"Okay, I'm sorry, but I need to get this out of the way," Gregory said as the goblin let him out of the cell. "I really hope this isn't rude, but I guess, how could it not be? Are you a man? I've never met a female goblin, probably. Also, what's your name? You never told me."
The goblin, as expected, looked at him like he was an idiot.
"I'm Trezic, and yes, I'm a man. Goblin women look like human women. Just shorter. And our skin is on the green to brown gradient. And we have claws. Scales sometimes too. The dead giveaway is the hair."
"You don't have hair."
"Exactly. Only female goblins have hair."
"Wait, really?"
"Sure."
Gregory tried to think if he had ever met a goblin with hair. He couldn't think of any. He thought back to all those goblins he had slain at the outset of his journey. Yes, he thought some of them did have hair.
"Ahh, well..thanks. Why did you lock me up? Why not just approach me directly if you needed help? I'm here for monsters, not other people."
Trezic gave him a grim look. "You should be careful about that attitude. Not every person who comes here is a beacon of morality. I'm not one to talk I guess. But I didn't lock you in there that long, and I mostly just did it because people that come to the mines can be…competitive."
"Why? What's so special about the mines?"
Trezic led Gregory down the hallway where he found an open room with a much nicer cot against a wall and a few books at a table. They both sat at the table.
"First things first. You need to know what the mines are, and what they are not. What they are not, are mines. Not anymore, anyway."
"Not anymore?"
"Nope, they were consumed by a dungeon. Then that dungeon ruptured, centuries ago by most estimates. What we ended up with was a toxic wasteland surrounding a dungeon-like area full of natural monsters."
Gregory looked at the dungeon in a new light. It made sense that each level had been very different so far. That was probably how the dungeon had been laid out.
"Why come here instead of a regular dungeon?"
"Mostly the challenge, I think. It's common for powerful Magi or Shamans to send their promising apprentices here to toughen them up. It's like a dungeon you can't retreat from, no matter what. I assume you went up and felt the miasma?"
"I did, it was pretty bad. I pushed in too far, but I fortunately have a healing spell."
Trezic nodded along, "it would be suicide to try that without one. But to get back on topic, the really tough part about the mines is that they slowly grow more difficult. What are you, about level twenty?"
He hadn't checked since acquiring his new class.
Gregory Temerin, the Resolute
Age: 19
Race: Human
Standardized Level: 21
Combat Class:
Lesser Guardian (Uncommon)
Level 8 (14%)
Magician’s Apprentice (Uncommon)
Level 4 (92%)
Non-combat Class:
Rune Crafter (Advanced) Level 2 (8%)
Health: 130/130
Stamina: 110/110
Mana: 120/120 (110 +10)
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 8 (9 -1)
Constitution: 11 (10 +1)
Wisdom: 9 (7 +2)
Intelligence: 10 (9 +1)
Skill Points: 0
Free Attribute Points: 1
Skills:
Endure
Strike
Shield Bash
Abilities:
Will of the Sculptor
Magician’s Quest
Rune Proficiency
Spells:
Mana Bolt
Healing Touch
"Twenty-one, actually."
"Sure, twenty-one. Now, levels are a pretty loose way to define strength depending on classes, magic, skill, and all around build, but assuming you're on the high end of all of those? You wouldn't make it past the fifth level of the mines."
"Really? How deep does it go?"
"Fifteen levels. There's something like a final monster at the end too."
"How strong do you have to be to clear that?"
"Beats me. I'm stuck at the fifth level. I'm an overall level thirty-two magician. I have one common class and one rare one. My spells are illusion based though, not the best for combat. My common class is where I get my actual ability to do any damage, and honestly, it's not much. I need some muscle. I saw you carrying a sword and shield and thought you might be able to help if I could convince you."
"And you thought threatening me was the best way to do that?"
"You only have to cross the wrong person once."
Gregory shrugged. He didn't think the logic made any sense, but he was a people person. He would try to chat first if he could.
