, but acted as professional.


    - I appraised all items and magic gems. Are you sure that you want to sell them all?


    - Yes, unless some of them have ability to increase my speed?


    - No, - he shook his head: - Some of the artifacts, can increase your stats, but not speed. I counted the amount of money that we can offer you. It will amount to one hundred and two orichalcum coins, five gold ones, and three silvers.


    - Good, - I nodded. Finally I was rich again. Donar placed fat wallet on the table and I looked inside. It was filled with orichalcum coins. Never saw so many in one place.


    - Also if you are interested in acquiring artifacts that can increase your speed, perhaps you should attend the next auction? Former B rank adventurer recently left this world. He was granted a noble title and after retiring from adventuring became a collector of artifacts. I heard that his family decided to sell everything in auction. Sadly his children did not follow his footsteps, and decided instead to work in king''s court.


    - That sounds interesting. When will this auction happen?


    - In two weeks time, it is starting in midday.


    - Can anyone attend.


    - It will be better, if you will have recommendation letter. Bonnie will prepare it for you.


    - Thank you.


    - Thank you for your hard work.


    I waited in the room, until Bonnie prepared and brought me recommendation letter. She explained me how to find the auction house and I thanked her.


    I had two weeks until then, and decided to rest. I rented a room in my favorite tavern, with huge free bath for customers, and spend two weeks lazing in bed and refreshing my high elf language. This was my first vacation since I came to this world and I enjoyed it by spending my days in bed, visiting the bath and eating expensive food.


    Two weeks later my vacation came to an end and I had to leave for the auction. Auction house was located in the part of the capitol where people brought for sail their cattle, geese chickens and other animal. To my surprise there were also slave markets. I never considered buying a slave until then. That was what many isekai story heroes did. But the thought of all the years that a slave would need to increase his or hers level, and also the expenses for sending them to academy ended any ideas about buying myself a slave. It is not like I had a house that needed cleaning and most of food I bought already prepared.


    I found a building with huge black coin above the door. Black coin auction house. Near the doors were two guards dressed in black leather armor. Someone liked color black a lot. I demonstrated them my recommendation letter and one of the guards opened a door for me.


    - Welcome to Black coin auction house. Please go inside, and take one of the numbers.


    I went inside. There was a large room filled with many chairs and a stage in the front. Near the entrance was table, with big wooden signs with painted numbers on them. I took one and looked around. Room was semi-dark and only illuminated place was the stage. Almost half of chairs were already occupied. I chose one closer to the front and took my seat. Time was approaching midday and soon almost all seats were occupied. Most of guests were wearing expensive clothe, but among them were several people dressed in armor and even few mages and adventurers.


    A big, fat bellied man stepped on a stage, and bowed.


    - Welcome dear guests. Thant you for coming to our auction house. Hope that every one of you will find the thing that he desires, and will leave this place satisfied. As you probably know, most of the goods that we are selling today were the property of noble adventurer Hullek. He was a famous collector and we are proud that his heirs chose our auction house to sell them. Let''s begin with few of his smaller items.


    The young catgirl dressed in clothe that barely covered her intimate parts brought first item. It was a dagger, decorated with small gemstones.


    - This beautiful dagger is decorated with opals and has excellent craftsmanship. It can be used to demonstrate your wealth and also used as a weapon. Starting price will be five gold coins.


    The continuing bidding reminded me auction houses that I saw in movies. People put up their numbers and said the amount of money that they were willing to pay. The dagger was sold for sixteen gold coins and catgirl brought second item. Next two items were also daggers, with no magic powers. I had no interest in them and was a little disappointed, hoping that all items will be artifacts, magic weapons, or weapons made from rear metals. Then catgirl brought a bow, that reminded me the bow, that I used when I arrived in this world.


    - This bow is made from elven wood. Rear weapon, it does not have magic powers, but is excellent weapon used in the past by high elf.


    My current bow was mediocre weapon, that I bought because there was nothing better and this bow peaked my interest. I participated in the bidding and had to go as far as four orichalcum coins and four gold ones, before I won. All other participants probably wanted the bow for their collection and had no intension of using it as a weapon. At least I could be sure that bow was made from elven wood and will be worth its money. All auction houses used their own people with appraisal skills and their reputation depended on the truthfulness of items quality and abilities that they described during the auction.


    Most of next items were swords and other weapons, along with pieces of armor. Many of them were artifacts and magic weapons with special powers or stats increasing abilities. Most expensive ones were bought for sixty orichalcum coins. Two of items I recognized as the ones that I sold to the Adventurers guild. Then catgirl brought the ring, and hosts next words made me straiten my back.


    - This artifact do not have a name, but we called it the ring of speed. It has ability to increase your speed stat by one, and can be used together with other artifacts. It will also adjust to its wearers finger size, fitting perfectly to your finger. Starting price will be one orichalcum coin.


    Ring was made of yellow metal and had small shield with crest on it, in a place where usually gemstone was located. Bidding continued for a long time, but I managed to win it, by going as high as thirty two orichalcum coins. It was more expensive than I hoped, but I could afford it.


    - Sold to young lady with number sixteen, - announced auction host, and catgirl took the ring back. Auction continued and I participated once more when catgirl brought a brooch that could increase the luck of its wearer. But just by one, and I stopped when the price went past ten orichalcum coins.


    Next item that caught my interest was an artifact that was found by B rank adventurer party in Dead man''s chest dungeon. It was magic purse that had the same abilities as mine, but had capacity equal to ten meters wide room. It was cute, small pouch of red leather, that could easily fit on my belt. According to the host it was possible to personalize the purse, and make its content inaccessible to others. It also had ability to extend its entrance size, that made possible to put inside it even middle sized shield. Auction host demonstrated this ability and named starting price - five orichalcum coins. I had to go as far as sixty two orichalcum coins, before I was declared a winner. Auction host actually robbed his palms after declaring me the winner and continuing with next item. I sighed to myself. I was caught by the bidding spirit and went much higher than I wanted. After paying for the items I will be left with four orichalcum coins. And to think that I was planning my possible retirement. Spending most of my money on a purse, I was such a - girl.


    Last item was Angel sword. It had golden color and its guard looked like angel''s wings. It had ability to increase all primary stats by four, and artifact was sold for one hundred and fifty orichalcum coins. It was a huge amount of money. Al least I would not had been able to by the sword, even using all the money that I had. After auction ended, people who bought something were invited inside one of the rooms. I followed one of the servants, who placed in front of me all three items that I bid on.


    - All together it will be ninety eight orichalcum cons and four gold coins.


    I sighed and put them on the table. I placed the bow inside my magic bag and put the ring on my left hand''s middle finger. It did fit perfectly. I shook my hand, but it did not fall off.


    - How do I personalize magic purse?


    - It had not been personalized by anyone else. So all you have to do is use drop of your blood to mark it, - explained the servant. I did as he told and purse gloved for a moment.


    - It is done. Now if anyone will try using it, he will see only ordinary, empty purse. There should be second compartment now, were you can place something small, that will be visible to others, to complete the illusion.


    I opened the purse and saw, small side pocket in it. I placed there two silver coins and tied it up.


    - Good. Thank you.


    - Thank you for your business. Please take this, - he handed me small black coin: - You can use it to enter any auction house in the kingdom. We give it to customers, who bought valuable items from us.


    More like overpaid for them. Even if they did not planned to do it.


    - Thank you, - I placed the coin inside my new purse: - By the way is it possible to know before, what items will be sold in the auction.


    - We try spreading news, if we come into possession of items of great value or interest. But not all items are listed. Are you an adventurer?


    - Yes.


    - Then you can ask your guild to inform you about items that you are interested in. We usually send the Adventurer guild complete item list, since they are our valued clients and in many cases partners.


    - I see. Thank you.


    - Please come again, anytime you wish to buy something, - he bowed. Apparently I got a reputation. Most likely it was a rich girl, who liked cute purses.

 Chapter 6. Gornagog village.

    After leaving Black coin auction house, I went to Adventurer guild. I was not broke yet, but my vacation came to an end. I needed a job. I hated that word - job.


    I looked over the quests, until noticed dungeon clearing quest. That was unusual, since dungeons near capitol were frequently visited by adventurers. I kept reading.


    "Dungeon clearing quest near Gornagog village. Reward fifteen silver coins. Lodging and food included."


    Never heard of Gornagog village. I took the quest sheet and waited until Bonnie was free. Cute bunny-girl was my favorite receptionist. I went to her and put the quest in front of her.


    - Can you tell me about this quest?


    - Certainly, - she nodded: - Gornagog village is located three days north east of the capitol. It is a small village, with big fields were villagers grow grain. No important roads go through it and grain is most important source of income for villagers. Almost thirty years ago a dungeon appeared near the village. Back then many adventurers went to explore it, but even after reaching floor ten they did not find any artifacts. They encountered some poisonous monsters, but the income from magic stones was not so big, and absence of major roads and with only small village nearby, made the dungeon unpopular. But, because of possible monster stampede, Gornagog village was granted tax relief, and was tasked with obligation to hire adventurers every year. Adventurers are tasked with dungeon cleaning quest. The quest is completed after you will hunt down at least forty monster, and bring back their magic stones. The income from magic stones will be yours, and also all monster materials.


    - Why didn''t someone just cleared the dungeon?


    - No one knows how deep it is. And dungeon clearing could be dangerous because of the last floor monster. Are you interested in taking this quest? - bunny-girl looked at me with hopeful eyes. She was really easy to read.


    - So, this job is unpopular?


    - Yes. Three days travel there and three days back. Hunting monsters with unknown abilities and levels and small reward, makes this quest not very popular. We need to beg adventurers every year to take this job. There are more attractive jobs, not so far away from the capitol. Not to mention that the lowest party rank for this quest it D.


    - I see, - I scratched my cheek: - I wanted get something more out of it, but nothing came to mind: - Is there a time limit for the job.


    - No. As long as you regularly visit the dungeon and hunt there. You will need to show village elder magic stones that you got there, but there is no need to hurry.


    - Good. I will take the quest. For this year and the next.


    - For next year, - she asked hesitantly.


    - Yes. You said that quest is posted every year, right?


    - Yes, but... Well I guess it is fine. I will make special reservation for you. But you will need to confirm that you are excepting the quest in eleven month time.


    - Very well. I will do that.


    - Thank you for taking the quest. Please wait, I will bring you the map.


    - I will also need food supplies for six days.


    - Of course. It will cost you six silver coins.


    I put the coins on the counter and Bonnie soon returned with the map and dried meat. I placed supplies in my magic bad, and left the guild. There was nothing else left to do for me in the capitol and so I left the capitol and went for the Gornagog village. I spend four days on the road. I took my time hunting on the way to test my new bow. It was excellent weapon, just as good as my first one. I hunted down two rabbits, but spared the boar and doe. They were too big for me alone to eat, and I had enough food anyway. Road to the Gornagog was almost empty and I after going farther away from the capitol I encountered only one traveler. It was a villager who was taking his grain to the capitol.


    When I was approaching the village, I saw first big fields that villagers used to grow grain. Some of the villagers were working in the fields, and followed me with curious looks. As in many villages, the lands around the village had collective ownership, and because of that, most of villagers lived close to each other. Several houses near border of the village were abandoned. Gornagog village center, the most inhabited area of a village, was surrounded by small fence. The gates were open and I went directly threw them.


    -  I called out one of the villagers and asked directions to village elder house. It was the biggest house located in the centre of a village. Not far away from it was a building that looked like a church. Man who looked like a village elder was chopping wood, when I greeted him.


    - Are you the village elder? - I assumed that it was him. He was around fifty years old, wearing simple, but durable clothe that looked mostly clean.


    - Yes, - he turned towards me, but relaxed, when he noticed that I was a young woman, and also alone: - How my I help you?


    - I accepted dungeon cleaning quest.


    - Just you? - he looked at me doubtfully.


    I took out my adventurer tag and showed it to him. He paled and bowed deeply.


    - Please excuse me I did not realize, that you are B rank adventurer. Please come into my house.


    He opened a door for me and I went inside.


    - Daughter bring as some milk and food. We have guests.


    - Water will be fine, - I never liked fresh cow milk. I was born in a town and actually preferred pasteurized milk. Not that it existed in this world.


    We sat down at long wooden table, and young girl around twelve years old brought us jug of water, bread and cheese. She glanced at me though her curly red hear.


    - Please excuse me, but our village is poor, and this is the most that I can offer you, - apologized elder.


    - That will be fine. Please tell me about the dungeon.


    - It is huge hole in the ground. My grandfather told me that when it appeared some children went inside and disappeared. Villagers went after them, but no one returned. Only month later when a monster came out of it they realized that it was a dungeon. They send word to the capitol and begged king for help. Word about our dungeon spread and many adventurers came. Things did not went well. They were arrogant people, demanded village women, free lodging and wine. Then, when they realized that they won''t make much money and fame, they slowly started to leave. Villagers had no choice, but to beg the king for help again. But a war broke out, and king had no time for us. Years and many tragedies later, villages taxes were lowered and we were tasked with hiring adventurers, like you, to hunt monsters in that dungeon. But people do not like that dungeon is located so close to village. Many left, many more later.


    - That is why there are abandoned houses?


    - Yes. Dungeon and monsters scare us. We are no heroes, and we do not have a lot of money to hire strong adventurers who can get rid of the dungeon. Living so close to it drove away many families. I am sorry, - he waved his hands: - I did not wanted to burden you with this story.


    - Calm down. I wanted to know that. So it is fine. It was interesting.


    - Oh, thank you.


    Well, probably saying that it was interesting, after hearing about village''s hardships was not best choice of words.


    - Your job request mentioned, that you will provide me with food and rest place.


    - Are you alone, or will your party join you later?


    - I work alone.


    - Of course. Someone with your rank do not need help. I will prepare a room for you in my house, and...


    - No. I will use one of the abandoned houses. Tell your people to fix it and build a fence around it or restore one, I don''t care what. Fence must be higher that your highest village men. It does not need to be durable. Make it out of grass, for all I care. All I need is something that you cannot see threw.


    - But, I can give you my best room.


    - No. Three days, should be enough to prepare it. I will visit your dungeon in the meantime. Tell me where I can found it.


    - You are planning to spend three days there?


    - Yes. Is that a problem for you, - I asked sarcastically.


    - No, of course not. It all will be done, as you wish.


    - Good. I may need some time to gather all magic stones. You will leave food to me near the gates of my house, once I return, and keep leaving it until I am done. If the food will be untouched, it will mean that I am inside the dungeon. Is that clear.


    - Yes, - he nodded.


    - Good. So where can I found this dungeon?


    - It is located around tenths of an hour walk from the village, in a forest.


    - Is there a road, that leads to it?


    - No. Why would we build a road that leads to the dungeon?


    To make it easier for me find it - I wanted to say, but held my tong.


    - Fine. Then send someone with me, to show me the location. Just as far as the entrance. Do not worry, no need to go inside with me.


    - I will take you there myself.


    - Good. Let us go them.


    - Right now?


    - I rested enough. And I do not want to lose more time than necessary.


    - Yes, of course. Mary, I will be back soon, - he told his daughter and she nodded.


    We left his house and went to the woods.


    - My name is Avone, - I introduced myself, after realizing that I did not know his name.


    - Of course. I am Eldrin, village elder.


    - Were your wife outside?


    - She died last year. Got sick. Now it is just me and Mary.


    - I see.


    - Many people blame dungeon, when people get sick.


    - I do not think, that it is true.


    - Maybe. Our priest says that dungeon is a test from the gods.


    - Dungeon is a dungeon, - I shrugged: - In Magic academy I was taught that dungeons just are, neither good or bad.


    - You went to Magic academy.


    - Yes.


    - You must be of noble birth, - he fell on his knees: - Please forgive me I did not realize.


    - I am not. I am adventurer and got recommendation letter as payment for the job, - I sighed: - Please get up now, your clothe will get dirty.


    - Yes, yes of course. This way.


    Soon we reached the dungeon. Not even seeing its entrance I felt familiar chills.


    - We are close.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    - Yes, you can feel it too? There.


    He pointed ahead and I saw a hole that went deeper under earth. I took my bow and put one arrow on the string.


    - I will return in three days. Maybe longer if I lose track of time. Just prepare my house, and do not do anything.


    - It will be ready, - he nodded. Probable B rank adventurers reputation was even more impressive that I thought. I went inside the dungeon, feeling his eyes on my back.


    The hole led me through long corridor to large underground cave. It had one more exit, dungeons first corridor. I entered it and soon inside first cavern noticed six huge frogs. Nothing unexpected, but very close to exit. I took my aim and shot first frog. Other monsters immediately started jumping towards me. Their mouth opened demonstrating huge fangs. They were big clumsy targets and it was over even before they got close to me. I sighed and took out my dagger. It was long time since I had to cut out magic stones from living creatures, and that was not something that I ever enjoyed. Their fangs probably could earn me some coppers, but it was more trouble to me than it was worth. Besides I will not be able to sell them until I return to capitol, and even my new magic purse was not bottomless. Cavern had two exits. I stopped. Dammit. My plan had one flaw. I had some paper pages, but not enough to make a map. Well I will be able to use my paper pages during my first visit, but I will have to think of something after that.


    Three or four days later, probably four, since I got lost on my way back, I returned to Gornagog village. I explored most of what I called floor one. There were only low level monsters that were similar to the ones that I killed in Grimsburg dungeon, and at my level I could easily handle them alone.


    Judging from suns position, time was between midday and evening. I went to village elders house. On my way I saw villagers, but they did not started conversation, and I had nothing to say to them.


    Mary was playing in front of the house, but run inside as soon as she saw me. Eldrin soon came outside, following his daughter.


    - Lady Avone. You have returned.


    - Yes. I told you I will, - I showed him four magic stones: - Proof that I killed some monsters.


    - Yes, of course. I did not dear to doubt you. I was just worried that something has happened to you.


    - I am fine. Is my house ready?


    - Yes. I did as you told. Please follow me. Or would you like some food first.


    - Some food would be nice, - my own food supplies run out yesterday, and I did not had any food since then.


    - Please, come inside.


    After lunch, that consisted from bread and cheese. Eldrin took me to my new house. It was surrounded by a fence made from branches and straw. I tried to peek inside, but could not see anything. Good, that was exactly what I wanted. Fence was higher than me, high enough to be at least two meters above ground level. We went through the gate. House had a courtyard, big enough for a small garden, or for my sword practice.


    Door was not new, but they used wood boards to nail the holes in the door and walls. Roof was also patched up. Not careful job, but good enough to prevent it from leaking. Inside the house was one big room. It had fireplace with a pot, two benches, table, some plates and a bed covered with straw and pieces of cloth.


    - That will do. I will need two or three days rest, and then I return to the dungeon. Please ask your people to not disturb me without a good reason.


    - I will. Is there anything else I can do for you?


    - No, that is enough.


    - I will send my daughter with food for you in the morning.


    - Thank you.


    After he left I took off may armor and boots and lay down on the bed. I could use my cloak as a blanket, but missed a pillow. I had a lot of work in front of me, but for now I closed my eyes and fell asleep.


