The ceiling roiled and churned with slimes that rolled and spread over one another in a writhing mass of anger and lightning. Though I couldn’t count them easily, it was clear that we were outnumbered.

“I think it would be prudent to flee right about now,” Raina suggested. There was no argument from the rest of the group. The party raced towards the door, only to find a large purple mass dripping from the ceiling right in their path.

“Uh, not that way!” Terrowin said.

“There is no other way!”

“Everyone! Back to the pedestal!” Aelisra ordered. “Terrowin, you take the left, I’ll take the right. Protect Raina and Cithrael.”

The group retreated to the far wall. The pedestal wasn’t much, but maybe it would help to limit the avenues from which the slimes could attack.

Six more slimes fell from the ceiling with a sickening squelch. They hopped towards us. On the left side of the pedestal, Terrowin sliced at the monsters. They recoiled and hopped out of his extended reach before attempting to reach him again.

Aelisra, on the other hand, did not fare as well. Without the reach of Terrowin’s glaive, she had to rely on the slimes getting much closer. One of them threw itself at her shield, wrapping around and clinging to the metal wall. She grunted as the lightning passed right through the shield and into her arm. With her other hand, she fended off two more, slashing at them with her axe.

“Raina! Remind me what level these things are supposed to be again?” she shouted as her axe sliced one of the slimes in half. The monster’s magic faded into a lifeless heap, only to be replaced by another slime falling from the ceiling.

“Level 8!” Raina answered.

“I thought dungeons had to make it a fair fight!”

Wrong. Forced Fairness only meant that every dungeon had to be possible. As I’d seen with the First Dungeon, that didn’t mean that the fight would be easy. It was called a challenge for a reason.

I looked around the room, trying to find some sort of weakness in the monsters that we could exploit. From what I could tell, they weren’t particularly intelligent. They kept attacking Terrowin directly even after experiencing his biting attacks firsthand. They also didn’t work together, coming at us all together rather than coordinating their strikes. But…how could we use that?

“Stupid slimy shites!” Aelisra swore as one of them lunged at her foot. She kicked it away, but not before lightning shot up her leg and into her armor. The paladin cried out and fell to a knee.

Raina reached around Aelisra’s shield, tapping the slime that clung there. Her mana surged forth in a torrent of cold and death. The slime recoiled as the spells took hold. As it released Aelisra’s shield and hopped back a few paces, it seemed a bit more sluggish than its brethren.

More of the monsters fell from the ceiling, sensing our desperation and the availability of a quick and easy meal. A slime hopped closer to Terrowin. It got sliced clean in half, only for another one to hop onto his glaive and begin climbing.

Following Raina’s lead, I leapt onto Terrowin’s shoulder before throwing myself down the length of his weapon. Landing nimbly, I called upon the mana of drain and chill, just as she’d done. The slime slowed but did not stop. My spells were not as strong as hers. I didn’t have enough aptitude in enervation to stop them the way she could.

It lunged at me, albeit sluggishly. I hopped away, but with me out of its path, it hopped straight into Terrowin. The glaive knight tensed as the slime’s lightning entered him. Three more slimes, these unaffected by my cold, lunged forward and wrapped around Terrowin’s feet and legs.

He cried out and stumbled. Cithrael pulled him back and Raina leapt forward to take his place. She was the perfect one to keep the slimes at bay. Chill was one of her signature spells.

“I have an idea!” Raina called.

“I’m all ears!” answered Aelisra.

“Malzy! Protect Aelisra!” I nodded, calling forth my own chill and darting between the paladin’s feet.

Raina drew heavily on our mana, surprising me as she quickly exhausted her own pool and began pulling from mine. Frost began to grow into tiny crystals at her feet. The temperature fell as she waved a hand before her.

I thought I saw her mutter something like “please work,” then, in a clear voice she shouted “Freeze!”

Mana exploded outward from my witch. The slimes nearest her stopped moving as their bodies congealed. Those further away didn’t seem to slow quite as much, but it was enough. Aelisra tore through them with her axe, cutting and scattering them to the side while Raina’s spell continued to freeze everything around her.

