The team was in an absolute state. Everyone was bloody and in addition bloody grumpy. The group walked to the exit of the dungeon, a place now indicated by a sign. Haina offered a healing potion to Kju who declined it because of the fact that he, as a glitchling, would not be healed. Kiresula insisted that Mayana should get it. Haina first hesitated for a few moments, but then offered it to her.
Mayana took it and then took a few sips. She twitched, made sounds of discomfort, then she sagged to the ground. Her wounds closed. Her eyes looked more clear, her facial expression softened. She smiled: “Thanks! I feel better now.”
Kiresula immediately felt better even though her own injuries were unchanged. “I am so glad to hear it!”
They walked towards the exit, a silver double door, with pictures. On the left side, it showed the kobolds, on the right side, the goblins. The Kobolds were partly hidden underground and their weapons and armour shone as if they were enchanted, even as a relief. The goblins had primitive weapons and were much more numerous in number.
They looked for any access to the core but couldn’t find it, however, with the large area of the dungeon, this was not a surprise. When the group opened the door, the group received their rewards and reached the rest area. On the way to the door, Mayana had to warn Haina of synthic magic that seemed to seep out of the edges of the dungeon while Kiresula sweeped it up.
The dungeon rewards were surprising: Kiresula gained a leather shirt that had a toughness enchantment. Given the fact that she was in clothes that had seen better days, she appreciated the item, but noticed that this was the first time a dungeon had given her a reward that didn’t relate to her status as mage. She wondered if the dungeon core had not seen her spells or if it didn’t have anything for a synthic mage.
Mayana received a glove with claws that she was very happy about. Kiresula had seen this item before: An enchantment glove to lay thinner magical lines in order to put cleaner, more effective enchantments into material. Kju received a pair of trousers, made out of a sturdy cloth. It too had a toughness enchantment. Haina received a bag containing something he didn’t show to the others, but it made him smile.
In the rest area, the group sat down on benches or the ground and just relaxed. Kiresula checked her notifications:
Class Achievement: Your defeat of the goblins in the Savage Dungeon was mostly due to the elemental magic and Fortitude. This provides experience for your Elemental-Somatic Mage class.
Class Achievement: Reached Level 4 of your Elemental-Somatic Mage class.
60 stat points assigned, 5 free stat points.
You have gained the spell: Light Body
Dungeon Achievement: Defeated the Goblins. You have won! Feel free to go to the exit for your rewards.
She smiled tiredly, threw her free points partly into Charisma and Empathy, as she assumes being better at people things could only help her when her future work would be in groups and checked her status:
Name: Kiresula
Species: Emergent Glitchling
Highest Class Rank: Emergent
Highest Class Level: 8
Classes: Seferian Mage (Rank: emergent, Level 8), Elemental-Somatic Mage (Rank: emergent, Level 4)
Power: 563
Might: 125 (+10)
Fortitude: 371 (+10) (+20)
Willpower: 57 (+10)
Speed: 454
Agility: 150 (+10)
Mental acuity: 156 (+10)
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Perception: 138 (+10)
Magic: 613
Magical force: 222 (+10) (+10)
Magical control: 233 (+10) (+10)
Magical defence: 178
Social: 143
Charisma: 55 (+5)
Empathy: 75 (+5)
Cunning: 13
Health: 187/441
Magic: 12/580
Skills: Improved casting, Seferian Fortitude, Control of the Pioneer, Immediate Escape (only for: Dungeon of the Bridge), Enhanced Synthic Restoration, Elemental Awareness, Botanical Awareness, Glitched Recovery
Learned Spells: Illuminate, Sunlight, Freedom of Movement, Travelling Light, Nightly Sojourn, Waterproof Object, Icy Terrain, Foggy Terrain, Spherical Vision, Enhance Ability, Grains of Time, Northern Star, Preserve Commestibles, Bite of the Elemental Beetle (Rank 3), Wind Step, Fire Strike, Evaluate Plant, Move Soil, Synthic Magnetism, Find Plant, Adapt Plant Trait, Light Body
Kiresula checked the new spell. It confused her, but it didn’t adjust weight, but instead it would make her glow. Depending on the amount of magic, it could reach from a soft glow to a [Sunlight] equivalent.