    Next morning I went outside and took of my cloth. Morning was warm and it seemed that day will be a hot one. I put up my hands and used Life magic to create a small stream of hot water. My improvised shower felt good. After using my spare shirt to dry myself I went outside  the gate. At the gate was a basket covered by small blanket. I took it inside my house and put it on the table.


    Basket was filled with vegetables, cheese and bread. There was enough food, to feed two people. I ate as much as I could and took a shirt rest.


    It was time to go outside and hunt. I took my bow and left for the forest. Around two hours later I killed a boar. It was big, with plenty of meat on it. At Adventurer academy I was thought, that I should remove its entrails, skin it and hung it on the tree, to let it bleed to improve the quality of meat. But then I will need to carry back the skinned body. That was really disgusting. I thought for a while and then decided to let villagers handle all the boring stuff. I still removed the entrails to make him lighter and cut of boar''s head. It still left me with probably seventy or eighty kilos of animal''s body. But with my improved stats I could lift up weight of two hundred kilos, so carrying it back to village will not be easy, but possible. I lifted boars body and put it on my shoulder. An hour later I returned to village and took boar''s body to village elder''s house. I dropped it near it and massaged my shoulders. It was more difficult task than I thought it will be.


    Eldrin came outside and looked at a boar with surprise.


    - I will need provisions, for a long period that I will use to stay in the dungeon. So smoke the meat, or do that stuff, that you do to preserve meat. And prepare it for my dungeon hunt.


    What? I did not grow up in a farm. I had no idea what people did there. Smoking meat sounded about right.


    - Yes. I see. I will do as you ask, - he nodded with doubtful expression.


    - How long will it take?


    - All will be ready the day after tomorrow.


    - Good. And I will need its skin also. Do what you people do to preserve it.


    - Fine, yes, I will take care of it.


    - Good. Bring meat to me when it is ready. I will go to the dungeon then.


    I returned to my house and eat the rest of my breakfast. I left the basket near the gate and spend the rest of my day practicing my swordsmanship and spell casting. In the evening Mary brought me another basket with food and took the empty one.


    Next day I hunted a doe and asked Eldrin to do the same thing. Meat was ready by the next days late morning and Eldrin brought it together with Mary and another young boy. They carried three baskets, full of meat that was cut in thin, lean strips. He also brought a basket with some vegetables and pears.


    - Thank you, - I showed all the meat inside my purse. They all watched with surprised expression when all food disappeared inside it.


    - Most of meat is still inside my house. And there is still a doe that you caught.


    - How long would that boar feed one person?


    - Well, more than a month, definitely.


    Really? That was more meat that I thought. Who knew that a single boar could feed a family of two people for at least half a month.


    - Well, you can keep half of it then. I will let you know when I return. Make sure its hide is ready by then.


    - Yes, thank you. But are you sure about it?


    - Yes. It is not like I can eat it all myself and if I need more I will hunt more prey. Just make sure you prepare meat and animal skin for me.


    Maybe I should learn how to preserve meat myself? But it sounded boring and time consuming. So I put that idea aside.


    - Yes. Of course, - he bowed and they left taking empty baskets with them. Hmm, people in villages had many baskets. Maybe I should have bought myself a slave, who could cook and take care of the rest of boring stuff. But it was too late now, and I was not sure that I had enough money to buy one anyway.


    There was nothing else to do, but go to the dungeon. I used up my remaining paper, mapping second floor. Dungeon was similar to the one in Grimsburg. Caverns and corridors, just these one where holes in the earth, and temperature there was lover. But monsters were similar and in seven days time I successfully cleaned out most of dungeons second floor monsters. I collected few of monster materials, such as claws and fangs and returned to village.


    - Lady Avone, you have retuned, - greeted me Eldrin: - Was your hunt successful?


    - In a way, - I placed on the table ten magic stones and monster materials that I collected: - I killed several monsters, but had to destroy their magic stones. I brought their claws and fangs as proof.


    - I see. That is fine. I believe that you did your job.


    - That is not enough, I will need to continue my hunting, until I collect enough magic stones. But I will need more time than I expected.


    - That is fine. You are welcome to stay as long as you need.


    Guess, no commoner was brave enough to show a B rank adventurer the door.


    - I will do that. I will hunt tomorrow, and I will need you to prepare more provisions for me.


    - It will be done lady Avone. I also prepared boar''s skin for you, as you asked.


    - Good, - I run out of paper and planned to use animal skin as a replacement, for my maps. Now I had all I needed to continue with my dungeon hunts.


    * * *


    Eleven month later I reached dungeons last floor and faced the fourth and last floor guardian. I already killed a cockatrice, ghoul and another skeleton dragon and now was running away from an ice giant.


    He was three meters high and he could froze anything he touched. I casted Slow spell on him and now used my run and shoot fire ball and magic arrow tactic. I had only one mana and one stamina potion left and managed to inflict only minor damage on him.


    I spend eleven month in Gornagog using the excuse that I destroyed most of magic stones during my hunts. Eldrin did not mind, since having a high ranking adventurer provided his village with security, and meat that I brought him after hunting, provided him with additional food. That way he had no need to use his own supplies to feed me. In exchange for meat that I left him, Eldrin provided me with vegetables and steady supply of bread and cheese. After Edrin''s request I even got rid of several monsters that appeared near village and earned his additional favor. That earned me additional supply of fruits and berries, fresh or dried ones, depending on a season.


    Until then many families left Gornagog village, but now the flow of people stopped and two new families even came to live there. My relationships with villagers were almost non-existent. They stayed away from me, just as I preferred, and all my communication went through Eldrin and his daughter.


    I spend almost a year in Gornagog and finally reached floor twenty which was the last floor of Gornagog dungeon. I had several near death experiences, but successfully reached the dungeons lower floor.


    Now I had to kill my third mid level floor guardian, after two skeleton dragons that I killed before. Ice giant turned out to be formidable opponent, but after successfully casting my slow spell I got an advantage and used my best run and shoot tactic that I used against stronger floor guardians. Now the question was will he die before I run out of mana or will I run out of mana first. Best weapon against ice monsters were fire spells, but my fire ball was too weak and just barely effective. After using it alongside Magic arrow I damaged ice giants chest, but not deep enough to reach his magic stone.


    I had to use may last mana potion and concentrated my spells on ice giant''s leg. After half an hour running casting and using up my last mana potion I managed to inflict enough damage on monster''s leg for it to crumble and ice giant fell on the ground.


    Ice giant concentrated on his leg and it started slowly to regenerate. Apparently he could not regenerate on his own, but could build himself new leg by using his innate ice magic.


    I drunk stamina potion and took out my sword. I needed to kill him before he could get the use of his legs back. I threw one more fire ball at his face and them used follow up attack with my sword. He protected himself by putting up his arm, but it was just what I expected. My sword got stuck in his arm and I immediately twisted it, using sword''s cross guard. Monsters arm crumbled and half of it fell on the ground. I jumped back to avoid the touch of this second arm. I kept attacking and jumping around fallen ice giant. It had a choice to protect his head and body by sacrificing his arm or to risk a lethal wound, but keep his only offensive ability. Ice giant chose to keep his arm, and tried grabbing me, every time I attacked.


    My combination of Haste and Slow spells gave me more than enough advantage to avoid his attacks and continue my own. The fight also allowed some of my mana to restore itself, and I could continue casting my two spells.


    I managed to inflict damage on ice giant''s body and cut off his fingers and them his palm, shortening his attack range and preventing him from using his freezing touch.


    Another half an hour later ice giant suffered enough damage from my sword and hundreds of ice pieces fell on the ground. Finally it was over. I sat on the ground next to the wall taking deep breaths. It was my longest battle yet, but I managed to defeat dungeons final guardian. I took his magic stone, my biggest one yet, since I had to destroy skeleton dragon''s magic stones in order to kill them and returned to the room where I first saw ice giant. Inside it was an alcove with big dark crystal. My second dungeon core. I pocketed it and suddenly magic circle appeared in front of me. I was curious, but read about such possibility. I stepped inside the circle and appeared in front of the dungeon. Talk about convenient.


    I returned to the village and showed village elder forty magic stones. I asked him to deliver message to Adventurer guild about my successful completion of a quest and also to confirm that I will take on this year''s quest as well.


    - But is it necessary to post another quest?


    - As far as I know, you must post a quest every year with no exceptions. Or do you want to deny the king and start paying complete amount of taxes?


    - Of course. I did not think about that. I will depart for the capitol tomorrow.


    - Good. Bring me back news, that my application for this year''s quest is accepted.


    - I will do that.


    I had no idea what he thought about me, but Eldrin was not a fool. He probably suspected my intensions, but since they would benefit his village, he did not mind, probably.


    Next I visited the church. Until then I saw priest several times, but never talked to him. Church was build from wood, with huge front room, where village''s people could gather and have meetings, or listen priest''s teachings.


    - Welcome adventurer. How my I help you?


    - I wish to use leveling crystal.


    - Of course. But it will cost you three silver coins. I am sorry, but there are no exceptions.


    - Of course, - I handed him three silver coins and he took me to back room.


    - Leave the room, - I ordered him.


    - My apologies adventurer. I know that it is different in Adventurer guild, but I must stay and observe the use of the crystal by every human who uses it.


    - Good, - I put strands of my hair behind my pointed ears: - I am not a human, so that will not apply.


    - But...


    - Leave. I will not repeat myself, - I glanced at him angrily and put my hand on sword''s hilt.


    - Yes, I think that in your case I can allow you use the crystal privately.


    After he left I put my hand on the crystal and looked at the familiar words and numbers.


    Elf, LV 28 - 29


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:


    Health: 20;


    Mana: 270 - 280;


    Strength: 14;


    Defense: 9 - 10;


    Spell power: 11;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 6 (+1=7);


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Archery (Advanced);


    Night vision (Advanced);


    Mana rapid recovery (Novice);


    Magic resistance (Advanced);


    Wisdom (Basic);


    Earth magic (Basic);


    Butchery (Novice);


    Water magic (Novice);


    Air magic (Basic);


    Intelligence (Advanced);


    Fire magic (Novice);


    Life magic (Novice);


    Swordsmanship (Advanced);


    Increased speed (Novice);


    Throwing (Novice);


    Hunting (Novice);


    Weapons master (Novice);


    Double skill slots


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Butchery (Basic);


    - Scouting (Novice);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    Even after clearing whole dungeon, I got only single level. That was slow. And skill choice. It was almost the worse one possible. Butchery my most useless skill or scouting, another skill that I did not want. I sighed and chose basic Butchery level. Talk about useless.


    Ten days later Eldrin returned and brought me a letter from the guild, confirming that they received news about my quests completion and that my second quest was also approved. Now I had an excuse to stay in the village and train a little. And also learn how to smoke meet.

 Book III Goblin armies and Heroes. Prologue.

    The threat from the beyond the ocean loomed over kingdom of Ashgrin. An army of barbarians was approaching town of Grimsburg. They were led by a powerful warlord, who slaughtered any living creature, that he came across. Great heroes were gathering to protect the town of Grimsburg, to save its people from certain death by barbarian hands.


    Among great heroes was Trevor the Brave, one of the few commoners, who after winning the tournament held by Adventurers and Knights academies, by kings grace was accepted to Knight Academy and later became one of the royal knights.


    Another was archmage Nelly. One of the most powerful mages in Grimsburg, who received her lessons from childhood from all the mages who lived in Mage guild. She was famous for her daring visits to the Grimsburg dungeon, accompanied by other heroes.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Luara the Scout, town''s strongest adventurer and Ashurga the weaponsmith, Grimsburg''s skilled blacksmith, who visited the dungeon to get more materials for his weapons. They both were heroes who hunted in a dungeon - place filled with monsters and unimaginable dangers to gather more materials for weapons and improve their skills.


    The Grimsburg army''s leader was general Evan. Formerly one of the strongest town''s adventurers. Who became the general of Grimsburg, not by birthright, but using his skills with the sword and leadership abilities.


    All those heroes gathered on the town''s wall and looked at the barbarian army that filled the horizon.

 Chapter 1. Paladins.

    I blocked attack from insect like monster, whose arms resembled two curved swords, using my dagger and my counterattack finished the duel, when my sword went inside his neck. It was tricky to cut out his magic stone because of his armor like shell.


    Insect warrior was one of the strongest monsters in Dead man''s chest dungeon''s fifth floor. But as long as he was alone, he was no match for me even if I did not use my spells. I was in the middle of removing his shell that I could sell later, when I heard footsteps. I replaced my dagger with my throwing knife, and took out my second throwing knife.


    - Well, well what have we here? Some lady steeling our loot, - smirked an adventurer holding big sword. His companions laughed. There were three of them all together. Judging from their badges, C rank adventurers. Warrior with a sword, mage and assassin or scout in black clothes, armed with short sword and daggers.


    - That is not nice to steal? But if you apologize and leave us all your money, we will forgive you.


    What lowlifes. But not the first adventurers who asked for trouble. Stealing from others was rear, but as adventurers sometimes said: What happens in the dungeon stays in the dungeon. So stealing and killing other adventurers was something that I needed to expect.


    I slowly stood up, hiding my knives. I used the time to cast Hast spell on myself. The moment I faintly glowed and they noticed my spell I threw my knifes. Mages rarely used armor, which was a weakness. My first dagger pierced his heart. Second knife I through at the scout, but he almost dodged it, and knife wounded his arm.


    - You whore! - screamed their leader and attacked me. Geesh, attacking someone without mages assistance, was reckless. I would have used all advantages before that, like enhancement spells or potions.


    I managed to take out my sword and sliced his neck, simultaneously dodging his attack. He dropped his sword and grabbed his neck trying to stop the bleeding, but it was too late.


    Assassin paled and stepped back.


    - We were just kidding. You did not have to do that.


    Sure, sure. Like I would ever trust that. He turned away and tried to run away. I could have run after him, but it could a trap. A changed a grip on my sword and threw it. Heavy blade pierced his back and assassin fell on the ground. I slowly approached him, but adventurer was already dead. I took out my sword, and quickly searched their wallets. Taking their personal belongings was too dangerous, but money could not be traced back to them. I sadly looked at insect warrior''s body. I did not remove his shell, and now had to leave it. Adventurers might have been not alone.


    I sighed and looked at the ceiling. It was time to leave the dungeon and return to capitol.


    * * *


    I tried to hit my instructor, but he grabbed my hand and through me over his shoulder. I landed on my back and grunted in displeasure.


    - If you have time to complain, then you have time to get up, - told me my teacher.


    - I pay you for these lessons, - I reminded him, but Askor only smiled.


    - Yes, and it is my job to make most of the time that you paid me for.


    I got up and took a fighting stance. I could have sworn that I moved faster than my teacher, but like he always said, watch your opponents body, anticipate movements of his muscles and even his breathing will tell you about his next move. Even after two years I did not mastered that part of unarmed combat. Today we practiced throwing an opponent and after four more times of landing on my butt our lesson came to an end. We bowed to each other and I left the room.


    Best way to describe the place, was to say that it looked like a dojo, from my original world. I was wearing a shirt and short pants and was barefooted. Unlike to dojo in my original world, this one had wooden floor covered by stretched carpet.


    I started attending this martial arts school after I returned from my quest in Gornagog village. I also attended swordsmanship school where master taught dual wielding style of sword and dagger uses.


    My dual wielding lessons were more successful. Thanks to my Dual wielding skill I learned my teacher''s fighting style faster and my skill subconsciously corrected my movements, when I fought using two blades. My teacher already told me that I was close to being master of the style, and that soon there will be nothing that he could teach me. I disagreed with that since in a practice duel he still could best me eight times out of ten. For that reason I continued my lessons and was not planning on quitting them for a while.


    By now my schedule for last two years was two afternoons of learning martial arts, two mornings of dual wielding lessons and then three and half days I spend in one of two dungeons located near capitol of Asgrin.


    In the past there were three dungeons, but the least visited dungeon ceased to exist and now there were only two. No one missed Cemetery dungeon since no one went there anyway, and by now the only difference were rookie adventurers who searched the remnants of town of the dead that used to be Cemetery dungeon, in hopes of finding any treasure. Even two years later, they did not found anything, but that did not stop them from continuing the search.


    By now I was level five high elf. This meant that I did not need to concern myself worrying about old age. High elves did not age and lived forever, unless they were killed by violent means. My increased health stats also protected me from getting sick, or at least I would heal very fast.


    My main job was adventurer and by now I was B rank adventurer just two levels under the highest rank S. My goal in dungeon visits was finding artifacts, that could increase my speed, but I had no such luck. Instead I spend most of the money that I earned in two years to by a bracelet that had ability to increase my speed stat by one. Now I had two artifacts, ring and bracelet, both of which increased users speed by one.


    During my training practice I did not use them, to keep my training more efficient. I went to the cloakroom and changed into my adventuring clothes and armor. I was hungry and decided to visit nearest tavern. After ordering food and diluted wine I listened to conversations in surrounding tables. Mostly people discussed the promotion of a royal night to paladin. That was the topic of conversations because royal knight used to be a commoner and raise of his rank to paladin was highest honor that he could receive from the king. I listened to conversation because knight''s name was Trevor. In the past we used to be members of the same adventurers party. Last time I saw Trevor was more than ten years ago. The ceremony was supposed to be held tomorrow after the sunrise in the local church of light. Most of times the ceremony was closed to public, but this time it was supposed to be open for the public view because of Trevor''s peasant background. Apparently king wanted to show people, that even peasant could become famous and powerful royal knight, as long as he puts enough effort into it.


    I had nothing to do next morning and ended up near the church of Theia, goddess of the light. There was a crowd in front of it. Apparently too many people wanted to see the ceremony and knights restricted the access to church to avoid overcrowding. I had no connections in king''s court, and no chances to get inside, but out of curiosity I came closer to the entrance. I never visited churches in the capitol and only saw this one from the distance. As I came closer to entrance, crowd pushed me forwards and I ended up in front of the guards, who guarded the gate. One of them looked at me. I wanted to step back, but before I could he addressed me.


    - You are B rank adventurer, as I see. So, even someone like you wants to see our legendary commander. Very well, you may go inside, - he opened the left side of the gates, and I ended up going inside. It is not like I want to see it, but by then I felt too uncomfortable to refuse.


    - Thank you, - I thanked knight and ne nodded.


    I went inside and took one of the empty seats. Ceremony already started. Trevor was kneeling before the priest in white robes. Last time I saw him he looked like an eighteen years old boy. Now he looked like a man in his early twenties. He was tall and well built. I noticed that he probably exercised daily and just like me increased his level, since that was the only explanation to his youthful look. Back then I looked like a seventeen years old girl and now looked like eighteen year old. But unlike humans my outer appearance will not change anymore.


    Priest was talking about Trevor''s heroic deeds that apparently started with his victory in the tournament. I thought to myself that I do not want to hear about his the next achievement, when bright light shined into my eyes. I covered my face and when light disappeared I jumped up and looked around surprised. From what I could tell I was inside the throne room. In a large white chair was sitting beautiful woman who was glowing slightly.


    - Do not be afraid child. I will soon send you back, and no one will even notice your absence.


    - Who are you? And where am I?


    - My name is Theia and you are in my palace, far away from your world.


    That sounds insane, but it was the best explanation that I could think of.


    - Why am I here?


    - I needed to talk to you.