Our mana was draining fast. With as little of my own mana as I could, I picked up a small amount of slime from one of the dead. Moving it towards Raina, it instantly froze into a solid ball. I now had a perfect weapon, one that hopefully wouldn’t need much of our dwindling mana.

“Get to the center!” I called to Raina. Even our combined pool wouldn’t last indefinitely, and we still had many more monsters to defeat. She shuffled towards the middle of the room, her focus entirely on keeping her spell up.

Meanwhile, I hurled my ball of frozen slime at the ceiling. I didn’t have to do much damage, which was good because we were running too low on mana to put much force behind the attack. All that was required was that I knock them off the ceiling and into harm’s way.

One by one, slimes tumbled to the ground, only to be frozen and hacked to pieces by the waiting paladin.

A wave of dizziness washed over me, and my ball fell from the air. I didn’t have enough mana, not with Raina’s spell still active. Only half the slimes had fallen…

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

However, a moment later, six more slimes were forced to fall as Cithrael’s arrows knocked them from their perches. He continued to knock them down, one by one, until the room fell dark. The light of the slimes magic was gone and, with it, the threat.

Congratulations. Twenty Level 8 Lightning Dungeon Slimes defeated. Experience split between participating challengers.

Frost had formed on my whiskers. Raina released the spell and practically fell into Aelisra’s waiting arms.

“Quite the spell,” the paladin said. “You alright?”

Raina nodded weakly. “I will be…”

“Let’s take a moment to rest.” No one argued with Aelisra, not even me.

My tail drooped. I hadn’t felt this bad since our soul drain. Though this was not a safe zone, it would have to do. The entrance felt like it was miles away, and if we were caught out in the dungeon hallways, Raina and I would be vulnerable.

I curled up in Raina’s lap, leaving the task of setting watches to Cithrael and Aelisra, as the least injured of the group. Terrowin pulled his boots off to examine the burns he’d earned on his feet and legs. I didn’t have the heart to look. I couldn’t give my Favor at the moment.

We had more pressing concerns. With our mana depleted, our combined mana pool was already starting to draw more in. It burned, and my skin prickled as pure lightning mana entered me. It was trying to change me, to remake me, to escape my pool of mana before it was fully cleansed to wreak havoc on my body and hers.

I closed my eyes. This was my job. I had to keep strong. I had to resist the pull of the mana and force it through the filters that would separate the bad parts and allow us to refuel safely.

Corruption Resistance III upgraded to Corruption Resistance IV

It was grueling work. Lightning danced across my vision, so I closed my eyes, but that didn’t seem to help. The dungeon around me sparked and crackled. The sound of lightning and thunder echoed down corridors like a storm spreading over wide fields. I blocked it out as best I could, putting my head into Raina’s hand.

“Cover my ears, please,” I begged weakly. She nodded.

Our bond was designed such that I would receive the brunt of the corruption, but that didn’t mean she didn’t feel it. I could feel the tension in her body as the mana filtered through me reached her. I wasn’t sure if her skin prickled as mine did, or if she was just worried. Her hands wrapped around my ears, and I pressed myself against her, keeping myself grounded in the sensation.

Corruption Resistance IV upgraded to Corruption Resistance V

Ha. Keeping myself grounded…against lightning mana. Sometimes, my cleverness astonishes even myself.

My eyelids were heavy, despite being closed already. Thunder wrapped around my thoughts and lightning danced behind my eyelids. My fur prickled, but I held firm.

Raina relaxed as we slowly recovered. Our mana pool filled with pure, clean mana, and as it did, I chanced looking more closely at the lightning before it was filtered out.

It was…kind of pretty. Purple streaks of raw power darted around my vision. It wasn’t the same as the pulsing breath of the inferno, but instead was more like a wound-up kitten, tumbling and racing hither and thither with reckless abandon, crashing into walls and making a mess. Lightning required direction and a strong will, but I was nothing if not strong willed. Perhaps one day…

System Activation of Welcome to Atria.