"Alright. I have a Guardian class that makes me more resistant to damage, plus a ranged attack spell and a healing touch spell."
"A diverse set of abilities. What's your magic class?"
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"Magician's apprentice."
"Interesting. I've never heard of it, but there's a Shaman's apprentice class that I have heard of. Access to basic magic, plus some helpful utility when you're working with your mentor."
"Something like that. It's more when I'm working for him rather than with him though."
"Well, either way, we should see what kind of damage we can do together. What do you say we head down a level and fight some monsters?"
"Let me grab my gear."
* * *
The fourth level was home to water based creatures, and the tunnel floors were covered with a few inches of water. Gregory had to trudge through, soaking his boots, but Trezic had some spell to walk on top of the water. On the goblin's advice, he had left his pack on the third floor, somewhat hidden in case anyone else came through, but mostly just out of the way and dry. They would clear out the monsters on this level and go back up to rest.
That had been the plan at least, from Gregory's perspective. When he encountered the first giant octopus monster, he learned that this level would be challenging for him.
The octopus had very long reach and very nimble tentacles. He was scarcely able to hit them, let alone the main body. When sword and shield failed him, he started firing mana bolts directly. Once he backed up and swapped to range, Trezic assisted him with blasts from a wand he carried.
By the time they put down the octopus, Gregory was completely out of mana and covered with welts.
"That thing was strong."
"Yeah, I thought you'd be fine through this floor, but I didn't realize those arms were quite so effective in melee."
Gregory had swapped to his Mage's apprentice class to use his spells, but it left him more vulnerable when the creature's attacks made it through. Fortunately, his newly improved skill with a shield wasn't class specific and he was able to use it to protect himself.
After they rested for a bit, Gregory insisted on hunting one more right away, after dropping his last free point in mana. He needed another spell.
"Wait, duh. I'm an idiot."
"What are you talking about."
Gregory pulled his spellforge out of his pocket. It was uncomfortable in there, but he needed it close to his person in order to use it.
"One sec."
He quickly navigated through the options and crafted a lightning spell with five uses per day. He didn't know how strong it would be, but it was better than just trying to block until his mana recovered.
"There. I have an emergency item. I swapped it to give me access to a lightning spell."
Trezic laughed. "Alright, sure."
Gregory thought it was a weird response, but he didn't ask about it.
It didn't take long to find the next octopus. This time, he opened with a lighting blast. The arc of power hit the monster and it immediately looked ready to keel over.
Then Gregory learned why Trezic had laughed. Electric power flowed through the water and into his legs, paralyzing him for a few moments. it was enough time for the octopus to recover and get a free hit on his chest. The blow made him stumble back, but it broke the paralysis.
Okay, lightning and water. Bad.
He hadn't seen what Trezic did, but the goblin was standing on top of the water. Maybe he just jumped.
Even though the lightning had a pretty sizeable drawback, it had done incredible damage to the monster. It went down after a short barrage from the pair.
----------------------------------------
You have reached Level 5 in class Magician's Apprentice.
You have gained 4 attribute points.
----------------------------------------
He had already considered his next points, and without hesitation, he put one in mana, one in constitution, and two in intellect.
"Alright, we can do this. Let's get to it!"
"You do a lot of self motivation."
He couldn't argue with that, also he liked giving himself pep talks. He shrugged and searched out the next monster.
The monsters were still tough, despite his level up, and he had to rely on the spellforge a few more times, but he only used it to finish monsters.
They developed a routine. They both needed to get stronger, and the monsters respawned around once every twelve hours.
They would go and clear out the Octopus monsters, a few hour ordeal on its own, then Gregory would head back up to the second floor to fight the shadow cats. There he would focus on his sword and shield. He tried to hone his technique and become more proficient at both. He had been leaning heavily on his magical skills so far, but those couldn't make up for actual experience and real skill.
Once the cats were dealt with, he returned to the third floor and slept for a few hours, then practiced his runes until it was time to clear the octopus monsters again.