    - And why now? I assume that you are the reason why I was reincarnated in this world, so why are we talking only now?


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    - I was able to contact you because you entered place of my power, my church. Until then you were out of my reach.


    - I went inside churches before.


    - Churches that you mention are not mine. They do not belong to any individual god and are more like workplaces for priests, who represent the high pope, who worships all human gods that are worshiped in your continent. But what belongs to all does not really belong to anyone.


    - I see.


    - Then let me explain the reason why you were reincarnated. That will make rest of conversation easier for you to understand, - I nodded and she continued: - The game Heroes, Magic and Monsters were created by gods to prepare people for the battle that been fought in this world since ancient times, between the gods that represent order and forces of chaos, represented by Lucifer, lord of demons and devils. We visited earth many times. We were worshiped as sumerian, egyptian, greek and norse gods and many others. We inspired humans to create the game that represented abilities of races that people and creatures had in this world to prepare you and many others for the battles, so you could help us defeat Lucifer and his armies. But in order to do that we needed help from other gods, that are worshiped in this world. And we were betrayed. One of the evil gods that in your realm was known as Loki decided that it will be fun if humans will fight on the Lucifer''s side as well.


    Originally humans were supposed to be reincarnated as children among the races of two continents, but because of Loki''s interference, humans were reincarnated also as representatives of the races that fight on Lucifer''s side. Humans were reincarnated as creatures whose characters they mostly choose, while playing the game. Many of heroes were based on real persons, who lived in this world twenty years ago, others, like your favorite character Avone, were created by humans who developed the game.


    After your death you were supposed to be reincarnated as newborn children and most of you were met by gods during your souls journey and received an explanation. Your case was the only exception and as far as I know, also will be in the future.


    Like I said, you were supposed to be reincarnated as children born to real parents, and you are the only one who reincarnated as game''s character. That happened because of your attachment, I will not even hesitate to say, unhealthy addiction to game''s character.


    Well, who could blame me? Avone''s character was so cute.


    - Because of that, as an exception, you were granted knowledge, like language and ability to read that the game character would have. Along with her body''s instinctive abilities of elven ranger.


    - So does that mean that right now I am the only adult?


    - No. Partially you are right. Human children are still children. But you forget that you are reincarnated only after your death. Some sooner, some later. Of course elves mature much later, even if they were reincarnated before you, they will need more time to grow up, but there are races like goblins. Who come into adulthood in four to six years. I summoned you because of one of such goblins. He is reincarnated human from your world. But he became a warlord. He enslaved his village''s people, after killing half of them in their sleep. Then he gathered a huge army, who is now approaching kingdom of Ashgrin. He is killing every living creature in his way, and his first target in Ashgrin will be Grimsburg and its people.


    I am afraid that if his powers will continue to grow, he may become too powerful and will drown this continent in blood and fire. I want to enlist your help in stopping him.


    - What makes him so powerful, that people of this world cannot stop him themselves?


    - Like I mentioned many gods welcomed the souls from your world. In exchange for their allegiance gods granted humans the jobs of their choosing and in some cases even a skill that they were already born with. You can imagine the difference between someone with hero job and a commoner?


    Yes, I could. My Double skill slots skill made me more powerful, that I would have been without it.


    - Tell me more about that allegiance. Why is that important? Humans are known to betray their masters. Especially if we become powerful and do not need to follow the law.


    - There is a great difference. I cannot contact you anywhere, but inside my church. But if you would be my servant I could contact you anywhere. I could know your location anytime, and even if we do not interfere directly in lower worlds affairs, evil gods could send assassins after someone who betrayed them. They would send their assassins and order them to attack the traitor during their sleep or during the moment of their most vulnerability.


    That was an inconvenient.


    - Just to be clear. Even if I decide to help you, I do not pledge my allegiance to you.


    - As you wish. I do not ask that of you.


    - Good.


    - But if you agree to help me, I can offer you a reward. Skill or perhaps something else?


    I thought about the thing that I could need. Something that I missed the most.


    - Coffee beans.


    - You want coffee beans?


    - Yes, - I missed coffee in the morning. There was sugar, honey, milk and juice. Even potatoes, so I could make hamburgers and french fries, but no coffee. I missed also lemonade, but had no idea how to make it. And any amount that I could ask would be finite. But if I got coffee beans, also known as seeds of the fruit. I could grow coffea trees and get infinite amount of coffee in the mornings. That was exactly what I wanted.


    - You could have asked for a skill or an artifact, but instead you want coffee beans?


    - Fresh ones that I can plant and use to grow coffea trees. Besides, skills and artifacts I can get myself, but no coffee.


    - I am not surprise anymore that you reincarnated as a game character. You are a strange one. But fine, - she extended her arm and small bag appeared near me. I opened it. Inside were small red berry like seeds. Exactly ripe and good for planting.


    - Wont they go bad until I can arrange a cofea tree farm?


    - I will put preservation spell on them, to preserve them until they touch the earth.


    - Good, but I still need more information.


    - You have more questions?


    - First the most important one. According to the game scenario this world will be destroyed when last battle between the heroes and Lucifer starts, and only few survivors will relocate to another planet. Will that happen here? And when? And can it be stopped?


    - That story was a fiction, created by humans who developed the game. It is true that some of the characters like queen Elizabeth the great, king Rolan Griffinheart are real people, but many stories and also the worlds future are what you call fiction, created by games developers to advance the game and make it more popular.


    That was good. Waiting for this world to be destroyed, was driving me crazy. That also solved my predicament. I thought that I will be at a disadvantage, since I had no idea who was other reincarnated people. But if other characters were based on real people and I was only one who reincarnated as game character, then other reincarnated will think that I am just another life based character, not reincarnated person.


    - Good, - I gave voice to my thoughts: - When will this reincarnated goblin come to Grimsburg. What can you tell me about his army? And can you also warn the people of Asgrin, so they could prepare for the battle?


    - I only know that his army has thousands warriors in it. They will arrive in Grimsburg in fifty days or so. I cannot interfere and warn people directly, but word about the invaders is on its way. They should receive the news in five or six days.


    Good, that gave me some time.


    - Fine. I will accept your quest, and do what I can to stop this goblin-hero from killing everyone in Grimsburg.


    - Thank you brave adventurer.


    So now I was brave adventurer not some obsessed human with issues.


    The light again shined into my eyes and I found myself in the same place. Priest was listing Trevor achievements after he became a royal knight. Apparently he stopped bandits, hunted monsters and stopped monster stampedes. Not bad for a former scared boy, which he was when we first met.


    In the end priest took a shining sword from the altar and placed it on Trevor''s shoulder.


    - From this day on you will be granted the rank of paladin, and will be known threw the kingdom as Trevor the Brave, protector of kingdom of Ashgrin.


    Crowd cheered, and Trevor stud up and waved. He looked like a real hero in his adamantium armor. I felt proud for him. Soon ceremony ended, and I left the church. I was holding bag with coffee beans in my hand, and placed it inside my magic bag. So I received the reward up front. Not bad, but it was not like it was precious for the goddess. And she was probably ready to grant me a skill to make my fighting more efficient. But I doubted that any novice level skill would be useful, and learning new spells would take too much time, while dealing with new skill.


    I decided to visit Adventurer guild. Last time I leveled up for month ago, and I will need all advantage that I could get in order to stop reincarnated hero with cheat skills. I greeted my familiar receptionist bunny-girl Bonnie. When we first met he was just a young girl, but now she was already young woman. Bonne got married six years ago and had two children that she talked about often.


    - Lady Avone, it has been a while. Did you bring as more items to sell?


    - Greetings Bonnie. Not this time. I just want to use leveling crystal.


    - Of course follow me.Bonnie took me to the leveling room and opened the door for me. I went inside and put my hands on the crystal.


    Good, I advanced one level:


    High elf, LV 5 - 6


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:


    Health: 23 - 24;


    Mana: 340 - 350;


    Strength: 5 - 6;


    Defense: 2;


    Spell power: 13;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 7 (+3=10);


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Archery (Advanced);


    Night vision (Advanced);


    Mana rapid recovery (Novice);


    Magic resistance (Advanced);


    Wisdom (Basic);


    Earth magic (Advanced);


    Butchery (Basic);


    Water magic (Novice);


    Air magic (Basic);


    Intelligence (Advanced);


    Fire magic (Novice);


    Life magic (Novice);


    Swordsmanship (Advanced);


    Increased speed (Basic);


    Throwing (Novice);


    Hunting (Novice);


    Weapons master (Basic);


    Primordial magic (Basic);


    Dual wielding (Novice);


    Double skill slots


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Farsight (Novice);


    - Butchery (Advanced);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    But my skill choice was awful. Again Butchery, my most useless skill. And second choice Farsight that I did not want as well. I sighed and chose Butchery, at least I will not have to level it up, until rest of my skills become advance level.


    I came outside and Bonnie locked the door behind me.


    - Are there any guard jobs for anyone who would go to Grimsburg? Payment does not matter.


    - Let me check.


    We returned to main hall and I waited for Bonnie to look for possible quest. I could go there alone, but no reason to do that if I could earn some money on the way. Unless I will have to wait too long, in which case I will have to journey alone. I was not experienced in long journeys and was afraid to get lost on my way.


    - There are merchants going to Grimsburg in two days. They posted quest searching for guards. Until now only two D rank adventurers accepted the job. So you can take the quest if you want.


    - Yes, I will take it.


    - As you wish.

 Chapter 2. Grimsburg.

    I informed my two schools that I will not need more lessons and spend an orichalcum coin to by potions and several elixirs that I may need to complete my quest. That was a lot of money, but I still had several orichalcum coins, and it was better to spend money on stuff that will help me to stay alive.


    Three days later I was sitting in a cart protecting merchants. Job was boring, and until now nothing happened. I was riding in the front, holding my bow ready, but did not notice anything else. My thoughts drifted and I thought about the reincarnated goblin.


    I tried to put myself in goblins place. What I knew about him? I killed half of village goblins in their sleep and became a leader of the rest. Why? Because, I needed to become stronger and needed more power to enslave them. And I was not strong enough to kill them in a fair fight, so kill them while they are defenseless, to avoid any risk. So I gained their life force, increased my level, stats, got skills. Then I was strong enough to enslave them. Then using my new band I enslaved nearby villages, growing stronger and increasing my armies.


    But goblins had their own kingdom, with powerful mages and armies, and band of bandits, even thousands strong was no match for them. He probably killed hundreds to increase his level. And since with every level he needed more and more to kill, the goblin emperor did not look kindly on that. Only choice - run away.


    Goblins were known to raid this continent. Ashgrin was human kingdom located in the middle area of the continent, with no exit to oceans, but to its east were uninhabited lands. Dangerous lands filled with monsters and unforeseen dangers, but goblins used those lands to launch surprise attacks. Ashgrin was among weakest kingdoms on the continent. Perfect target for someone like reincarnated goblin. So he runs away from his native lands, uses goblins that were here before to find safe passage to Ashgrin and attacks borderland town. He kills every living creature on his way to get his army, himself or both stronger. Until now that would make sense, in a cruel way that had complete disregard for human life. But maybe goblins were raised that way, and he was born as one.


    I noticed that my thinking and behavior changed. Many times I acted like a girl, not like reincarnated man in girl''s body. Maybe his way of thinking was influenced as well.


    That would make his action predictable. We will have advantage, since apparently his surprise attack failed. Question why. Only explanation that I could think of, he was betrayed. Probably goblin king or emperor or whatever found out about his plans and decided to warn us. That way he made sure that he will not be blamed for this attack, and also would get rid of a possible threat in the future, and also avenges killed goblins, if he cared enough about that.


    So what would I do next? Attack Grimsburg, and kill every one there to get more life force? Probably. Surround the town to prevent anyone from leaving and getting reinforcements and then attack. No, not right away. First I would become stronger, just in case. So my next moves were clear to me.


    I yawned and tried to concentrate on the road. In isekai novels I would definitely be attacked by monsters or bandits. But in real life, such attacks were rear, or merchants would be close to extinction. But that was no reason to drop my guard, so I try to concentrate on surroundings. But we got lucky and our journey came to an end without incidents. I brought my signed job completion form to Adventurers guild and received eight silver coins. Lousy pay, but at least I did not need to pay for transportation and food was included. I posted a quest, as a part of my plan to stop reincarnated goblin, and proceeded with second part of my plan.


    While I walked to my next destination I looked around. Town did not change. Same buildings, same people. There were new receptionists, but same guild master. Streets were familiar to me and I easily found Mage guild. It was second place on my list to visit.


    I expected to see Sally, my familiar receptionist in Mages guild, but there was different young girl sitting in her place.


    - Welcome adventurer, - she immediately recognized my profession, or just guessed: - How my I help you? Did you came here to learn some spells? Then you came to right place.


    - Yes. I wish to learn Primordial magic spells. Just three low level ones.


    - In order to learn them you need Primordial magic skill, and only our guild master can teach you those spells.


    - I know. I have the skill. Is Mesmer available?


    - Oh, you know our guild master. As a fellow elf?


    - No. Just tell him that my name is Avone. He should remember me, - at least I hoped that he will.


    - Very well, - she looked doubtful, but left the room, to talk to guild master. She returned soon and opened the door to higher floors.


    - Please follow me. Guild master will see you.That was good. At least he remembered me. Girl took me to third floor and knocked at the door decorated with gold runes and stylized magic circles. After receiving a confirmation she opened the door and let me inside.


    - Thank you Lily. Please wait for lady Avone outside.


    - Yes, guild master, - she bowed and closed the door behind her.


    - Lady Avone, please sit down.


    Mage guild master Mesmer was a high elf. In the past every time we met, I felt an urge to bow to him, but this time I felt like meeting an equal.


    - I see you have evolved into high elf. You must have worked hard.


    - Like you know I spend a lot of time hunting inside the dungeon.


    - Yes. I remember. Lily informed me that you wish to learn Primordial magic spells and that you managed to acquire Primordial magic skill?


    - Yes. But before that I need to talk to you.


    - Ou? About what?


    - The things that I am about to tell you must be kept quit. Even you are not supposed to know about them, - I took out from under my skirt my adventurer tag and placed it above my clothe.


    - Something that important, - he slightly smiled.


    - Yes. An army of thousands barbarians is approaching Ashgrin. Their first target will be Grimsburg.


    Mesmer''s face became serious.


    - How do you know that?


    - You will probably be informed about that soon enough, by king''s official representative. My job is different. It has to do with their leader. That is why I came here first, and need your assistance.


    - What is so important about him?


    - He does not want gold or slaves, or land. He wants power. Can you defeat high ranking magician, who is also a master swordsman?


    - Spellsword?


    - Or just someone with high rank and rear, balanced skills to use both magic and sword.


    - That would be difficult.


    - Yes. And he came here to grow stronger. When he takes the town, he will kill every person in here to get their life force. He has done it before, in his own kingdom, and now is coming to make himself even more powerful. That is all that he cares about. Once he kills everyone here, he probably will be as powerful as A rank adventurer, or stronger.


    - I see. That indeed sounds bad. So why are you here?


    - Two reasons. First can you teach me spells that will protect me from magic? That will block my opponents magic resistance skills. And spell that will make artifacts temporary useless. And two more questions. Can you use Time stasis spell? And can you use teleportation spell?


    - I can teach you those spells. Yes I now Time stasis spell. And no, I cannot use Teleport spell.


    - Then you will need to learn it. You will have a month to do that. But before that I need you to teach me three spells that I mentioned. We will have five days for that.


    Mesmer shook his head.


    - That is impossible. Primordial magic is an ancient form of magic. Instead of using the spell circles it uses mana to achieve desired results, without the assistance of spell circles. Mastering that will take you month in the least. Only then can you start learning spells. We do not have enough time.


    I looked around the room. Most people used magic lanterns, but Mesmer was old fashion, and room had candles in it. I pointed my finger at one of the candles and lighted it up. Then I used it on two more candles.


    - How did you?.. It was not a Fire magic. And did you use spell circles at all? Is it Nature, no. Life magic?


    - I learned it in Magic academy during my forth year. Some kind of special courses.


    - I see. Impressive. What spells can you use?


    - I can start bonfire. Create water. Also Holy word and Exorcism spell.


    - That should be enough. Maybe you can learn those spells after all. But you mentioned two things.


    - What is Nelly doing these days?


    - She was quite impressed by your example. She wants to get stronger and along with her companions hunts in the dungeon, often.


    - What level is she?


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    - Level twenty nine.


    - That is even higher that I expected. Could you tell at what level her job would change?


    - At level forty.


    - That is a shame. No matter. I would like your permission for her to accompany me. Once we are finished.


    - You wish to fight the barbarians?


    - No. I need to prevent their leader from getting stronger. Before he attacks Grimsburg.


    - I do not understand, - frowned Mesmer.


    I sighed.


    - That is easy. Warlord or barbarian general, if you prefer to call him that, is careful person. He will not attack, before he gets all possible advantages that he can get. And there is a great place to get much stronger. Especially for someone like him.


    - Dungeon?


    - Yes. I am here now to clear it.


    - I see. But two of you will not be enough. May I ask your level?


    - No. It is irrelevant. And I do not intend to do it just by myself. I already posted a quest in Adventurer guild. Let us hope that someone will accept it. Worst case, we go alone, but then we might not be able to get back in time.


    - You seem quite sure that you can reach dungeon''s last floor.


    I sighed. I needed his help. So I will need to take the risk. I bitted my nails.


    - Remember. That our conversation must stay secret.


    -  I understand. I swear on my ancestors that I will keep everything you say between us.


    - Good. Have you heard rumors that Cemetery dungeon and Gornagog dungeons are no more.


    - Yes, I have. But... I see, - Mesmer closed his eyes: - Why would you?


    - I needed to break the level thirty cup, and it was most efficient way to do that. But it is not important. What is. Will you help me?


    Mesmer nodded: - I will put my trust in my fellow elf. Is there anything else?


    - Yes. Once I am ready, we will need all stamina and anti-sleep potions that you can get for me and Nelly. And also our possible party members.


    - I can help you with that.


    - Thank you. To keep it quiet, please tell Lily that you agreed to teach me. I will cover the payment, to make sure that everyone believes us. And do not forget to learn Teleport spell, once we are done.


    - Fine. I would ask you why, but it seems that explanation will follow later. Once I completely believe you?


    - Yes. If everything else fails that spell and you will be our only chance to survive.


    - Survive, not win?


    I will need to be more careful around him. Elf had good ear for words.


    - Make sure Nelly is rested and ready in six days please.


    Mesmer smiled: - Very well. Lily! - he called the receptionist and she opened the door: - I have agreed to teach my fellow elf three spells. It will cost her ninety gold coins. Please prepare everything. An inform everyone that I will be busy. Make sure no one disturbs me, unless it is an emergency.


    - As you wish guild master. Please follow me lady adventurer.


    - My name is Avone, - I smiled at her and she nodded.


    - I see. Then please come with me lady Avone.


    I followed her downstairs and after paying ninety gold coins she took me to second floor. The room that we entered was round, with no windows. All that was inside were several big candlesticks with candles. Mesmer was already waiting for me.


