When James woke, his legs felt like they were on fire. He was lying on his stomach with this shield covering his head. Still getting his bearings, he felt a tug on his left leg and a sharp increase in pain. Moving to his side, he looked over at his legs to find two giant rats feasting on his calves. Most of the meat was gone, and he could see the white of bone.

"Don't blackout, James. You have to remain focused,' Rocko shouted at him.

James' head swam as he struggled with the surrealness of seeing his legs being nibbled on and the overwhelming waves of pain. With a blind swing of his arm, he shooed the rats away from his feet. They were not pleased with their meal attacking them and trying to get away, so they bared their teeth and attacked.

James couldn't help but notice the blood dripping down from the rat's maw. A rat he had not seen slammed into his shoulder from behind and tried to sink its teeth through his armour. Usually, that would be hard to do, but when he was knocked unconscious, all his PSI Powers were turned off. He didn't have Harden Skin II active, let alone anything else. Acting as quickly as possible, he activated Shadow Step and moved back onto the raised walkway. Moving deliberately, he tried to get himself closer to the doorway to the control room, but his focus was off. Dragging himself along the metal grates, he paused long enough to launch a PSI Bolt at the rats running up the steps and racing across the bridge to reach him.

The first rat arrived as he finally got into the control room. Using his shield, he activated Shield Bash and pushed the rate a half meter back. He slammed the door shut with his sword hand and pressed his weight against it.

Rocko was still beside him, urging him on like a fitness coach, "You got the door closed. Now drink a healing potion so the damage to your legs can start repairing, and you can stop bleeding. Come on, James, you got this."

While fumbling for a Potion of Healing, James saw that he was at 63 of 340 Health and dropping. The real problem was that he was bleeding at 5 health every 2 seconds and the waves of pain he felt with each heartbeat. The Potion of Healing sent a wave of ice through his body, followed by a wave of warmth. The pain faded to a dull roar, and the bleeding slowed to 5 health every 4 seconds. James took a moment to watch the chewed-up muscle in the backs of his legs quickly knit together. The recovered Health was instant, but the damage was repaired over a few seconds.

Rocko stopped James as he reached for another Potion of Healing, "Use your Heal Self III, instead. You have plenty of PSI."

James nodded and activated the Heal Self III Power, not trusting his voice. It took several activations of the Power, but eventually, he was back up to full Health. The bleeding had stopped when he reached half Health."

"What happened after I stepped on the trap?" James asked, drinking some water from a water skin.

Rocko sat back on his haunch and looked up at James, "You were not unconscious for very long, but the explosion attracted the attention of the three rats. Be glad your shield protected your face. They went after the easy-to-reach flesh and started in on your legs."

James nodded, "I need a minute. That was..."

"Yes, it was," Rocko finished for him.

James leaned his back on the door, "You see why I need allies with me now. They could have protected me."

"Or they could have died in the trap when it went off." Rocko countered.

"Better than dying alone," James protected.

"Anything is better than dying alone," Rocko agreed.

James looked over at the other door and used the Power Telekinesis to close it. "So, what are my options?" James asked.

"Rocko shrugged, "Same as before. If you are going to travel vast distances, you need team members who can travel with you."

"Like Soloman?" James agreed.

"Yes, like Soloman, but I think you would be hard-pressed to get him to agree to travel with you, let alone adventure."

"What about the sisters?"

"I am sure they would be happy to travel with you. You are a great source of experience for them, and they have proven themselves trustworthy, but they have no mobility."

"What if I get Connie something like a Teleportation Spell?" James asked.

"She would need one that was Tier 4, and she would not be able to cast for at least another twenty levels." Rocko countered.

James looked up, "What about a pet. You mentioned I can get one, which reduces my experience points gain."

"True, but I also told you they were costly. Right now, you are looking at spending 100 Free Advantage points. Not a great idea." Rocko pointed out.

"What about using Spells or Powers?" James asked.

Rocko thought, "The animate Shadow Ability is one we are hoping to get, but it would cost 60 Free Advantage points, and it only lasts 1 second per level."

James frowned, "What about buying it? or even Glezda?"

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Rocko shrugged again, "Glezda may be able to provide you with a very hard-to-get Enchanted item, but it can't be rare. Buying something is always an option. There are some pets you can buy, but to get something you can use, it would cost you a few thousand gold."

"That is not that far away if this deal with Glezda works out." James pointed out.

"True, but then you have to find the right pet." Rocko countered.

James sighed and closed his eyes, "I am going to recharge. Then I want my pound of flesh from these bastards."

----------------------------------------

When James had finished Meditating, he reactivated Alter Self II, Mental Shield - Iron I, Augment Attribute (Strength) and Augment Skill (Shield). He stood up, settled his armour back in place, affixed his shield, and opened the door.

The rat nearest the door leaped at him, and James just batted it aside. The rat was Stunned for three seconds due to James using Shield Bash. Before it could recover, James fired a PSI Bolt into it.