Many spells use complex forms of mana. Lightning, vitality, blood, metal, and form alteration are but a few examples of complex mana forms. Spells using these mana forms cannot be cast without an Affinity Title and a deep understanding of mana being wielded.

Wait…affinity titles? I’d never even heard of those. Amsiii, you can’t just say things and not explain them! What are affinity titles?

Affinity Titles are available for selection at level 20.

…

Is that it? Is that all you’re going to say, Amsiii? Helpful. What’s the point of giving me information if all you’re going to say is that I can’t do it yet.

I was too tired for Amsiii’s antics…the corruption risk was going down with every passing moment. Our resistance was able to easily handle the amount of mana coming in without needing my direct focus anymore. That was good because my focus was frayed at the edges like a branched lightning burn. I just needed some sleep. Just a short nap, and I’d be good to go once more.

* * *

My dreams were filled with thoughts of lightning. It was an advanced form of mana. That meant the power behind it was more potent than my fire and heat spells. I craved that power.

Images passed before me in vivid details. A storm, but there was no rain. There was only lightning cascading from the heavens at my command. I reached out with a hand rather than a paw, calling down bolts of raw energy that exploded whole armies of faceless enemies.

It was a good dream…

* * *

But, with all good dreams, one must eventually wake. I reached forward with black paws, stretching my back in a high arch before shaking my hind legs.

Raina was still asleep, and Terrowin was the one on watch. Wanting attention, I approached him.

“Hey little guy, you feeling better?” he asked as he reached for my ears. I allowed it and crouched next to him. “There’s our burned loaf,” he crooned. “You didn’t look so good. You were chittering softly in your sleep. Did you have a bad dream?”

No. It was a wonderful dream, one I hoped to one day make a reality, but there was no chance of explaining that to him. Not without Raina to translate.

“I had a bad dream, too,” he continued. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the others did, too, given where we are.” He cast a worried glance towards the hall to the rest of the dungeon. “We shouldn’t have come here,” he muttered. “Aelisra’s rite is important, I know, but we are way too far out of our depth if the first fight we encountered laid us out this badly.”

The green-haired knight stared at his feet. He still hadn’t put his boots back on and he’d rolled up the hems of his pants. His skin was red and burned from where the slimes had climbed him. I had little doubt that Aelisra sported similar burns, only her pride had forced her to keep them hidden so as to keep the rest of us from worrying.

At this rate, Terrowin wouldn’t be able to walk far, let alone fight. He was in no state for continuing the challenge but continue he would have to. Our escape was blocked. The dungeon would not let us leave the same way we entered.

He needed my Favor, and I needed him to continue. It seemed like a decent trade, to me.

I began to purr, letting it settle first on Terrowin, then on Aelisra as she slept. The knight sighed in relief as my magic began to numb the pain he felt from the burns.

“You really are a special little kitty, aren’t you?” he praised. He scratched behind my ears. I purred more, not because I enjoyed the sensation, but because he had recognized my excellence.

We fell into silence as I continued purring. Feline Favor might not have been fast healing, but it was critical. Amsiii had mentioned Vitality as one of the complex forms of mana. If I had to guess, Vitality would be a form of Energetics, which meant that it was well within my chosen aptitudes to one day become a staple of my magic. While it didn’t hold the same might as lightning, which was almost certainly the result of blending Energetics and Environmental in much the same way as I created fire, Vitality held the promise of keeping my hench-humans on their feet.

It was already something I’d proven effective with Feline Favor, but that ability was slow. It required hours to heal anything greater than a simple cut. If one of my servants, or gods forbid Raina herself, were to be injured in the middle of a fight, Feline Favor would not save them in time.

Perhaps that was worth investigating. Level 20 was not far. Only Eight Levels remained before me until I’d be able to pick one of the Affinity Titles Amsiii was so resistant to telling me about.

I purred more. I knew exactly how to please Amsiii’s bloodlust, and we were in exactly the right place to do it. There was still a whole dungeon ahead of us.