    - First, - started Mesmer: - Primordial magic does not requires magic circles. In order to use it you need to use your mana directly. Using Primordial magic without Intelligence skill is incredibly difficult. But since you have it, it will be easier for you. Also you will need to use your imagination and cast spells in ancient language that dragons originally used. That language is also called primordial language. I do not speak it, but some of the spells were passed down through generations. There is no need to say spells out loud, you can just cast them in your mind. Since we are short in time, we will have to work without taking breaks, or at least as less as possible. I also prepared for you two anti-sleep potions. Now let us begin with our lessons.


    * * *


    Mesmer guild master from Mage guild was using Clear view spell to watch a knight squadron entering Grimsburg. After he received warning about possible invasion, he used the spell to scout the area around the town. He noticed knights and now was watching them through the magical window.


    Knight leader was familiar to him. Former adventurer Trevor. When they first met, Trevor was just a rookie adventurer, but now, ten years later, he returned as royal knight lieutenant. He was wearing custom made armor, but the yellow rose emblem on knights flag meant that he was granted the rank of paladin. In Ashgrin, royal knight had ranks: apprentice knight, knight, paladin, holy knight and holy paladin. Paladins were equal to C rank adventurers, and were only granted such rank after defeating many monsters and performing deeds that proved their bravery and sword skills. And since Trevor was just a commoner, he must have done something that even nobles could not deny, and worked twice as hard to achieve the rank of Paladin.


    Mesmer heard that he was called Trevor the brave, and was slowly becoming one of the famous knights of Ashgrin. After he first met Grimsburg dungeon adventurer''s party, he followed their carrier, mostly interested in fellow elf Avone, but after one of the party members died, and party was disbanded, he received no news about Avone from Adventurer guild. The rest of party members were slowly growing stronger and becoming famous, but Avone disappeared from his view, only to resurface as a B rank adventurer who managed to conquer two dungeons and now was hired to stop dangerous individual who threatened Ashgrin kingdom.


    Mesmer thought about her past and role in the coming battle, when guilds receptionist knocked at his door. She brought him letter, inviting him to the town lord''s palace.


    Mesmer already expected this invitation and was not surprised. He nodded and told Lily that he will need to leave the guild for a while, to visit town lord. He took his staff and went to the palace. Unlike most important people, Mesmer did not have guards. As master magician he could use warrior bodyguards, but he saw no need for them. Not while he was inside town. And not when he probably was most powerful person inside it. By adventurer standards he would be rank A, and not many people in the kingdom were as powerful as he was.


    Guards immediately opened castle gates, and one of servants took him to the town lord''s meeting room. Current town lord was a duke. His name was Frederick and he inherited duke title and town lord position from his father. Frederick was competent leader, who participated in several battles, and proved to be brave and competent leader.


    Mesmer entered the room and looked around. All people inside were familiar to him. Town lord, two of his advisors, Adventurer guild master, general in charge of town forces and royal knight Trevor.


    - Master Mesmer. Thank you for coming so fast. Please apologize me for sudden request, but time was short and matters were important.


    - No need to apologize lord Frederick. I am sure that you summoned me, because you had important reasons and town''s best interests at heart.


    - Yes, of course. Let me introduce to you lieutenant Trevor from royal knights. He is the reason why I asked for your presence.


    - We are acquainted. Welcome back to Grimsburg, lieutenant Trevor.


    - Thank you, - Trevor coughed: - Like duke Frederick told you my name is Trevor. I am lieutenant and member of king''s royal knights. We received an urgent and troublesome messaged, passed down to us from Holy Griffin Empire. Message was from goblin emperor. According to him a rogue warlord and a bandit, responsible for killing countless of goblin kingdom''s citizens, escaped emperor''s justice, by coming to our continent. He is leading an army of thousands barbarians. And there is a possibility that he will attack Grimsburg.


    Two advisers whispered among themselves and Adventurers guild master scratched his cheek.


    - How reliable are those news? - asked general. He was human, former adventurer who changed his profession after severe injury.


    - King is taking this news seriously. But Grimsburg could be just one of possible targets. I and a squadron of knights were sent here to reinforce your soldiers, but since we do not have definite proof that they will attack Grimsburg, king could not send more men, because we need to send reinforcements to other towns as well.


    - That is wise, - said Frederick: - Let us hope that we can protect Grimsburg ourselves. At least long enough for reinforcements to come here.


    - As a former citizen of Grimsburg, I swear to protect the town and all its citizens, - stood up Trevor.


    - We will definitely count on you, - chuckled Fiord: - If they will attack. When will it be?


    - In a month. Could be less, could me more, but we still have some time.


    - May I suggest then to post a quest at the Adventurers guild, for scouting the lands around Grimsburg, - Fiord, Adventurers guild master looked at Frederick: - Adventurers are more skilled scouts, than your soldiers and know lands around Grimsburg better than anyone else.


    Adventurers unlike soldiers had no obligations to fight other kingdom armies. Their job was fighting monsters and dungeon exploration. Unlike ordinary citizens and soldiers they could refuse to fight kingdom''s enemies and leave the town. The only way to convince them to work was money. Mages were similar, but they had obligation to protect the town, both from monsters and invading armies.


    - Please do that, - agreed Frederick: - Also we will need adventurers to fight, if goblins will arrive to attack Grimsburg. Of course I will pay them, - sighed Frederick. Hiring adventurers was always costly: - But I will count on your help to convince them to fight alongside us.


    - Most adventurers in Grimsburg have families and live here. I do not think that they will refuse. You can count on me and my adventurers lord Frederick.


    - Good.


    - My mages and me are at your disposal, - bowed Mesmer.


    - Thank you master Mesmer. We will need your help.


    - May I ask you some questions? - Mesmer turned towards Trevor.


    - Of course. What would you like to know?


    - Do we know anything about the army''s leader?


    - Not much. All I was told was that he is from an ordinary background. But he became leader of his tribe, and started conquering neighboring tribes to create an army. Conquered tribes had a choice - join him or die. During his raids, he does not leave any survivors. And I mean no survivors. He apparently enjoys killing people. That includes men, women, children and elderly.


    - I see. It could be that he is a cruel men, like you said. Or perhaps he wants to level up, by getting their life force.


    - I did not think about that, - Trevor looked ashamed.


    - Do not worry. Not the usual way to level up, after all. But I think that we should keep such possibility in mind. Powerful high ranking mages or warriors are hard to kill and could change the outcome of a battle. We should prevent the possibility of such individual from getting too strong. Don''t you agree? - Mesmer turned to Frederick.


    - Of course. Do you have some suggestions?


    - Yes, - nodded Mesmer: - The easiest way to increase someone''s level around Grimsburg is hunting in the dungeon. Any individual capable of conquering the dungeon could potentially become unstoppable, because of high level and artifacts that could be found in the dungeon. Town has limited usefulness for it. My I suggest conquering the dungeon and removing its dungeon core, to prevent this warlord from using it to commit evil deeds. Guild master Fiord. Is there any possibility to conquer he dungeon, using your adventurers?


    Fiord coughed: - Usually I am not supposed to talk about it. But there was a request from capitol adventurer. This adventurer was searching for companions. Adventurer''s goal was conquering the dungeon. Adventurers who accepted the quest, are supposed to meet this evening. I did not think that they could succeed, but I agree. Dungeon could me potential danger for us. What do you think about that lord Frederick?


    - If you both agree, then I will too. Possible dungeon monster stampede, is always a potential problem for the town, and it is not worth any profits that we get from monster stones.


    - Then we are agreed, - said Mesmer: - From our side I will send our archmage to aid those adventurers. Lieutenant Trevor, may I ask a favor of you?


    - What kind?


    - Will you not consider joining these adventurers? If your goal was to protect Grimsburg, then limiting danger for the town, by destroying the dungeon, could be of great help. And I am afraid that if conquering the dungeon would have been so easy it would have been done long ago. Help from such a hero as you could mean the difference between success or failure.


    - I think that it is a good idea, - agreed Frederick: - Besides it will give you an opportunity to grow stronger. Fiord can you arrange everything?


    - I will arrange the meeting and make introductions. I will also recommend lieutenant Trevor for the job. If you are fine with that?


    Everybody in the room turned to Trevor. He felt that there was something wrong with that request, but opinions of such important and wise people overwhelmed him.


    - Yes. I also agree.- Wonderful, - said smiling Frederick: - General Evan prepare our troops. Guild master Fiord I will leave reconnaissance to you. Master Mesmer you know best how to use your mages in case of an attack. And sir Trevor, we leave the dungeon in your capable hands.


    - Yes, lord, - everyone bowed to Frederick.


    Mesmer looked in the window. On his lips was a slight smile.

 Chapter 3. Grimsburg dungeon.

    I was sitting in Adventurer guild and drinking ale. All around me adventurers were discussing news about arrival of the knights. They were guessing the reasons for it, not all of them flattering to town lord. If I would have to guess, I would say that they brought news about the approaching army.


    But for now that was not my primary concern. My concern was the dungeon. Today I was supposed to meet with adventurers who accepted my quest. Time was short, and I needed strong allies to conquer the dungeon in short amount of time.


    First one to appear was Nelly. She came inside and looked around. Ten years ago she was thirteen years old. Still a child, but already very powerful mage. She grew up, but still looked like a sixteen years old child. She was wearing a cape, which I gave her. It was made from monster feathers and looked like something made by savages. Not something that capitol''s mage would wear. But it was made from mid ranking floor guardian materials and was more expensive than any mages rob or silk. Back in the day, cloak was too big for her, but now it fitted her perfectly. She noticed me and smiled. An archmage was supposed to slowly walk towards me, but she run to my table, happily grinning.


    - Avone, I am so happy to see you.


    - And I you Nelly. You look great.


    - Thanks. This is my favorite cloak, - she turned around, demonstrating her unusual cloth.


    - It gives you a look that is for sure, - I laughed.


    She sat down, looked around and smiled.


    - Master Mesmer told me that we are going to new adventure. This time deep in the dungeon.


    - Not just deep. But till the end. We are going to conquer it.


    - Master Mesmer told me that, but I thought that he was exaggerating?


    - Not this time. I heard that you visit dungeon regularly.


    - Yes. I even reached floor seven.


    - That is impressive.


    That was, considering that previous official record was floor six.


    Leone came to our table and we looked at her.


    - The adventurer who accepted your quest is waiting. Also guild master decided to recommend someone for your party. He would like to talk to you, if you please. They are waiting for you in our back room.


    Recommendation? That was unusual. But no harm in listening. Probably.


    - Very well,- we stood up and followed Leone. Three persons were expecting us. Two of them were the last ones that I expected to see. My familiar, guild master Fiord was a dwarf who did not changed at all, even after ten years.


    Second person was a royal knight. Wearing custom made adamantium armor with greatsword behind his back. He was tall and looked like a hero from children tales. Trevor, my former party member, and also a man that Myne was in love with.


    Third was a panther-girl. Scout and adventurer Luara, our former party leader. Still armed with the same adamantium sword and dagger that she had back then. She was wearing short chainmail, similar to mine, and had several rings, which were probably artifacts.


    They smiled at us and Fiord stood up.


    - Lady Avone. Sorry that I am interfering with your business, but I needed to talk to you. Important news reached us and I am her to ask you a favor.


    - Fine, - Nelly and I sat down, but I was not happy. Too many memories. And one really bad.


    - You already know Trevor. I would like for him to join your party as a warrior. He is strong enough and because of some news that I received, your quest to reach dungeons lowest floor, became a matter of a town.


    - Is that so? I do not remember accepting any quests. Nor I asked for your recommendation or interference. I was planning to clear the dungeon on my terms. Using my pace and now you want me to accept a royal knight as my party member. Probably to say that royal knights were the ones who cleared the dungeon. And what about the urgency? Is that how the Grimsburg guild works these days? - well, he did not mentioned all these things, but I will milk him for all he got.


    For the first time I saw uncomfortable dwarf.


    - Yes, I understand. And I was never going to claim that royal knights cleared the dungeon. But it was special request from town lord. Please excuse me, but I must insist. I will make sure that you are fully compensated, if you agree to help us out.


    - Really? Fine, but I will have my conditions.


    - I understand.


    - I have my conditions as well, - smiled Luara: - I do not want the promised reward. I want something else.


    - What is it? - I turned towards her.


    - Personal favor from you. I will name it after we are done with the quest.


    - If I join you, as a member of your party, I also want something from you, - nodded Trevor.


    - And me as well, - added Nelly.I could understand Nelly. She will risk her life and deserved reward. But what did Trevor and Luara want.


    - Fine. But nothing unreasonable. And if I accept you as party members I will need you two to disclose to me your skills and levels. That is not negotiable, - we were not party members anymore. Adventurers kept their skills secret for a reason. Their lives depended on them. No adventurer would disclose their skills to a stranger. And Trevor was a royal knight, his skill were probably national secret or something. I needed allies, and my former party members were strong and skilled adventurers. Just what I needed, but Myne...


    - I do not mind, - nodded Luara.


    - Neither do I.


    - I agree too, - smiled Nelly. I did not ask her to reveal her skills?


    Leone put a small wallet on the table.


    - I am sorry, but since no one accepted your quest, at least not for the reward that you offered, and since your posted quest was time limited, guild will return money that you paid as reward for the job.


    I looked inside the wallet and placed it inside my magic bag. I left the guild four orichalcum coins. My last ones, as reward for the quest. Reward also was supposed to be equal shares of magic stones and monster materials. At least now I had money, but things did not go as I expected.


    - Fine. First, - I looked at guild master: - If we successfully clear the dungeon in less than a month, you will officially make an announcement that it was done by a royal knight, and will not mention our names. Also you will owe me a favor.


    - That is acceptable. And thank you.


    Did he even notice that I mentioned the time frame that he needed?


    - We will leave you then, and good luck.


    - Thank you.


    After Fiord and Leone left, I looked at Luara.


    - It has been a long time, - she smiled.


    - Yes. I am sorry, but as you heard we are short on time.


    - Of course. I think that you already know my skills, - I nodded: - My level is nine.


    I looked at Trevor.


    - My level is eighteen. My new skills are Night vision, Magic resistance, Knight, Increased speed and Armorer.That was not bad. Perfect set for a warrior.


    - My level is twenty nine I have all four elemental magic skills, Wisdom, Mana rapid recovery, Increased maximum mana points, Intelligence at novice level, and Lesser mana use skill.


    That was impressive. Nothing less to expect from archmage.


    - Did master Mesmer provided you with potions?


    - Yes, many of them. Nearly thirty nine anti-sleep potions and one hundred seventy eight stamina potions.


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    - Good. We are short on time. So we will use shortest way in and will continue our descend almost without sleep or rest. Still sure that you are willing to go?


    Luara and Trevor looked at each other and nodded.


    - We are, - they said simultaneously.


    - But why the urgency? - asked curious Nelly.


    - We should ask Trevor that.


    We all looked at him and he blushed slightly.


    - I am not sure that I am supposed to tell you that. But you are risking a lot. So I will reveal you the reason, but please keep it secret for a while.


    - We are going to the dungeon right now. Who are we going to talk to? Monsters in the dungeon?


    - Right. There is an army approaching Ashgrin. Grimsburg will probably be the first town that they will attack. By destroying the dungeon, we will limit their ability to level up and become stronger.


    - An army? - exclaimed Nelly.


    - Not our concern, - I patted her head: - Just concentrate on the dungeon. Besides, that army could attack any other town. Or not come at all. Right? - I turned to Trevor and squinted my eyes.


    He coughed: - That is true.


    - Good. Let us go then. Everyone has their gear. Food supplies were already prepared for us by the guild and will be enough to feed us for fifty days. Even if we do not succeed in one month, we will not be coming back.


    - Why? - asked Trevor.


    - Because if the army will come. It will be between us and Grimsburg. What do you think will happen if we meet them during our return?


    - I did not think about it.


    - You should have considered everything. But it is too late now. So is everyone ready?


    - Yes, - they all nodded and we left the guild. Grimsburg dungeon was located an hour walk from the town and we had time to catch up.


    - I see you are using the greatsword? - asked Luara Trevor: - Not your adamantium sword.


    - Had to use all adamantium that I had, including my sword, to reforg my armor, after I grew up a little. Several times actually. Had to spend all my money on that. Knight salary does not cover expenses on custom made armor. Because of that I was the poorest knight in all army, - he grinned sadly.


    - Ou. And I thought that knights are paid well?


    - They are. Just not well enough for a commoner to afford adamantium armor. I think that I was the only one who had it. We got lucky back then, to get all that adamantium.


    - I still have my adamantium dagger, - Nelly showed her possession to Trevor.


    - That is impressive.


    - What about you Avone? What were you doing all this time? - asked Luara.


    - Adventuring, - I shrugged: - Saw Trevor''s ceremony, when he became paladin.


    - You were there? - he blushed again: - That was not such a big deal. After all I already had a level that was necessary to be awarded paladin''s rank even before I joined the knights.


    - Everyone in the capitol was talking about that. Commoner becoming a Paladin. There was biggest crowd that I ever saw in capitol, gathered in front of the church.


    Well I was exaggerating, but I did not want to talk about myself.


    - Wow, you have paladin rank? That is very impressive; - Nelly looked at Trevor with admiration.


    - What bout you Nelly? What have you been doing all these years? - asked Trevor.


    - Luara and me went dungeon hunting. Blacksmith Ashurga and general Evan also joined as often. I even reached level twenty nine, just like Luara. Luara is now strongest adventurer in Grimsburg.


    - And richest, - said proudly Luara: - But you are doing even better than me? Posting a quest and paying four orichalcum for it. Even I cannot afford that.


    - Not really. That is all the money that I have. Not enough money for retiring, far from it.


    We all felt chills, and saw dungeon''s entrance.


    - We are here. Keep talking to minimal, - I took out my bow and an arrow: - Luara take the lead. Then me and Nelly. Trevor takes the back.


    Nelly was the only one among us who needed to use the bracelet with glowing crystal. That was a disadvantage. Comparing to the rest of us who had Night vision skill.


    - I will use a potion, that allows me to see in the dark.


    - No, keep it ready, but use it only when we encounter strong monsters or packs of them. Luara tell her when to do it.


    - Understood, - nodded our scout, and we got in our formation.


    Grimsburg dungeon did not change much. Still dark, with wet air, long corridors and caverns with monsters waiting for us around the corner. In the past we almost got killed many times, even on the first floor, but now the monsters on upper floors were no match for us.


    Luara led us through the shortest way and we encountered only few level one monsters.


    - Not as many monsters as I remember, - said Trevor.


    - We use this way regularly. So we will not encounter many monsters. At least we should not. Not until floor six.


    - Have you killed floor guardians?


    - Two of them. Saw another two, but we used Nelly''s combination of Slow and Haste spells to run away from them.


    - What were they and on what floor? - I asked.


    - Another flaming tiger and on floor five. And wyrm on floor seven.


    Wyrm, that was bad. Wyrm was a dragon like creature, but it had no legs, and no wings. It was like a massive snake. Strong, possible poisonous and hard to kill.


    - Let us hope that we can avoid the wyrm.


    - Should we not kill it? To prevent the goblin warlord from killing him? - asked Trevor.