James deflected the other two rats until the first one was back on its feet, then stepped forward and punted it in the head. It was not a glamorous way to kill a rodent, but he was satisfied with the crunch of bone and the twitching the body made as it rolled away.

Switching targets, James used PSI Bolts on the rats while using the shield to prevent them from landing a blow in return. When the opportunity came, he used Shield Bash to stun the second rat and then used the shield's rim to bash in its skull. The last rat was either very confident or very stupid, as it continued to try and bite James. James wounded the rat using his Glrick Sword and then stepped in to use Shield Bash. The rat crumpled from the Shield Bash and rolled away. James watched as it slowly rolled off the walkway's edge and into the sewer below.

James looked at his notifications and saw that he was now 22 of 25 for the Rat Kill Quest.

Luck +1

Melee - Unarmed +1

Resist - Pain +1

James was offered the chance to pick up a new Skill called Illustration, but he declined.

"I thought my luck would have gone down, not up," James stated.

"You were lucky it didn't kill you," Rocko replied.

James nodded, "Makes sense."

Continuing, James avoided the stairs altogether by lowering himself down from the raised walkway to the lower walkway. Those few seconds made him vulnerable, but he wasn't taking any chances. These traps weren't hindering traps; they were killing traps.

Once he was moving again, it did take him long to get to another T intersection. This one continued straight and turned to the left. The path to the left had the sound of rushing water, so it piqued his curiosity. Moving with great care, he started down the walkway that led into a large spherical chamber. He could see a large whirlpool in the middle of the chamber as water rushed down the drain to a lower level. As much water was left through the drain, the water level stayed the same. Hanging above the drain was a giant spiderweb with dozens of spiders and a large ass spider queen.

'Does the queen count as one spider?' James sent Rocko.

Rocko ignored the question and looked around, "Looks like there are about thirty spiders in here. That should be the rest of the spiders to complete the Kill Quest."

'Now I wish I had fire,' James groaned.

"Don't you have two Wands of Flame Bolts?" Rocko reminded him.

"You're right." James remained in the shadows and reached into the leather satchel.

Pulling out the wand, he checked to ensure that it had all three charges. Next, he took off the shield and hung it off his weapons belt, and then took his bow and held it in his left hand. He leaned down with the wand in his right hand to see as much of the webs and the spider queen as possible. Before starting anything, he Inspected it.

Name: ?? Race: Dungeon Spider - Queen Level: 10 Damage Range: 2d6 +36 Damage Type: Piercing Armour Rating: 18 Special: Bite: Poison, Ranged - Web, Spells, Dodge

James lowered the wand before relaying the information to Rocko.

"Spells could be a problem. Being level 10 is a problem. But it is still doable," Rocko encouraged.

James looked around the chamber before moving back to the intersection to talk with Rocko. "I think the baby spiders need to be thinned out. My PSI bolts and arrows can do that job as I retreat, drawing them to me. When I am done with the spiders, I can return for the Queen."

Rocko frowned, "You will lose the element of surprise."

James looked to Rocko, "Any PSI Powers that can be used to kill multiple spiders at once?"

Rocko gnashed his teeth, "We have already had to add a Dungeon to your schedule to account for the Advantage points spent on the Mental Bond."

"Then add another one. What do you got?"

"PSI Blast and PSI Ball are the two best areas of effect damage Powers. The others don't do damage. They start at Tier 3. They do the same damage, but the Tier 4 Power has a greater area of effect at a shorter range," Rocko grumbled.

"How much?" James asked.

"30 points and 40 points respectively," Rocko explained.

James smiled, "What is the size difference?"

Rocko narrowed his eyes at James, but when James didn't blink or back down, he sighed, "PSI Blast is 1 meter in radius and PSI Ball is 2 meters and does not need to have a target."

James nodded, "That can be handy, and the area is four times greater."

"At a greater cost and shorter range," Rocko chimed in.

"What is the range difference?" James asked.

Rocko listed off the ranges, "PSI Bolt is 30 meters, PSI Blast is 30 meters, and PSI Ball is 20 meters."

James thought about it for a moment. The higher Tiered Powers were undoubtedly more powerful, but that was why they were higher-tiered. Typically, it would take a lot of effort for someone to get to that level of Power. One more question, "What is their casting time?"

Rocko looked the information up, "3 seconds for PSI Blast, 4 seconds for PSI Ball."

"Very well. We will have to hope we can get extra Free Advantage points somewhere. Hook me up with PSI Ball."

Rocko's shoulders slumped. James checked his PSI Powers and noticed that PSI Field I appeared. Checking the description, he had to smile.

PSI Ball I Cost: 40 PSI. Casting Time: 4s. You launch a large ball of psychic energy at a single point within 20m. This ball is near invisible but emits a high-pitched whine. The ball hits all targets within 2 meters of the target point. The damage is 1-4 + INT and ignores all bonuses to AR due to Armor.

The damage was less due mainly to the fact that it was a ball of energy instead of a single bolt, but not a huge difference. The 2 extra second casting time wasn't a huge loss, considering the blast radius. Well worth the 40 Free Advantage points