Mayana smiled at Kiresula: “I got to level 3 in my Swift Blade Warrior class. I have gained a skill that can slightly accelerate my movements. It scales with level ups in the class, so if I keep on levelling this class up, I can be an absolute menace on the battlefield.”
Kju looked tired: “I got an improved stamina recovery rate. That can help me not to run out in the middle of the battle.”
Haina asked: “So, have you cured the dungeon already?”
Kiresula shook her head: “I have not been at the core. We need to investigate the area to try to find access to the core.”
Haina looked at Kiresula suspiciously: “You want to run it again?”
Kiresula made a vague gesture: “I want to have a bath and then a soft bed, with warm blankets, my wife and absolute privacy, but to get even a bit of that, we need to run the dungeon again and again. Until we get to the core.”
Haina looked as if he had just been struck into the head. “This is not what I expected. We need to return to the dungeon immediately.”
Mayana shook her head: “We need to restore our magic, or there is no way in hay to survive this. I know a way to speed this up, but this would mark your stat sheet.”
Haina looked at her: “What do you mean?”
Mayana explained: “A hole. In your list of spells. Maybe even in your class section.”
Haina looked scared: “What do you mean? Do you know what causes the holes?”
Mayana nodded: “Synthic elements of a status sheet. Can you do the [cleric] thing to see my status? If yes, you will see this a lot!”
Haina shook his head: “I cannot. I am just a [Holy Guard], not a [Cleric].”
Kiresula shrugged: “Mayana can teach you a healing spell that works on glitchlings. But this will make the Holy Order notice and potentially sanction you.”
Haina shook his head: “This would be impossible for me. I am sorry.”
Kiresula nodded: “In that case, let’s restore our magic and then retry.”
The rest area had 2 entrances into the dungeon: a side with kobolds on the wall painting and a side with goblins on the wall paintings. In the middle, there was a strange ladder-like pattern. Opposite of that was a little water fountain and a bench on which the group sat.
Kiresula used Serenity to try to restore her magic, but there was very little synthic magic around there to restore from. Her synthic recovery worked, but it did so at a snail’s pace. Others without this could not easily recover, but tried to take the low saturation of synthic magic into their own selves. Eventually, Kiresula dozed off and woke up a while later. She felt less miserable but not really well. Her neck hurt. Mayana looked at her and asked: “Had sweet dreams?”
Kiresula shrugged: “Not that I remember.”
Mayana smiled: “You murmured my name in your sleep.”
Kiresula blushed. “I don’t recall what I dreamt, but it was probably a nightmare! I missed you a lot in these cells!”
Mayana and Kiresula looked towards Haina, who immediately deflected: “We should leave for the dungeon, what do you think? Goblins or Kobolds?”
“Kobolds first! I have not seen nearly enough of their area!” Kiresula said.
“I trust the Seferian Mage here!” Kju expressed.
It turned out that the area of the Kobolds was actually quite diverse and large. There were groves of palm trees with very little undergrowth, bushlands of heather, heath and gorse, moorland and raised bogs, and towards the end, a hilly area with many stunted looking fir trees, making it seem as if this area was much higher than it actually was. Towards the goblin area, the landscape was more fertile and verdant. The goblins seemed to prefer various kinds of woodlands that merged into each other. At the end of the goblin area was a coast. After each exploration, the group met up with the side they supported in that run, led them to the grassy plains and then they hastily set up enchantments and traps. Then, helped their side defeat the others. As they now entered the dungeon the regular way, their side was quite domineering. They looked around, searched for any signs of strange magic, be it regular or synthic. And, just as well, no strange lack of magic of either type. Eventually, the group reached the rest area again, after about a dozen runs and some level ups bringing Kiresula’s Elemental-Somatic Mage class to Level 5 (gaining an Ice Strike akin to her Fire Strike), Mayana’s Swift Blade Warrior class to Level 4 (gaining a basic fighting style making her movements more fluid and effective and making her an even worse menace to the monsters that opposed her) and Kju’s Gravitational Elementalist class to Level 5 (allowing him to affect small areas with less stamina drain). Kiresula and Mayana immediately sat down on the ground, their backs against a wall and their heads close to each other. “We’re done! We need some rest! Otherwise, we will fall asleep in battle!”
Haina acquiesced: “Okay, let’s rest. You did a lot of fighting. Tomorrow’s another day!”