    - Single floor guardian at high level will not give him much life force. Far from what he needs to level up. Do not concern yourself with small stuff. Our goal is to get to dungeon core. If we doo, he probably will kill the small fry on upper floors, but monsters with greater amount of life force should start to disappear along with the dungeon. That is what is important. We are not here to level up, so avoiding battles is more preferable.


    - I see.


    Trevor may be a lieutenant, but he was still lacking strategic thinking, not when it concerned the bigger picture.


    We managed to get through first four floors with minimal amount of monster encounters, and I decided to take a short rest before going to more dangerous floor five. We may avoided battles, but still needed almost all day to get this far.We ate dinner and prepared to go deeper.


    - Nelly, when you get sleepy, drink anti-sleep potion. The rest of you, ask Nelly for one, when you get sleepy as well.


    - I am still good to go.


    - I do not doubt that. But do not try to spare any potions. We have enough of them, so use them the first moment you need to. That goes for everyone.


    - Understood, - nodded Trevor and Luara.


    - Let us go then.


    Before getting to floor six, we killed two packs of armored ants, monster bees and several horned bears, but did not encountered the floor guardian. That was lucky. Floor six we managed to went through just as easy. Nelly''s spells were more powerful than in the past. Her casting speed increased as well. Trevor was much stronger and experienced fighter. He could even use heavy sword with one hand. Luara''s sword skills could not be compared to her past. She used her adamantium short sword and dagger as a pair and her fighting style reminded me a dance.


    Our first strong opponent was a drake. We encountered him on floor six. In the past we hunted down a pack of them, but we were not alone then.


    But it was long time ago. I casted lightning spell and drake fell down, with smoke coming of his burned body.


    - Impressive, - Luara looked at me.


    - If all of you cannot kill a drake without help, then you should go back. Do not forget, the deeper we go the stronger monsters we will encounter. Drakes are weak, comparing to monsters that we will have to face.


    I looked at their faces, but everyone''s eyes were filled with determination.


    - Let us go then.I looked back at drake''s body. In order to conserve time we did not collect magic stones. That was such a waste, but timing was everything. At least until we get dungeon core.


    After encountering three packs of fire breathing wolves and two tiger like monsters we descended to floor seven. By then we each used an anti-sleep potion and two stamina potions. First few caverns were empty, but then Luara stepped away from the entrance to avern and signaled us to stay quiet. We retreated deeper in the corridor and gathered together.


    - It is a wyrm. He is sleeping in the middle of the cavern.


    - Can we go around?


    - It will take us at least three hours. We explored most of floor seven, and this is the fastest way through.


    - Fine. Nelly cast support spells on Luara and Trevor. Then cast Slow spell on wyrm. Luara and me will be bait. Trevor kill it with single attack. Take his head or cut his body in two.


    - I will do my best, - Trevor squeezed hilt of his greatsword.


    - No. Either you can do it or not?


    - I will do it, - he nodded and straightened his shoulders.


    - Good then. Nelly your first, but before that give everyone stamina potion.


    - But I am still not tired, - objected Nelly.


    - No arguments.


    Nelly got scared a little by my rough voice, but everyone took a potion without further arguments. Nelly looked behind a corner and casted her spell. Wyrm woke up and hissed. We run inside cavern. I already used my Haste spell on myself and was first one to reach wingless dragon. His head was more that a meter tall and his body was at least six meters tall. He had horns and I noticed poison dripping from his fangs. He tried to bite me striking with his head from above, but I avoided his attack and used my sword to slice his neck. In the past my attack would only make a scratch on his scales, but now my sword break his natural armor and left a deep cut. I used my attack in passing, but even that was enough.


    I jumped aside and run by his body leaving one more cut on it. Wyrm turned around and followed me. Then he jerked and turned his head. Probably Luara joined the attack. Wyrm turned around and I cut off the tip of his tale. He hissed and again turned towards me. By my calculations it should have been time for Trevor''s attack. If he does not finish the job, we will have a problem in the future, and I will have to consider sending him back.


    But knight did his job. Wyrm hissed and turned around. I jumped on his body and noticed deep wound on his belly. Wyrm was heavily bleeding.


    Trevor and Luara were retreading, waiting for better opportunity to attack. I jumped of the wyrm and stabbed him. Wyrm again hissed. Nelly''s Slow spell was more than effective and Wyrm''s long body turned out to be a disadvantage to him. Wyrm again turned his attention towards me. I run towards his head, and after avoiding his attack cut his eye. Wound was deep, and monster suffered loss of one of his eyes. I run away and he followed me. I run to the side, making his long body a better target. I did not see what happened, but wyrm curled up in agony. He was still alive, but did not followed me. I took my breath and used lightning spell on its body. Soon after that another lightning hit his head and wyrm finally stopped moving.


    - Everyone all right? - I shouted. After receiving affirmative answers I took out my dagger: - Luara take the other side, and cut out magic stone.


    We needed ten minutes to find magic stone inside wyrm''s big body. I decided that leaving behind the prize that was magic gem was too wasteful. Trevor in the meantime carefully removed wyrm''s fangs, while Nelly stood on watch.


    We took a short brake, but thanks to the stamina potion, no one was tired so we continued our path.


    We needed two more hours to reach the stairs that led to floor eight.


    - We were planning to go down, after breaking the level cup, - said Nelly.


    - Well, we will need to do it now. Let us take a break, eat and take a shirt sleep. It is safer to sleep here than in the deeper floors.


    No one argued, and we stepped inside floor eight next day.

 Chapter 4. Unknown floors.

    - Nelly from this point on, there will be no orders what spells to use. Use your magic at best of your abilities. The same goes for the rest as well. Unless you receive a direct order use your skills to the best of your abilities and judgment.


    - I do not understand? - Trevor looked at me.


    - That is easy. We will face unknown monsters. We each may know their weaknesses, and may not have time for discussions. So use what you have individually, while working together. That is all. Let''s go! Luara take the lead, and watch out for the traps. You will also be responsible for map making.


    Floor eight had higher ceilings in the corridors, and I did not like it. It could mean bigger monsters or something worse. Turned out it meant traps. Pitfalls, blades coming out of the walls and floors or fire shouting out of all sides. Luckily for us we had a scout with trap detection skill. Luara even spend some time learning how to disarm trap from a former adventurer. We did not bothered to disarm them, but Luara warned as were not to step, so we were able to explore the floor without falling in a hole full of sharp spikes.


    Monsters were mostly flying types, or the others were killed by traps. There were all kinds of giant insects. But not tough enough to survive my arrows. It was harder when they were too numerous and got closer, but we used huge fire balls that Nelly through in the direction that Luara pointed. We spend a day and a half on the floor before finally finding stairs that led to the next floor.


    Next three floors were jungle like, with light coming from crystals embedded in the ceiling. Floors were filled with giant plant like monsters that used their roots and leaves to bind their prey and had big mouth inside heir flower heads. Our main weapon became Nelly''s Freeze spell that froze their bodies and allowed as to break them afterwards. The floors were one giant cavern and we were able to cross all three of them in three days. At least that was according to Luara''s inner clock. But her sense of time never failed us before and I learned to trust it long ago.


    Floor twelve was overgrown with glowing moss and filled with carnivorous sheep, covered with nasty thorns under their wool. They hunted in huge packs, but were no match to us, at least not after Nelly''s Slow spell cut their speed in half.


    Two days of attacks that happened almost every hour we managed to find stairs to floor thirteen. We used up half of our anti-sleep potions and many stamina potions, which we were forced to use to fight off sheep attacks. They were not as strong as numerous and biggest danger on floor twelve was exhaustion. We managed to cross it mostly unharmed, thanks to our stamina potions, but after first hundred I lost the count of monster-sheep that each of us killed. Nelly had to use up most of her mana potions, but we still had the ones that Luara kept in her magic bag, and I also had ten of them.


    We rested on the stairs and used opportunity to eat and take a short sleep. We needed that, not to regain our strength, but to give needed rest to our minds. Mostly that was necessary for Nelly. Casting spells took a lot of concentration and stamina potions only partially helped with it.


    By Luara''s calculation we already spend eleven days in the dungeon, which was more than third of the time that we had before the goblin arrival.


    - We will have to hurry up, - I said to my companions, before entering floor thirteen: - Nelly try to conserve your magic. Rest of us will need to cover for that, but you may run out of potions, if we won''t.


    But things turned out differently. Next two floors were filled with undead skeletons of all kind animals and monsters. Nelly and I took turns using our spells to destroy them. That was faster than fighting them and more efficient. Taking turns in using our spells allowed us to restore our mana naturally and conserve our mana potions. Luara was scouting ahead and warning us about monsters and when it was Nelly''s turn she used her glowing stone bracelet to throw it in front of undead, to provide Nelly with visible target.


    Four days later she told us to keep quit and took us further away from the entrance to next cavern.


    - We reached the stairs. But there is a problem. The room is guarded by floor guardian. It is the reaper.


    Reaper of souls. High ranking undead. Armed with a scythe that ignored any attack it was resistible to magic and physical attacks. All Adventurer guild books that mentioned the monster gave advice to run away as fast as you could, if encountering the Reaper.


    - I read that low level spells will not affect him. Not with my spell power stats at least, - informed us Nelly.


    I sighed. Ideally I would prefer to avoid fighting, but he was guarding the only entrance to next floor. If that would be the dungeon core room there was option of someone leading away the monster, while the rest of us would take the core, but we had no idea how deep this dungeon was.


    - Stay here, and do not go near the room until I call you.


    - What are you planning? - asked Trevor, but I cut him off.


    - Follow my orders lieutenant. Now keep quiet.


    I closed my eyes and casted Conceal and Haste spells. I took my sword and when I got close to entrance used Holy aura on it. As soon as I went inside Reaper flew towards me. With dark cloak and hood above his skull, he was a monster from nightmares. Glowing eyes focused on me and he prepared his scythe for an attack.


    - Holy word! - Life magic spell struck him and monster staggered. He was dangerous and single attack even a scratch could be fatal for me, but he was not my first undead floor guardian. Just like the others he was not immune to even low level Life magic spells.


    I waited for his attack and easily avoided it. Haste spell gave me all the advantage I needed for that. My sword covered in Holy aura cut through monsters skeleton body and broke several bones.


    Reaper turned around and attacked again. I jumped around him, wounding his body, but time was not on my side. I needed to finish the fight before my spells stopped working.


    - Holy word!


    Another spell hit reaper''s body and threw him back.


    - Annoying fly, - hissed monster.


    So, even dungeons made reapers were intelligent. I did not answer. I could tell him something cool, but if I would lose, it would be really lame in the end.


    Instead I focused and waited for his attack. Most dungeon monsters lacked originality and used the same attacks. Learning their patterns and finding weaknesses was one of the easiest ways to defeat them. Reaper did not disappoint. He used the same attack from above. I dodged it, and slashed his head, this time using all my strength. My sword broke his skull in pieces and went deep inside it body. Blade stuck, but the strength of my blow threw reaper''s body on the ground. I left my sword in him and jumped back. I waited for an attack, but cloaked body did not move. Just in case I used Holy word spell one more time, but it destroyed the cloak and most of the bones, revealing magic stone. I ripped it out and only then felt that fight was finished. Reaper left behind his scythe, and after using my Exorcism spell I put it inside my magic bag. Second floor guardians magic stone. Not a bad loot. I took my sword and let the others know that it was safe co come inside the room.


    - You killed him? - Luara looked at bones, not believing her eyes.


    Nelly run towards me and hugged me.


    - I thought that you will die.


    I patted her head: - You should learn to trust that I know what I am doing, and that I can take care of myself.


    - I will definitely do that, - she wiped away her tears and nodded.


    - Lets take some time to rest and take a short sleep. We should be safe in floor guardian''s room for a while.


    * * *


    We needed around two days without sleep and minimum rest time to eat, to get through next floors. They were filled with reptile like monsters and several drake packs. Even some monsters, in caverns with high ceilings, that reminded me of pterodactyls. They were the hardest opponents, but we got rid of them after luring them inside the corridors were Nelly and me finished them using our spells. We also killed another wyrm there and managed to reach floor nineteen. It had small lava streams inside it and reminded me of the lava worm. I hoped that we will not meet that monster. I did not believe that we will be able to kill it. Last time I only survived because monster decided to play with me, not believing that I was a threat. Next time I may not be so lucky. Air inside the floor was hot and I sweated all the time. I had to use my water creation spell to cool us down and used up all my mana potions. But without it we would not be able to move around.


    Only monsters that lived there were golems made of lava. Our swords were useless against them, just like most of our spells, but Nelly''s freeze spell took care of them. The stairs were again guarded by a floor guardian. It was flaming lion, more powerful feline version of flaming tiger. I used my Slow spell on him and we run around distracting it while Nelly used her Freeze spell. She needed to cast her spell six times before flaming lion fell on the ground defenseless.


    We had few close calls, getting his attention after Nelly''s spells, but managed to kill it, after all his legs and most of its head was covered with ice. Trevor finished it by piercing his heart and we collected out fourth magic gem. I wanted to collect flaming lion''s skin, but heat was unbearable. We used our last anti-sleep potions and had only nine stamina potions left. We also had only four mana potions left, that belonged to Luara.


    We took inventory of our potions, and I did not like the results. Ideally I would prefer to rest more, but the heat from floor nineteen was reaching even stairs, and heat would not let us rest.


    We had no choice but to enter floor twenty. Just in case I ordered everyone to drink stamina potion, and Luara gave all her mana potions to Nelly.


    - At least I do not feel the heat from downstairs, - Trevor wiped of sweat and sighed relieved. Heat was hardest on him, because of his armor.


    - Let us hope that it won''t be something worse, - I cautioned him and took out my bow. I put it inside my magic bag on floor nineteen, since it was useless anyway.


    Floor twenty was similar to floor three. Caverns and corridors covered in glowing moss that allowed Nelly to see her surroundings even without her glowing stone bracelet. First two caverns were empty, but third one was occupied. After seeing monsters we did not needed to talk. We turned away and run. Nelly and I were casting haste spells, to increase our party''s speed. Caverns inhabitants hundreds of wolf sized rats woke up and were following us. This dungeon loved its rats.


    We managed to retreat to the stairs and took our stand on them. Nelly behind us and we in front of her. This was not our first time facing the swarm of monster rats, but never this big. Still we used our usual strategy, Nelly casting Slow spell on monsters and we killing them, and protecting our mage. In front of us was wide cavern, but stairs had smaller entrance. We could not use wide swings, to avoid getting in each other''s way, but it also meant that we were close enough to each other to prevent rats from getting to Nelly.


    After casting her Slow spell and slowing down first wave of rats for us, Nelly pointed her staff at them and casted another spell.


    - Inferno! - she called loudly and part of the cavern was consumed with fire. It was level four Fire magic spell. Fire consumed part of the cavern and several dozen rats, leaving behind only black scorched bones. Even their magic stones were destroyed by fire. That was most impressive spell that I ever saw. Level four Inferno spell could not be compared to my Fire ball, which only created meter wide fire ball.


    - Leave casting Slow spell to me, and use your inferno spell, - I ordered her. Rats were dangerous because of their numbers, but I spend years practicing spell casting during battle. Fighting monster rodents and casting magic was not a problem for me.


    Nelly followed my instructions and battle that could have lasted hours ended up in twenty minutes. Most of the rats were burned by Nelly''s inferno spell. She had to use two mana potions, but it was worth it. Her spell heated up the ground and many rats died just trying to get past it. Little girl grew up to be one scary mage.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    I used my water spell to clean my sword from blood and guts and looked at Nelly.


    - Good job. That was impressive.


    - Like always, - shattered Luara: - And also little scary.


    Trevor nodded looking at the battlefield: - I did not believe until now that a single mage could defeat an army, but I do not doubt anymore that legends and stories are true.


    - I just did my job, - Nelly was clearly getting uncomfortable, and we all stopped talking about her spell.


    - Let us take a short break, until ground cools down. Anyone need stamina potion?


    Luara and Trevor shook their heads and I used opportunity to close my eyes and take a shirt nap. Anti-sleep potions were good to keep us alarmed and awake days in a row, but not as good as long night sleep.


    We carefully crossed rat cemetery and continued our dungeon exploration. Two days later we encountered six more rat packs, and had to use corridors to make our stand. But thanks to Nelly''s spell we defeated for more giant rat packs. Nelly run out of mana potions and I started considering retreat. Without her magic our chances to defeat hundreds of rats were not that good. During our last fight she used up all of her mana, and we ended up covered in bites and scratches, before killing remaining rats. Without mana potions we needed to let Nelly rest at least four hours, so she could restore her magic. And that was only possible thanks to her Mana rapid recovery skill. Monster rat packs number eight and nine forced us to use stamina potions, after Nelly run out of mana, and we started to run low on stamina potions as well. If things will continue that way we will have to continue dungeon exploration old fashion way. Carefully and very slowly. And if this dungeon had dozens more floors we will never reach the dungeon core, not with our remaining food supplies. That was a depressing thought.


    I was thinking about our bleak future, when we found a room that resembled mausoleum.


    Inside it was an altar with a body on it. Body was covered with dust and looked like a preserved human in cracked armor.


    We went inside looking around. Behind altar I noticed a door. I never heard of such places inside dungeons.


    Then body moved, and monster opened his eyes and looked at us.


    - Welcome to your resting place, - he smiled at us, showing his yellow teeth.


    We jumped back and pointed our weapons at him.


    - You managed to get past my pets. That is commendable, - he laughed and I felt chills running through my body. This monster felt different than any other floor guardian that I met before. Even more dangerous than skeleton dragon.


    - Who are you? - asked Trevor.


    - How rude of me. Let me introduce myself. I am koshey the immortal.


    Koshey? I read about such creature. Powerful mage that hideaway his mortality and became unkillable. Powerful sorcerer, even worse spellsword, who could not be killed by magic, weapons or artifacts. At least mid-ranking floor guardian. I licked my dry lips. This was bad. Even worse we were not prepared for this fight. Koshey looked directly and me and grinned.


    - How nice of you. You brought my property back.


    - What do you mean? - I asked surprised.


    - My crown. It was rudely stolen from me short while ago by some adventurer, who run away with my crown leaving his companions to my mercy. So he managed to survive and even leave the dungeon. How surprising. What happened to him?


    I remembered a story that merchant who sold me my headband told me. Long ago B rank adventurer party entered the dungeon. Only one of them returned with an artifact, that even sage could not appraise. He went mad and died, after selling the artifact to merchant''s father.


    - He died, - I replied to koshey. So all this time I was wearing Koshey''s crown.


    - How delightful. And did you came all this way to return me my property?


    - What does it do?


    - You are wearing it and do not even know its properties? Oh, well. You did bring it back to me so I will tell you. Every time you kill someone with mana and consume their life force, small amount of your victim''s mana, less than one percent of one percent is used by the crown to strengthen your weapons, cloth, armor or artifact, any object that you have on your body. As you grow, my crown makes your things grow as well. Fitting artifact for me - the immortal. I am attached to my things. Just look at my armor. I need my crown to restore it to its original glory. I missed my crown so much.


    That was impressive. Turned out my stuff was getting better and I did not even knew about it. Fine, I made my decision. I will make the crown - MY PROPERTY!


    I stepped forward and ordered everyone:


    - Stop! I will deal with him myself!


    * * *


    As long as Trevor remembered himself he wanted to be an adventurer. He was born in a small village and used to play with other children in the woods. One day they were gathering berries, when they were attacked by ogre raiders. They tried to run away, but were too slow. Then the adventurer appeared. He was alone, armed with a sword and faced eight ogres to protect children. Ogres were big, strong and scary. Even at his young age Trevor understood, that most that he will be able to do, will be buying time for them to escape. Other children run away, but he was too scared to move. He was the only one, who saw what happened next.


    Adventurer used his sword and defeated all eight ogres. By the end of the fight, he was standing alone, without a scratch, surrounded by fallen enemies.


    - Are you all right boy? - he asked Trevor, after cleaning his sword. All Trevor was able to do was nod: - Then go back to your village. This place will not be safe for a while. And do not blame yourself. Everyone get scared sometimes, even me.


    That day changed Trevor''s life. He decided to become a heroic adventurer, just as strong and noble as the one who saved his life. He did not know the adventurer''s name, but in his heart he decided to repay his debt, by saving and protecting others.


    With his commoner job, his chances of being successful were minimal. But he was stubborn and determined, if nothing else. He used a stick to practice every day, imagining that he was holding a sword. As soon as he grew up and became fifteen years old, Trevor left his village and parents an went to closest town to become an adventurer. He registered in adventurers guild, but the life of a rookie adventurers was not filled with fame and glory as he imagined. He was not allowed to take high ranking jobs, and had to take low ranking jobs, like cleaning the sewers, gathering herbs, cleaning streets, building houses or cutting firewood.He reached the limit of his patience and went to closest forest, armed with a knife and a club. He decided to hunt down some week monsters to level up and finally become stronger. His first monster was horned bunny. But it was too fast for Trevor, and wounded his leg. Horned bunny run away after Trevor hit him with a club, but wounded adventurer lost consciousness from blood loss, while returning to Grimsburg. That was when passing by adventurer party led by Evan found him. Trevor never find out, why Evan decided to take him under his wing. He accepted him as a member of his party and taught him the way of the sword. He also taught him about skills and their importance to adventurers.


    But six month later Evan lost his arm, and after rest of their party members died, Trevor joined new party. Again only thanks to master Evan. His new party turned out to be nothing like he expected. He started leveling up with incredible speed, got adamantium armor and weapons, and even reached his dream by getting Knight job and Swordsmanship skill. He even managed to earn enough money to join Adventurer academy and learned skills that until then were only a far away dream.


    Then came the month when he received answer from the king. He had a chance to repay his master, but in exchange needed to leave his party and a girl that he loved. And then Myne died and their party was disbanded. The same month was the best and the worst in his life. After losing Myne, he continued his education in Adventurer academy, putting all his soul and effort in learning new skills and mastering swordsmanship. Then he joined Knight academy and improved his swordsmanship by learning new techniques and getting new skills. As a knight he served the king, protected kingdom and its people, by exterminating monsters and hunting bandits.


    As a commoner Trevor was always send to most dangerous missions, and was ordered to perform tasks, that others did not want to do. Things got worse, when Graig, a former student of Knight academy, who he defeated in battle, became his superior. But Trevor did not mind. After Myne''s death he felt empty inside, and was glad to distract himself. First by learning and training and then by going to dangerous missions.


    He became known as Trevor the brave, royal knight and master of the sword. It worsened his relationship with Graig, but other officers recognized his potential. Then he was send to protect Grimsburg. He met his former teacher Evan, who became one of the strongest adventurers in Grimsburg, after getting back his hand, and then general of Grimsburg army. During his forced retirement from adventuring, he continued practicing swordsmanship and teaching others, and, after mage regenerated his arm, Evans skills with a sword reached new level.


    Trevor was best swordsman in his unit. Promoted to lieutenant he even led rookie royal knights to battle, to protect Grimsburg. He lived his childhood dream: by becoming an adventurer, then sword master and protector of people.


    Now he was reunited with his former party members, and was finally able to stand alongside them as equal. He still admired them. Luara was an excellent scout and her swordsmanship were different than his, but just as impressive. Nelly became most powerful mage that he ever saw, and Avone reminded him of spellswords from his childhood stories. He was glad to stand side by side with them again, and they even tried to conquer Grimsburg dungeon. Fulfilling their party''s original goal.


    Now between them and dungeon core, was this floor guardian. He was strong, dangerous and probably strongest floor guardian that Trevor ever saw, but he was confident, that together they will defeat him. And then he heard the words...


    - Stop! I will deal with him myself!


    Avone stepped forwards and put her sword between koshey and Luara when panther-girl stepped forward.


    - What? We need to kill him together! Do not be stupid!


    - My headband was his property. I will get it the right way, by killing him myself and keeping it to myself. That is the way it is supposed to be, right? - Avone turned to koshey and he laughed.


    - Indeed it is so. If you can kill me, then I acknowledge that you are worthy of wearing it and I leave it to you, as its new owner.


    Trevor could not believe his ears. Avone sounded insane. He was so surprised, that he stood in his place, not moving.


    - You cannot! - tried to object Nelly, but Avone cut her off.


    - Stay where you are!She took out her headband, and put in on the ground.


    - That is insane, we need... - started Luara, but Avone again interjected.


    - I said stay away. This is my fight.


    She took out her dagger and faced koshey with two blades in her arms. Koshey smiled and took his giant sword. He was holding it with one arm, as if it was a toy. Then they started their fight.


    Trevor thought of himself as a master of a sword, but koshey was just as good as him. Maybe even better. He was not the fastest opponent that Trevor ever saw, but his skills with a sword were flawless. Every move was polished and Trevor finally understood what it meant to face an opponent who had hundreds of years to polish his skill.


    But Avone was just as formidable. Her moves were precise and polished, beyond anything that Trevor was capable of. She almost danced around koshey, attacking him, blocking his attacks by guiding them to the side or bending her body and avoiding his attacks by millimeters. Then they stopped, facing each other. Trevor noticed the look in Avone''s eyes. In the past she use to look around with a look that reminded him of scared animal. During her battles, she also looked scared but determined. But now the look in her eyes changed. Her eyes were cold and emotionless. That was scary and worried Trevor.


    - Not bad, - commented koshey: - You are skilled opponent, but I am immortal.


    - There is something you should know, - answered Avone. Then, without finishing the sentence, she attacked koshey. They exchanged blows and stopped facing each other. Their bodies were pressed against each other. Trevor did not even saw their last sword exchange.


    - Your armor has cracks in it, - said Avone, in that motionless voice of hers. And then koshey crumbled and his body turned to ash. Empty pieces of armor fell on the ground, except his breastplate. Only the Trevor noticed her dagger, holding koshey''s breastplate in the air. Its blade pierced the armor threw one of the cracks, right in the place where the magic stone was supposed to be.


    * * *


    After I killed koshey I felt his energy entering my body. It was pleasant, but also painful. Energy went inside my every cell and I fell on my knees. Soon the feeling went away and I was able to breathe again.


    I remembered once reading about such experience. Hero of the past killed in a single combat monster whose life force was measured in tens of thousands health points. He felt that way after receiving creature''s energy all at once. Just how strong was this koshey?


    I got lucky that all dungeon monsters had a weakness - their magic stones. Unable to live if it was removed from their bodies or destroyed - it made almost all of them vulnerable. According to legends real koshey became immortal after hiding his death in a secret place, but dungeons version did not possess such luxury. I got lucky. And I also used my Haste spell to give me and advantage.


    My party members run towards me, but I waved them off.


    - I am fine.


    I turned around and placed koshey''s crown on my head. Until then it always felt strange using it. But this time I felt that it was mine. My crown! Avone''s crown, not Koshey''s crown!


    - That was amazing, - Nelly looked at me with shining eyes. I sighed. More like calculative and also his armor had cracks in it. Without it we all would be dead. I used my Exorcism spell and put koshey''s armor and sword inside my magic bag.


    - Let us look, what he was guarding.


    I hoped for a treasury filled with gold gems and dozens of high ranking artifacts.


    Luara checked the door, and after confirming that there were no traps, she opened it. Inside it was single pedestal with large black crystal, with silver sparks appearing and disappearing in its middle. Dungeon core!


    - What is that? - asked curious Nelly. Trevor and Luara carefully looked at it, staying outside the room. I went inside and placed dungeon core inside my magic bag.


    - Get ready we are leaving.


    - What!?


    - We got the dungeon core, - I grinned: - Our mission is over.


    Magic circle appeared between us and I waved at it.


    - Get inside, all at once. Now!


    They listened to me and we all stepped inside. Bright light blinded us for a moment. Once we were able to see again we noticed dungeon''s entrance.


    - Congratulations sir Trevor! Royal knight just conquered the dungeon. At least that is what you and Adventurer guild will report.


    - But... - started Trevor.


    - No buts. We were never here. It was all you. Or did you forget our deal with guild master Fiord. Now, let us get back. I need soft bed and two days sleep. Ou, and before I forget. Luara give me magic gems.


    Panther-girl took out three magic gems that we got from floor guardians. I had one more, that I got from the reaper. I distributed three magic gems between them. Now everyone had one of them.


    - Your reward, or part of it. Now all magic gems are distributed equally, - I smiled. Each of magic gems was worth more than hundred gold coins. Not as much as we could get if we would collect all magic stones from monsters that we killed, but still a lot.


    They all stared at them, but followed me when I moved towards Grimsburg. I was tired, and warm bed and a bath waited for me.

 Chapter 5. Goblin army.

    I woke up two days later and yawned. I rented a room in my favorite Grimsburg tavern Traveler''s home. It costed one gold coin a day, but had soft beds and huge bath, as big as a pool that guests could use for free. After eating breakfast and spending an hour in the bath I was ready to get to work.


    Town was preparing for a battle. Scouts already spotted goblin army and they were slowly but steadily approaching Grimsburg. According to rumors, emergency quest was posted for adventurers and all town was preparing for siege. Those who could and were too afraid already fled the town.


    On my way to Adventurers guild I noticed several carts with families and single citizens leaving Grimsburg. I would advise against that. Enemy was too close, and could send scouts ahead, who would kill them on the road. But it was their decision, and they could get lucky, and safely reach next town.


    I went inside Adventurer guild and asked receptionist permission to use Leveling crystal. She nodded and took me to leveling room. I used the crystal and was satisfied with the results. I jumped two levels and was able to increase my Life magic level.


    Next I took out the dungeon core and used my sword to break it. Silver sparks from it entered my body and broken pieces of the dungeon core disappeared. I again used leveling crystal. And this time examined the numbers more carefully. They were more impressive, than I expected:


    High elf, LV 9 - LV 10


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:


    Health: 127 - 130;


    Mana: 380 - 390;


    Strength: 8 - 9;


    Defense: 4 - 5;


    Spell power: 15;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 7 (+3=10);


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:Archery (Advanced);


    Night vision (Advanced);


    Mana rapid recovery (Novice);


    Magic resistance (Advanced);


    Wisdom (Basic);


    Earth magic (Advanced);


    Butchery (Advanced);


    Water magic (Novice);


    Air magic (Basic);


    Intelligence (Advanced);


    Fire magic (Novice);


    Life magic (Basic);


    Swordsmanship (Advanced);


    Increased speed (Basic);


    Throwing (Novice);


    Hunting (Novice);


    Weapons master (Basic);


    Primordial magic (Basic);


    Dual wielding (Novice);


    Demon style martial arts (Novice) New


    Double skill slots


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Throwing (Basic);


    - Hunting (Basic);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    My life force jumped to three digits number. That was unusual. Probably the result of defeating the koshey. And I reached level ten as high elf. That made me level forty, level that could promote me to B rank adventurer, if I already would not be one.


    Also I got new skill. Demon style martial arts. That was good. This skill increased person''s ability to use spells while fighting. Similar to spellsword job, it was rear and powerful skill. It brought my skill count to twenty one. This meant that I could get just one more additional skill, which could happen only during special circumstances.


    My skill choice was average. I chose to increase my Throwing skill. The day was starting quit good. I left the room and receptionist checked the room after me. Probably she heard something when I broke dungeon core. Uuups, I did not think about that.


    I waited until she checked leveling crystal. It worked fine, but she still glanced at me suspiciously.


    I thanked her and left the guild, before she could ask me any questions. I had many more things to do.


    First I visited Mage guild. Receptionist Lily looked at me and nodded.


    - Miss Avone. Guild master is waiting for you.


    She took me to Mesmer''s room and stepped outside.


    - I was expecting you sooner?


    - It was a hard journey. I needed rest.


    - I can understand that. Nelly is still sleeping in her room. As good as anti-sleep potions are, they are not equivalent to good night''s sleep.


    - Yes. Sadly. How are things going here?


    - We have two days until arrival of the army. Town lord dispatched messengers to capitol, but we have not received answer yet.


    - Why did you not use magic to contact them?


    - We did. But our mage returned immediately after delivering the message. We need all our mages here, in case of an attack.


    - I see. How you are with Teleport spell?


    - I mastered it, but I need time and my range is around hundred and fifty meters at most.


    - That will be good enough. Can you tell me about their army? Do they have roc riders?


    Rocs were giant birds, and goblin beast tamers were known to tame them and use them in battle. They were among the most dangerous part of Goblin kingdoms army, and could be too much for Grimsburg soldiers to handle.


    - No. Luckily adventurer scouts did not saw them. Mostly army consists of goblins, wolf riders, several dozen cyclopes and few behemoths.


    Behemoths - giant monsters whose strength rivaled dragons. But at least they could not fly or use magic. That was bad, but not as bad as it could be.


    We spend some time discussing our plans and then I left to visit local sage. He lived outside town, in the area protected by cloaking magic, but I still had amulet that granted safe passage to his house. Sage''s home still looked the same. Simple wooden house with dried bouquets of flowers hanged to the ceiling.


    - Avone? Is that really you? - sage Tanot looked at me with surprise. He was a djinn, member of one of the immortal races. He did not age a day, not even after ten years.


    - Yes. It has been a while.


    - A short one, for a high elf at least.


    - Yes. Just like for a djinn.


    - So what brings you her? If it is about the approaching army? I already know about that. Adventurer guild send me a message.


    He prepared tea and we sat down at the table. He even had honey to sweeten the tea.


    - Then you should consider hiding behind Grimsburg walls. The goblin leader might find a way to break through your spells and find you.


    - Sounds troublesome. I will consider it.


    - I also brought you something, - I took out magic gem that I got from the reaper of souls.


    - How delightful, - he picked up the magic stone and smiled: - Four and a half orichalcum coins. Rear for me to see magic gems this size.


    - Want to buy it?


    - Of course, - he went to the back room and returned with four orichalcum coins and fifty gold ones.


    - How is your research with immortality potion going?


    - Stuck in place I am afraid, - he sighed: - But I got time. Just like you now, - he grinned.


    - Yes, yes. I evolved into high elf. But there was one more reason why I came to you, - I took out from my magic bag koshey''s sword and armor: - Can you appraise these items for me.


    - Not a problem. Especially after you brought me that beautiful magic gem, this is the least I can do for you.


    He picked up the items and carefully examined them.


    - I have heard about this sword before. It is called Armor slasher. It used to be a property of sir Christian. Former knight, who became one of most famous adventurers of his time. He was a leader of B rank adventurer party who disappeared in the dungeon. His sword has the ability to cut threw armor, even adamantium armor or dragon scales would be no match to it.


    Armor slasher? No wonder koshey''s armor was in such a bad state. Probably it was damaged by this Christian adventurer.


    - The armor is made from enchanted adamantium. It gives plus five to defense stats. Not a bad catch for you, if you can repair it.


    - Not exactly interested in heavy armor. But thank you, that was very helpful.


    I spend some time with Tanot discussing his immortality potion, but time was approaching evening and after declining his offer to stay for a night I returned to Grimsburg. Town was expecting the arrival of goblin army in two days and preparation for the siege took place all night.


    Next morning I visited local shops that sold potions, but their shelves were empty. All potions were bought for army''s needs. That made sense, but I was running low on my potions. I returned to the tavern and did inventory. I had three healing potions, two elixirs, two anti-poison and two anti-petrifaction potions. That was not enough, but nothing that I could do for now. Tanot also sold all his potions, and there will be potion shortage even after the siege. If Grimsburg can survive it.


    I visited Adventurer guild. All usual quests were removed from the board. Only available quest was for the participation in coming battle. F rank adventurers were promised one silver coin a day, E and D rank one gold con, and higher ranks three gold coins.


    I considered my options. Signing in could be beneficial for me, but I would prefer freedom of movement. On the other hand there could be no movement at all for me, not on the front line, without any official status. I sighed and decided to go to town lord palace. My best option was asking Trevor for help.


    - Miss Avone! - one of the receptionists called me: - Sorry to disturb you, but guild master wanted to talk to you.


    - Fine, - I sighed: - Let''s go.


    She took me upstairs to old dwarf''s work room. Fiord asked me to sit down and told Leone to bring ale.


    - Sorry to interrupt, but I do not have much time. And just to be clear, I am not taking that quest for battle with goblins. Too tired after dungeon raid. Haven''t slept in a long while.


    - I see. Sorry to hear that. But I just wanted to confirm your earlier request. Do you still wish for us to release an official statement that it was royal knights who conquered the dungeon?


    - Yes. Make sure there is not a single rumor that would suggest otherwise. Do not mention Nelly''s name also.


    - I will do as you wish. My I ask about your plans concerning the battle?


    - No, - I got up: - If this is all, then I really need to go.


    - Yes of course. Thank you for finding time for me.


    Geesh, does he really thinks that everyone wants to be famous. I do not. Especially not with all reincarnated people around.


    Trevor was staying in the town lord''s palace, and it would be hard to see him normally, but after I mentioned my name, guard summoned butler, who immediately took me to see him. To my surprise Luara was also with him. They were sitting at the table and drinking tea.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    - Avone, - Trevor stud up, after seeing me: - I hoped that you will come. Please join us.


    I took a seat and Trevor filled tea cup for me. There were some cookies and I took one. Not sweat enough, but not so bad either.


    - Did you take the quest for upcoming battle? - asked me Luara.


    - No. That is why I am here. I want access to walls, but I want to maintain freedom of movement. Can you do something about that?


    Trevor thought for a moment.


    - My I ask your current adventurer rank.


    - Its B. Does it matter?


    - That makes things more easily. I can tell everyone that I hired you for the battle personally, and that you have a special mission. That way you can move freely, and no one will have too many questions. Not for B rank adventurer. But I am surprised that I did not hear about you promotion. Guild usually makes an announcement, and rumors about B rank adventurers spread quickly.


    - Do not think about that too much. I do not want all that attention. That''s all. But your offer sounds good. Can you do that?


    - I will inform town lord and general Evan.


    - General Evan? Your former master?


    - Yes. Did you not heard about that? After mage restored his arm, he became a soldier, and now he serves as Grimsburg''s general.


    - No, I have not heard. Not too much news about Grimsburg in capitol.


    - That is true.


    - Thank you for help. See you on the walls, I guess.


    - I will be there too, - added Luara.


    - Did not doubt that. Try not to get hurt or worse.


    - You as well.


    With that my place on the battlefield was settled. I did what I wanted and went to the tavern, to get some rest before the battle.


    * * *


    I was standing on the wall observing goblin army. Area between the town and forest was cleaned from all trees, but goblins were staying out of it. We could see them between the trees, looking at us and making threatening faces.


    I could not tell their numbers, but as I heard they surrounded the town from all sides. Grimsburg had only three hundred guards in it. Another two hundred were guards under nobles'' employment. Less than fifty adventurers, royal knights and thousand towns people who were brave enough to protect their town. Grimsburg''s forces were divided equally on all four walls, which made our defense lines quit thin. I was standing on the north wall, the side where dungeon was located.


    According to adventurer scouts, goblin army was between four to five thousand strong. It was big enough to take one town, but no nearly strong enough to threaten the kingdom. Unless their leader becomes strong enough to be equal to A rank adventurer that is.


    They arrived before midday, but did not attack. I heard sounds of tree cutting. Our scouts did not saw any siege equipment, so goblins were probably making ladders to take the town. I waited for few hours, but when nothing happened I returned to tavern and ordered lunch. Their leader probably found out about dungeon and decided not to attack until getting stronger.


    Three days passed without any attacks, and only on fourth day goblins started their attack.


    * * *


    At sunrise goblins run out of the forest on south and east sides. Town bells signaled us about the attack, and I went to north wall. I did not bother going to south or east, guessing that those attacks were distraction, anyway.


    I arrived at north wall, and around an hour later goblins started their attack. They run out of the forest, carrying long ladders and using shields to protect themselves. They had less than hundred archers, who run alongside the soldiers and started shooting when they got close enough.


    Their bows where short and could shoot at smaller distance than town''s protectors. My range was even longer than soldiers. I aimed at goblin archers first, to reduce danger to myself. Several dozen goblins died, even before their archers came close enough to return the fire.


    I casted my protection spells on me and prepared my bow. I used dozen arrows and killed eight archers and wounded two, when first goblins reached the wall. I concentrated on the archers, leaving the foot soldiers to Grimsburg''s soldiers. Our mages also used their magic, and Magic arrows, lightnings, and fire balls fell down on goblins. Only half of spells were effective. Goblin shamans used their own spells to protect their soldiers.


    I saw no cyclopes of other monsters. No wolf riders appeared as well. Not like any wolf riders would be of any use during the siege. They probably were kept behind, as reinforcements in case of our counter attack or as an attack force, once they get through the gate.


    I cleared the area from archers, who could threaten me, and concentrated on goblin infantry. Most of them had only leather armor, which could not protect them from arrows.


    With my advanced archery and hunting skills, I could easily shoot them in parts of the bodies that were not protected by their shields. Other archers were not as skilled and their successes were not as good. First goblins claimed up the ladders, and fight broke up on the wall. Our defenses were not as good as they could be. Piles of rocks that defenders threw on goblins were too wide apart and not as big as they could be. Our mages were spread too wide apart, and goblin shaman defenses protected the attackers better than I expected. At least their spellcasters staid far away and did not use attack magic.


    Town''s wall was two meters wide, and goblins created small platforms on it, which allowed others to climb on the wall safely. Things were starting to look bad, when our reinforcements arrived. Trevor and his knights attacked goblins and pushed them back. Trevor had only two dozen knights under his command, but it turned out more than enough to push goblins of the wall. Goblin attack chocked, and they soon retreated. I used up all my arrows from my quiver and had to take out one of my spare ones. Town arrow supplies were pitiful, and blacksmiths were concentrating on making weapons for town''s people, so our arrows were in low supply.


    After goblins retreated, I approached Trevor.


    - Avone? So you were in the middle of their main attack after all?


    - Dungeon is on the north side. Keep that in mind.


    - Yes. We did not take it into account when discussing defense plans. Most of our strongest fighters and best mages were on the east side. We thought that they will attack from the direction of the uninhabited lands, but no attack came from that direction.


    - Probably it will, sooner or later. But you arrived just in time.


    - My knight and strongest adventurers were left behind as reinforcements. That is why we were able to help.


    - That is smart.


    - Thanks, - he grinned: - What are you planning to do?


    - Protect town, for next few days. But you should be ready. If I am right, in a week or so their leader will return. Things will go different then.


    - What do you mean, return? From where?


    I sighed:


    - Dungeon of course. It will not disappear for a while.


    - I see. Fine then. Guess, I will see you then. Stay safe.


    Trevor left and called his knights. Did not look like he believed me. Well, not sure I believed my guesses either.


    Siege continued in similar way for a week. I used up all my arrows and during nights had to climb down the wall and using my Night vision skill gather used arrows from the battlefield. Most archers also used goblin arrows that fell on the wall. Goblins almost break through our defenses, and only thanks to Trevor, his knights and adventurer reinforcements we survived a week. Goblin main attacks were random, from different sides. They were testing us, or just attacked randomly. Who could say? I was not a goblin or warfare expert after all. Goblins lost hundreds of their warriors, but we also suffered losses. But with every day we gained hope that reinforcements from capitol will come and save us.


    Then, on the eight morning, things changed. Massive earthquake shook the town, and parts of the wall got cracked. Goblins started their attacks on all four sides, and I heard monster roars. Half an hour later another earthquake shook the town, and parts of the wall fell down. Several of our mages were buried in the rubble. No defense spells were powerful enough to protect them from fall and giant rocks. I got lucky, and part of the wall beneath did not fall apart. I took a deep breath. So, their leader decided to make his move.


    Then cyclopes and three, four meter high, monsters came out of the forest. Those were behemoths, powerful monsters that looked like huge bears. They walked on their back legs and their front paws had three large fingers, that ended with saber like claws. Their huge mouths were filled with fangs that reached out their mouth. Those creatures were known to fight off the dragons, and their skin were as tough as dragon scales.


    I gulped. So my guess was correct, and main attack came from the north. Cyclopes were at least three meters high and looked like muscle covered humans, with a single eye in their forehead. They had minimum cloth, which covered only their groin. But even without armor they looked dangerous and scary. Some of them were armed with clubs or huge axes.


    I took a deep breath and casted my protection spells. Then I took careful aim and released my arrow. It went inside closest cyclops''s eye, and he fell on the ground. One down, three dozen to go.


    Because of the earthquake our defenses were even weaker than usual, and goblins screamed their battle roar. Wolf riders run out of the forest and quickly started to approach damaged parts of the wall.


    I used up my remaining arrows, and had only orichalcum and adamantium arrows left. I did not want to use them on low level creatures, but run out of choices. I took out my orichalcum arrows and concentrated on cyclopes. I killed two of them, when goblin wolf riders reached the wall. The riders abandoned their mounts and climbed the rocks to get inside Grimsburg. There were four breaches that they could exploit, and we did not have enough soldiers to protect them.


    Trevor and his knight arrived and engaged the goblins, but even after splitting his knight in two, they only were able to cover two breaches.


    Goblins that attacked the wall pushed back Grimsburg''s soldiers and started to overwhelm our forces. Soon goblins will break through and flood the town.


    Squad of heavily armed goblins, along with several shamans came out of the woods. Among them was tall goblin, who looked almost like human. He had blue pointed hat, covered with silver stars on his head. His armor looked gold plated, and he was holding staff in one hand and sword in another. Goblin warlord appeared. Surrounded by his bodyguards, he slowly approached the wall. Few wolf riders approached him and soon left, after receiving orders.


    It was time. On the part of the wall magic portal opened and mages went through it. Seven mages who called themselves master magicians, and Nelly among them came through the portal. Until then they did not participate in battle. It was not easy to convince Mesmer not to use them until then, but he followed my advice.


    Goblin warlord stopped and looked at them. He gave orders to his shamans, and they casted their spells. Several lightnings struck the mages, but their protection spells protected them. Master magicians and Nelly needed some time to prepare, but then they released their spells. Wave of fire washed threw the earth, burning dozens of attackers, including several cyclopes. Two behemoths exploded, and then master magician of earth released his spell.


    - Meteor rain! - he screamed and huge rocks came through the clouds. Big rocks covered in fire fell on earth and created explosions that threw attackers into panic.


    Last behemoth froze inside ice mountain. Clouds of dust covered the battlefield in front of the wall, after Meteor rain spell. But mages did not stop. They casted Chain lightning spells. All they needed was to cast it on one visible enemy and the lightning jumped from one goblin to the next, closest one, and then the next, even if they were not visible to spell casters.


    Goblins and cyclopes screamed in fear, and some of them started running towards the forest. But then another earthquake shook the wall, and mages fell on the wall, losing their ground.


    One of the mages froze into ice statue. Dust that covered battlefield settled down, and I saw goblin warlord. He and most of his bodyguards were unharmed. Above them was force field that protected them from meteors, and they launched their counterattack.


    I prepared my Lightning spell and, as soon as force field disappeared, casted the spell above one of the shamans. Lightning struck him, and shaman''s blackened corpse fell on the ground. My orichalcum arrow killed another one.


    Goblin warlord cursed and pointed at mages. Luckily for me, he decided that Lightning spell was used by one of them.


    Our mages got up and prepared more spells. Chain lightning hit goblin bodyguards. Three of them died, when lightning struck the warlord and dissipated into many sparks. He was strong, as a mage. But master magicians had small advantage. They could divide their tasks. While some of them concentrated on defensive spells, others concentrated on attack. Spells flew between two groups. Fire balls, ice lances, lightnings that struck from above.


    They were well distracted, and I was free to use my Primordial magic spells. I needed time to cast them, but at least goblin warlord was in range of my spells. My first spell rendered useless his artifacts. He looked surprised at his staff, which stopped glowing, and through it on the ground. Behind me I noticed Luara. She brought dozen horses to Trevor. His knights were able to kill the attackers near the cracks in the wall and jumped on the saddles. They rode to the one of the remaining breaches and engaged the goblins, who did not retreated. Thanks to our mages, our soldiers were holding the ground, but battle could still go both ways.


    I used my second Primordial magic spell that temporarily rendered useless warlord''s resistance skills.


    By that time, one of the shamans was killed by lightning spell, and two more master magicians died from the enemies attacks.


    But next fire wave, that burned down remaining bodyguards, also burned the warlord. He screamed in pain, and his shaman casted healing spells on him. Warlord stood up and concentrated on another spell.


    Master magicians screamed in fear and stretched out their arms. Probably they were affected by the Blind spell or some kind of course. That was bad. I cursed. They will need time to cast Dispel, but that will give goblin warlord too much of an advantage. I sighed and casted my Teleport spell. I appeared just behind the last shaman and cut off his head. Master magician Ferguson exploded on the wall, and goblin warlord laughed at that. Only Nelly and three magicians were left. Warlord extended his arm for the next spell, but was distracted by the shaman''s death. He turned towards me, and his eyes widened in surprise.


    - An elf! Where did you come from? What a little surprise, - he grinned and prepared his sword. I took a step back. He laughed and narrowed his eyes. Warlord released Magic arrow, but a moment too late. I casted my last Primordial magic spell, which protected me from magic.


    Magic arrow hit my chest and harmlessly disappeared.


    - Anti-magic spell, ha, - guessed warlord. He looked almost like a human, but had two fangs coming out of the corners of his mouth and his skin color was dark green. He again casted the spell. This time we both casted the same spell.


    It was Dispel. It shattered all the spells that protected him, but did not affect my Primordial magic spell. As long as it was working, no elemental magic spell will work on me. Not even Dispel, a spell created to remove even protection spells. On the other hand, no enhancement spell will work on me either.


    - Think that just because you are safe from my magic, I am defenseless? - he laughed and run towards me. He attacked me with his sword, and I was barely able to protect myself. His sword reached me two times and struck my chainmail. It saved me, but his hits probably left bruises on me. I had to retreat and use my wambraces alongside my sword to protect myself, but had no chances for counterattack. His next attack hit my side below my arm and through me on the ground. My vest and chainmail saved me from being cut in half, but I felt my ribs cracking. I fell on the ground trying to catch my breath.


    - That was a good attempt elf, but you are way too young to face someone like me! - he grinned and raised his sword. I was defenseless on the ground, but managed to roll aside, avoiding his hit.


    One more mage appeared, ten meters from us. It was Mesmer. Just like master magicians, he did not participated in battle until now. All for this moment.


    - Another elf, - grinned goblin: - Must be a colony nearby.


    - My name is Mesmer, goblin. And I am giving you a chance to surrender!


    - That is brave! - goblin laughed and prepared his sword: - My name is Hugo. Why don''t you join me elf? I promise to take good care of you and your little lady.


    He was not as smart as he thought he was. Thank to all my spells he currently was vulnerable to magic. He could not sense it, but I felt mana that Mesmer gathered for his spell. I got up and prepared my sword.


    - And what can you offer us, goblin Hugo? - I asked, to buy Mesmer more time.


    - All the riches that you can imagine. After I take this town and conquer the dungeon, no one will be able to stop me. And do not call me goblin. I have evolved far above capabilities of any goblin.


    Yee, sure. My Magic arrow was aimed at his face, but he squatted down, and my spell hit his pointed hat. It fell on the ground, and for the first time he roared in anger.


    - You whore! You will die for that!


    But it was too late for him. Magic power surrounded Hugo, and next moment he disappeared in bright flash.


    Mesmer fell on his knees heavily breathing. He used up all his mana and was defenseless. We were too far away from the wall, and goblins were approaching us. Even if their leader disappeared, they had advantage in numbers, and two elves, one of whom was on the ground, were not much of a threat for them. Almost twenty wolf riders were running our way, from the forest side. That was bad, since I could not use my Teleport spell and escape. And I also did not have any wide range attack spells.


    I casted my Slow spell and used up most of my mana to affect all the wolves, who were approaching us. Then I grabbed Mesmer and run towards the wall. There were still goblin warriors between us and the wall, but I had no other plan.


    Then another pack of meteors fell on earth behind us, and fire balls alongside lightnings wiped out most of goblins in front of us. Mages dispelled whatever spell affected them and covered our retreat. Then Luara, Trevor and his knights came outside from the crack in the wall and attacked remaining goblins, giving me and Mesmer a chance to safely reach the wall.


    I changed direction running towards the mages, and they used their Lightning and Magic arrow spells to kill goblins in front of us, and dispose of any others, who tried to approach us.


    After we reached the wall, mages used Levitation spell on us, and we safely flew on the wall. It was the first time, that I was sort of flying, and it was a little scary. But at least it got us to safety. I breathed heavily, and Nelly gave me stamina potion. Master magician Luminus gave Mesmer mana potion, and we both regained our strength. Rest of magicians used mana potions, and Nelly gave me one as well.


    - Let us show them, what magicians are capable of, and dispose of these goblins! - ordered Mesmer.


    Magicians got to work, and another wave of spells wiped out more than a hundred goblins, before they retreated to the forest. I joined magicians, using my Lightning spell, but managed to kill only four goblins. Trevor and his knights retreated back to Grimsburg and searched nearby houses, to make sure that no goblin stayed behind.


    Day was approaching evening, and now that their leader was gone and master magicians were free to join the battle, things looked brighter, even if we had few cracks in the wall.


    Soldiers spend the night fortifying the north wall, but no attack followed next morning. We waited till the evening, and after nightfall several adventurers went to scout the area. I also joined them, but instead of scouting I retrieved Hugo''s magic hat. He got so angry when he lost it, so it must be quit valuable.


    Adventurers found the tracks that led to the uninhabited lands. Goblin army retreated. Victory was ours!

 Chapter 6. New quest.

    I was sitting in the Adventurer guild and drinking ale. In front of me was Hugo''s magic hat. Grimsburg celebrated the victory and now people were rebuilding the town. Reinforcements arrived five days later and now were assisting in rebuilding town''s wall and patrolling the area. I asked Mesmer to keep my name out of the official records, but too many people saw me fighting Hugo, and I was invited to the ceremony, which was meant to reward people who distinguished them during the battle.


    Among the invited was Luara who was leading scouts and adventurer reinforcements, Trevor, who conquered the dungeon, and mages who protected Grimsburg after earthquake damaged town''s walls.


    Apparently earthquake was declared to be caused by natural causes, instead of Hugo''s spell. Town lord decide not to acknowledge the power of the goblin, no matter how powerful he was.


    I did not want to go to celebration. Blue skinned figure sat down at my table and I looked at djinn.


    - Tanot, did not expect to see you here.


    - I came to thank you for the advice. You were right. Goblins managed to get through my illusion spells and raided my house. They left such a mess, - he sighed.


    - At least you are alive.


    - Yes. I heard that we lost almost half of the people who protected Grimsburg. Most of them on the north wall.


    - At least we won.


    - That is true. What have you here? - he looked at the hat.


    - You tell me. I stole it from the goblin leader, after Mesmer banished him.


    Tanot took the hat and looked at it for a while. Then he sighed impressed.


    - What you have there is one of the most powerful artifacts. It is called Spellcaster hat. It grants the user ability to cast any elemental spell. Even level five spells. Artifacts like that are on the level of national treasures.


    - Sweat, - I sighed.


    - You do not look happy?


    - I am supposed to go to ceremony, tomorrow.


    - Most people would be happy.


    - Dozen gold coins would make me happy. Not being paraded in front of the townspeople. All I will get is pat on the shoulder. Who needs that?


    Tanot laughed: - You are a strange one. But in a way I do understand you. I prefer quiet and safe life myself. But you will get more than a dozen coins, once you sell that hat.


    - You are right about that, - I sighed again.


    - Good luck in the award ceremony, and feel free to visit me anytime. I still owe you for the warning.


    - Can you tell me how to increase my levels? Or skills? Even after I killed more than a hundred goblins my level did not increase. That''s such a pain.


    - Cannot help you with that. But I will think about it. I will let you know if I found out anything.


    - Thanks.


    Tanot left and I continued drinking, thinking about the hat. Should I sell it, or leave it to myself?


    - Miss Avone? - receptionist Leone interrupted my thoughts: - There are several people here to see you. It is about the reward that you promised for their assistance in conquering the dungeon.


    - What?


    - Please follow me, - she smiled, and I sighed again. What reward? Who?


    I shoved the hat inside my magic bag and followed Leone. She took me to the back room. Inside it were Trevor, Luara and Nelly. They greeted me with smiles, and Leone closed the door behind me.


    - We were hoping to meet you here, - cheerfully said Nelly.


    Ou, yeh. They did refuse the money and said that they want different reward. Wonder what it is. Maybe I could offer them Spellcaster hat?


    - So have you decided what you want from me?


    - We want to join your adventurer party! - they said simultaneously.At first I did not understand what they want. To my defense, that was not my first cup of ale.


    - What? Why?


    - Did you forget what we wrote to you in the letter? - smiled Luara.


    They did leave me some letters after our party disbanded. And I burned them without reading them. So I did not forget about that.


    - My time of service to the king has come to an end. Now, I am free to leave the royal knights and become adventurer again.


    - Now that Grimsburg dungeon is destroyed I have no more reason to stay here, - added Luara.


    - Me too, - joined Nelly: - I wish to increase my levels and now that Grimsburg dungeon is gone, best way to do it is by becoming an adventurer.


    Are they kidding? I had no party. Nor I needed one. But I did promise them reward. I sighed, geesh that got soou complicated.


    - Can I answer you after the ceremony? - one bad thing at a time, I decided.


    - Sure, - nodded Nelly: - But do not forget, you promised, - she shook her finger at me.


    - I keep my promises, - I yawned: - But let us survive the ceremony first.


    Trevor smiled: - They are not as bad as you fear. I attended several, and I am fine.


    - You got lucky. Those ceremonies are the worse.


    - They are not so bad, - shrugged Nelly.


    - That is what you think, - I grimaced. Am I the only sane person here?


    - By the way guild master Mesmer wanted to talk to you, - said Nelly: - He asked me to take you to him. I was looking for you, when I met Trevor and Luara.


    - More work, - I yawned again: - Fine, let''s go.


    - See you after the ceremony, - smiled Trevor.


    - Sure.


    Nelly cheerfully was talking about the battle, but I mostly did not hear her. I was sleepy and probably a little drunk.


    Mesmer was inside his usual room and, after seeing me, asked Nelly to bring some water and fruits.


    I fell on the couch and looked at him unpleasantly.


    - You wanted to see me.


    - Yes. Thank you for coming. I wanted to ask you about Hugo''s hat. Do you know what it is?


    - Yes, - I yawned, already bored.


    - I see. It disappeared after the battle, but it is a powerful artifact. Capable of causing a lot of harm in the wrong hands.


    - Like Hugo''s? - I grinned.


    - Yes, - he nodded seriously: - May I assume that you have it?


    - Maybe?


    - Have you decided what are you going to do with it?


    Nelly returned and brought water and vase filled with fruits. That gave me time to think about it. I still did not decide what to do with Spellcaster hat.


    - If you decide to sell. Please consider selling it to me, - said Mesmer after Nelly left.


    - What if I decide to keep it.


    - That is your right, and I will not abject to that.


    Spellcaster hat was a powerful artifact, but it was equivalent of Wisdom skill, which I already had. I could sell it, not like I needed it. At least not right now.


    - What if I want something else, not money?


    - What exactly is it?


    - What if I ask you to buy a farm and keep it under your name.


    - I can do that, but why?


    - I got myself seeds, which I want to plant. But I have no intention to become a farmer. Instead I want you to take care of them. You can keep half of the harvest. Keep it to yourself, pay taxes or sell it, I don''t care. But I want half of the harvest kept for me. And my name must not be associated with your farm.


    - Are those seeds valuable?


    - They do not grove in Ashgrin. They can be used to make a drink, that I enjoy. Since you will be only one who groves them, they will be as valuable as you make them. Or as valuable as you can sell them.


    - I see. I can arrange that. If that is all what you want?


    - Make sure that Grimsburg mage guild must honor this deal as long as I am alive.


    - I see. Well I do not mind. I will prepare the contract. What is the name of those seeds?


    - They are called coffee seeds, and tree is called cofea.


    I ate some pears and oranges, while Mesmer prepared the contract. It stated that Mages guild takes on itself an obligation to grow cofea trees and keep half of the harvest for me. Mages guild was also responsible for all costs of the farm keeping and payment of taxes in case of profits that the farm will bring. Contract also stated that trees or their saplings or seeds that can be used to grow them, must not be sold or given to anyone else. We signed two contracts and each of us got one. I handed over Spellcaster hat, and Mesmer nodded in gratitude.


    - Thank you. You have no idea how much it means for me.


    - I will stay for a while in Grimsburg and help you to grow first harvest, and show you what to do with the seeds. Life magic spells are useful in growing trees and plants. Let me know when the farm is ready.


    - I will contact you through Adventurer guild, - nodded Mesmer.


    Well, I got my coffee plantation. I was considering buying farm and slaves to run it myself. But it sounded like a lot of work, which I did not want. My deal with immortal Mesmer solved at least one of my problems.


    * * *


    Next day I arrived at the church. The biggest one in town, where heroes of the war were supposed to receive their gratitude from the town of Grimsburg. Crowd of people gathered in front of it. Not all people could fit inside, and most places were reserved for the nobles.


    I put my hood on and sneaked through the crowd. The only reason I was here, was because adventurer guild master insisted that my absence will be an insult to the town lord. I took of my hood, and guards let me inside.


    People were still coming in, and part of the seats were empty. I approached the altar in front of which the ceremony was supposed to take place.


    Trevor, Luara and Nelly were already there, talking among themselves. I approached them. Safety in numbers and all that. As soon as I reached them bright light blinded me and I appeared in familiar realm of the gods. But this time I was not alone. Trevor, Luara and Nelly were there too. They looked around surprised, when goddess Theia appeared before as. She was sitting on her throne, shining and being all goddess like.


    - Greetings in my palace brave heroes, - she greeted us.


    Everyone except me kneeled down before her. I awkwardly bowed. Was I supposed to kneel as well?


    - I am Theia, goddess of the light. I wanted to thank you for stopping goblin warlord Hugo and his army. Sadly their leader was only defeated and imprisoned, but spell that imprisoned him will not last forever.


    I already knew that. Mesmer used his Time stasis spell that imprisoned Hugo - somewhere. My whole strategy was oriented on that. Remove any resistance from magic and then, when he is vulnerable, imprison him using Time-stasis spell. But not even Mesmer knew how long will the spell last. My best bet was at least a century.


    - Hugo will be freed in four years.


    So, not a century then. Well not my problem. I was paid to stop him, and stopping him I did.


    - Sadly, I must ask for your help in stopping this monster. Freed from the spell that imprisoned him, I am afraid, that he will continue his evil deeds. In order to stop him I will grant you powerful skills of your choosing. If your adventurer party agree to stop him?


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    I wanted to object that we were not adventurer party. And if she wanted Hugo dead, then why not use Grimsburg army.


    - We will do what we can, - bowed Trevor.


    - Why not use Grimsburg army? - I gave voice to my inner thoughts.


    - Sadly Hugo is close to his next evolution. If he manages to evolve, he will become even more powerful. Using soldiers to fight him could bring forth a disaster.


    Well I did have one free skill slot free, and I could not fill it without some divine help. But fighting that monster goblin? He almost killed me last time. And four years was not that much time to get stronger. Not for me at least.


    - I see your doubts adventurer, - looked at me Theia: - What if I tell you that few months later you will have an opportunity to grow stronger? If you follow my advice.


    That sounded better.


    - What do you think? - I looked at Nelly and Luara.


    - I agree, - nodded Luara.


    - Me too, - Nelly got up and stepped forward: - I will do what I can to stop that warlord.


    - Thank you brave souls. Brave warrior I will grant you Light magic skill that will aid you in your battles to come.


    Trevor bowed again. He was still on his knee.


    - You panther-woman, I will grant Shapeshifting skill. I believe you know about it?


    - Yes! Thank you goddess, - bowed Luara, who also was still kneeling.


    - What about you archmage? What skill do you desire?


    - I want a skill that will help me to see in the dungeon.


    - Good. Then I will award you with All seeing eye skill.


    At least it was not Night vision skill.


    - Nelly''s All seeing eye skill is additional skill right? - I asked, just in case.


    - Yes, according to the classification that used sage Norris. And what about you elf? What skill do you desire?


    So many choices. I was not prepared for it.


    - How about Light magic skill? - I asked first thing that came to my mind. I had Demon style martial arts skill, and Light magic skill should balance my demonic skill nicely: - And could you give us enough life force to evolve one level?


    - I can do that, - nodded goddess: - But just one level. And if you wish to get stronger further then go to Adventurer guild two month from now. Remember you all, you have exactly four years to prepare and return to Grimsburg if you leave.


    Bright light again blinded me and we returned to the church. I swear, I will stop going to these places. Every god dammit time something unexpected happens in them.


    No one around us noticed anything unusual, and ceremony continued without interference.


    Town lord Frederick gave a speech, that contained our accomplishments and we all were awarded with a medal. Then we were forced to go outside, where Frederick repeated his speech for the rest of the people. Everyone cheered and clapped, welcoming the heroes, but all I wanted to do was to cover my face with my hood and get away. Finally the ceremony ended, and town lord announced the victory celebration. That included free food and wine that he prepared. I told my friends to meet me in Adventurer guild and used my Conceal spell to get away. All these ceremonies and goddesses were exhausting.


    Next day we all met in Adventurer guild main room, and I asked Leone''s permission to use leveling crystal. She was surprised, since most of us used it after the battle, but did not object. She opened for us the leveling room and we went inside.


    - You should use the crystal, - I nodded at it: - If the goddess kept her word you will be able to increase your levels.


    - I thought that it was a dream, - said Nelly, but approached the crystal. She put her hands on it, and familiar words and numbers appeared in the air:


    Human, LV 29 - 30


    Name - Nelly;


    Job: Archmage;


    Status:


    Health: 35;


    Mana: 580-620;


    Strength: 17;


    Defense: 14;


    Spell power: 14 - 15;


    Luck: 1;Speed: 7;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Earth magic (Advanced);


    Water magic (Advanced);


    Air magic (Advanced);


    Fire magic (Advanced):


    Wisdom (Advanced);


    Mana rapid recovery (Advanced);


    Increased maximum mana points (Advanced);


    Intelligence (Advanced):


    Lesser mana use (Basic);


    All seeing eye (Novice)


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - All seeing eye (Basic);


    - Lesser mana use (Advanced);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    Her skills and stats were impressive. As high as mine, and I was ten levels above her. And most of her skills were at advance level as well.


    Nelly chose to increase her All seeing eye skill, and Luara took her place.


    Panther girl, LV 9 - 10


    Name - Luara;


    Job: Scout;


    Status:


    Health: 23 - 24;


    Mana: 180 - 190;


    Strength: 3;


    Defense: 3;


    Spell power: 6;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 6;


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Foresight (Basic);


    Scouting (Basic);


    Martial arts (Advanced);


    Hunting (Advanced);


    Tracking (Basic);


    Butchery (Basic);


    Trap detection (Basic);


    Infantryman (Basic);


    Night vision (Advanced);


    Dual wielding (Novice)


    Shapeshifting (Novice)


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Dual wielding (Basic);


    - Trap detection (Advanced);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    Luara''s skills comparing to Nelly''s were on the lower side, but her skills were perfect for a scout. She chose to increase her Dual wielding skill, that would have been my choice as well.


    Next was Trevor. I was curious about his skills after his job change and his six years employment as a royal knight. He used the crystal. I looked at his numbers and decided that I did expected more from his stats.


    Human, LV 18 - 19


    Name - Trevor;


    Job: Knight;


    Status:


    Health: 19 - 20;


    Mana: 180 - 190;


    Strength: 12 (+3=15);


    Defense: 14 (+1=15);


    Spell power: 5;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 5 (+1=6);


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Lumberjack (Novice);


    Herb gathering (Basic);


    Increased strength (Advanced);


    Swordsmanship (Advanced);


    Weapons master (Novice);


    Night vision (Advanced);


    Magic resistance (Basic);


    Knight (Basic);


    Increased speed (Basic);


    Armorer (Novice);


    Light magic (Novice);


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Weapons master (Basic);


    - Magic resistance (Advanced);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    At least his Increased strength and Armorer increased his stats using percentage. So as higher his stats go as more his skills will help. But his level was only nineteen now. He missed his chance to jump the level cup, which was bad.


    - You should choose Magic resistance, - I advised after seeing his hesitation. He nodded and chose the skill.


    - Please wait me outside I asked.


    They looked at me with surprise, but went outside. I used leveling crystal and looked at my stats:


    High elf, LV 10 - LV 11


    Name - Avone;


    Job: Ranger;


    Status:


    Health: 130 - 131;


    Mana: 390 - 400;


    Strength: 9;


    Defense: 5;


    Spell power: 15;


    Luck: 1;


    Speed: 7 (+3=10);


    Morale: Neutral


    Skills:


    Archery (Advanced);


    Night vision (Advanced);


    Mana rapid recovery (Novice);


    Magic resistance (Advanced);


    Wisdom (Basic);


    Earth magic (Advanced);


    Butchery (Advanced);


    Water magic (Novice);


    Air magic (Basic);


    Intelligence (Advanced);


    Fire magic (Novice);


    Life magic (Basic);


    Swordsmanship (Advanced);


    Increased speed (Basic);


    Throwing (Basic);


    Hunting (Novice);


    Weapons master (Basic);


    Primordial magic (Basic);


    Dual wielding (Novice);


    Demon style martial arts (Novice);


    Double skill slots;


    Light magic (Novice)


    Possible skill acquirement:


    - Dual wielding (Basic);


    - Demon style martial arts (Basic);


    <u>Please choose one skill!</u>


    My stats were better than Trevor''s or Luara''s, but Nelly will leave me behind. Good for her. I increased my Demon style martial arts skill and went outside.


    - Can we use one of the rooms? - I asked Leone.


    - Of course, - she nodded. She took us to the back room and told us to let her know, when we were finished.


    - So are we the adventurer party now? - asked Nelly as soon as Leone left.


    - Not yet, - I sighed: - If you want to join my unexisting party then there will be conditions, for all of you.


    - What conditions? - asked surprised Nelly.


    - For you? You must register as an adventurer and go to capitol. There you must go to Adventurer academy and learn a warrior skill.


    - Warrior skill? But I am a mage. And I already have ten skills.


    - The goddess granted you not tenth skill, but eleventh skill. You should have noticed that Trevor and Luara had eleven skills. That is called additional skill. It is so to say skill number eleven, that only gods can award you.


    - Ou, I did no notice that they have eleven skills.


    - We do, - nodded Luara.


    - I see.


    - And you need warrior skill to learn how to protect yourself in case if you''re magic does not work. And you must also learn how to cast your skills while you are moving. Running away, for example. You will have six month for that. Understood?


    - Yes, - she seriously nodded.


    - Trevor, you will accompany Nelly and stay in the capitol with her. Your task is to learn Light magic spell.


    - I will learn all of them, - he nodded.


    - No. Not all of them. Choose two or three, but you must be able to use them while you are fighting. If you cannot do that, then Light magic skill will be useless to you. In time you will learn more spells, but for now you must prove that you will be able to use them in battle.


    - I see. I never considered it.


    - I have. And I learned how to do that even before I got my magic skills, so it is possible, as long as you train hard enough. Luara you will also accompany them. You must learn Dispel, Haste, Protection from fire and Magic arrow spells. They all are level one spells, but just like Trevor you must be able to use them during the battle. If you all can do that, only then I will accept you as my party members.


    - What will you do, until then? - asked Luara.


    - You heard the goddess. I will stay in Grimsburg. In order to get stronger I must stay here. I will wait for you eight month. Counting the time that you will need to reach the capitol, and for Nelly to attend the Adventurer guild. We will meet then here, or not, depending on your successes.


    - Very well, - Trevor stud up: - We will not fail you.


    Nelly and Luara got up as well.


    - Very well party leader, - grinned Luara: - We accept your challenge.


    - I will definitely improve my casting and get the best warrior skill.


    - Good then. You all got a magic gem after our dungeon visit. So you should have enough money to last you eight month. Train hard if you wish to defeat Hugo. We left the room and I found Leone.


    - Can I talk to you, about an artifact?


    - Of course. Should I call guild master?


    - Probably, - I scratched the back of my head.


    - I will do that. Please wait me in the back room.


    I nodded and went back. The real reason why I needed time and stayed in Grimsburg was my coffee plantation. But others did not need to know that.


    I took out reaper scythe and put it on the table.


    - How can I help our hero? - asked Fiord entering the room, but chocked on his words, after seeing the Scythe: - Is that?..


    - Floor guardian'' weapon. It belonged to reaper of souls. Can you sell it in the auction?


    He exhaled and carefully took the weapon.


    - I will need to confirm that it is genuine. But knowing you, I do not doubt that. It will earn you a lot of money.


    - Good. Just do not forget to keep my name out of it.


    - It will take some time to arrange auction for an artifact of this level.


    - This time I am interested in earning money so take as much time as you need. I will stay in Grimsburg for a while, so I can wait.


    - I will make sure you get as much as possible, - promised dwarf.


    I liked the sound of that. After my business in Adventurer guild was over I went to my familiar weapon shop. Even after twelve years my memory did not fail me and I easily found Ashurga''s shop.


    Weaponsmith was sitting behind the counter, sharpening one of the blades.


    - Gods and Holy maidens! - he screamed after noticing me: - The town hero herself blessed my shop, by coming here.


    - Pipe down old geezer. Are you running a weapon shop or rumor mill?


    He grinned and jumped down from the chair.


    - Expected to see you sooner, after heard that you returned to town?


    - Figured that you will be busy. With war and stuff.


    - You''re right about that. Getting old for all night work hours. Had to take a rest, after making weapons for townies.


    - Are you free now?


    - Depends. Do you have something interesting for me?


    - Can you work with artifacts?


    - Got myself Runesmith skill. So depends on the artifact?


    I took out Armor slasher and showed it to dwarf. He looked at it from all sides, but shook his head.


    - Can clean it for you, but no more than that. Such weapon is beyond my skills.


    - Fine, make me also a sheath for it. Something that I could wear both on my belt and behind back.


    - Can do that laddy.


    - Also, I need you to take care of the rest of my weapons. Some of the adamantium plates inside my vest were damaged and my chainmail needs fixing too, - I took out my vest and placed my three daggers, sword and chainmail on the table.


    - You took good care of them. Not much work will be needed, - said Ashurga after examining my weapons. Then he examined my vest. Years ago he turned it into kind of a brigandine, by placing adamantium plates under it and covering it with a second layer of leather on the inside. Adamantium was strongest known non enchanted metal, but to Ashurga''s surprise some of the adamantium plates were damaged or dented.


    - You took it through hell, - he sighed. Next was my chainmail. Most of the damage it received after my battle with Hugo. His sword almost cut through it and damaged several metal rings. My chainmail was made from orichalcum. It was not as durable as adamantium, but much better than steel.


    - I will need adamantium or orichalcum to fix them, and also help from someone who can work with leather armor. But I do not have necessary metals for the job.


    - That is not a problem, - I took out koshey''s armor from my magic bag: - Use this. Also I want you to remove silver plating from my chainmail and use adamantium to cover the chainmail instead.


    Surprised Ashurga examined the armor and looked at me:


    - You sure you want me to melt it down? The armor is enchanted. Ones I melt it down, it will lose all magic properties?


    - I am sure. I will also need one hundred and twenty adamantium arrows. That should be five quivers full of arrows. I will also need five quivers with steel arrows. From the rest make adamantium blocks that I can use as money. The same way you did last time. Keep some of the adamantium blocks, as payment. If that is fine with you?


    - More than fine, - happily agreed Ashurga: - But it will take me at least a month and a half, maybe even two, to finish everything?


    - How long to take care of my sword and daggers?


    - Can clean and sharpen them by tomorrow. Three more days for your new sword and sheath for it.


    - Then start with my weapons. I will pick them up tomorrow.


    - As you wish.


    - Good.I used up all my orichalcum and steel arrows during the siege, and needed replacements. Adamantium arrows were heavier, than orichalcum arrows, but I had no orichalcum anyway.


    Ashurga looked at his shelves and sighed.


    - And here I wanted to offer you some of my magic swords, but I should have known better.


    I looked around. Some of the sword had runes on them. Probably they had some magic properties. But I did not need them.


    - Maybe some other time.


    - Other time it is, - agreed the dwarf.