Back and forth he went.
Kill all the Octopus monsters.
----------------------------------------
You have reached Level 6 in class Magician's Apprentice.
You have gained 4 attribute points.
----------------------------------------
Kill all the shadow cats.
Sleep.
Practice runes.
----------------------------------------
You have reached Level 3 in class Rune Crafter.
You have gained 3 attribute points.
You have gained 1 skill point.
----------------------------------------
It went on like this for four days. At the end of the fourth day, Gregory was strong enough to clear out the forth floor on his own, and Trezic declared him ready for the fifth.
During this training he gained four levels in Mage's Apprentice, bringing him to level nine, three levels in Rune Crafter, bringing him to level five, and one level in Guardian, bringing him to level nine.
The fifth floor was like the first in two ways. The tunnels were pretty plain and looked like mine tunnels. The second similarity was the monsters. They were big, hairy, and liked to call for help, but they were much tougher. He could see why Trezic had problems with this floor. The monsters liked to get up close and beat on you, and they seemed resistant to magic, so the Goblin's illusions were fairly useless.
They only managed two fights, three monsters total, before they were both spent. Gregory didn't bother with the shadow cats. The experience from them was negligible now. As he leveled, his progress slowed and he needed tougher and tougher opponents.
They tried the fifth floor two more times over the next eight hours, and their persistence paid off in a big way.
----------------------------------------
You have reached Level 10 in class Guardian.
You have gained no attribute points.
Guardian has reached the "Proficient" stage. Equipping this class will grant you +20 Stamina, +8 Strength, and +10 constitution.
----------------------------------------
Gregory's eyes practically bulged out of his head. He wasn't going to complain about the loss of four free attribute points when the proficiency bonus was equivalent to twenty.
He has always been a little annoyed about needing to change classes to use particular skills, but it was relatively easy to do. Now he sensed that he would need longer to change classes. Not a lot longer, but he would need to be able to focus for around five seconds. Not too long, but in a fight every second mattered.
"Do all classes get a proficiency bonus at level ten?" he asked Trezic.
"Don't humans have schooling where they learn this stuff?"
Gregory admitted to himself that it was possible they learned this in school, but he had never been the best student.
"Maybe, but I don't remember."
"Common classes don't get anything like that. Uncommon get it at ten, rare at twenty, and so on. I take it you hit level ten in an uncommon class?"
"Yeah, Guardian just hit level ten, but Magician's Apprentice is almost at ten too. It gives me some crazy stats. Plus ten to constitution alone will be a huge help down here. Plus eight strength and twenty stamina."
"Nice. That's a good one. Some just grant another class skill that's only usable in that class, or they'll get stats, but not as many. Most of the Magician classes I've seen are like that. Mine, Lesser Illusionist, gives me plus ten intellect and plus five wisdom, and that's it."
When they fought the next hairy beast, Gregory was able to take the hits without needing to pull back for any healing, which was good since it would take a while to switch back to his Guardian class. The added strength was also a boon. His sword hit harder and his Strike skill was better than ever.
They pushed until they were too tired to go on, then retreated to rest. Another cycle of grinding. Trezic said he was starting to make some progress on his own progression, now that they were fighting something challenging for both of them. Not that the octopus monsters weren't a challenge for Trezic, he was just severely lacking in fire power for a magic user.
When Gregory asked him why he didn't have a damage spell, the goblin said one has never come up yet.
Gregory allocated his points evenly, shoring up weaker areas as he needed to, but he was still sitting on a decent number of unused points. He was trying to push himself to his limits. He thought he was beginning to understand what Olivander had done now. He tried to capture the feeling of struggle, because those moments pushed him forward the most. He didn't know if artificially holding himself back by not spending his attribute points was actually beneficial, but it did feel good when he could finally put down one of the beasts through his own skill rather than just relying on his power advancement.
It was when they finally managed to clear the entire fifth floor on a single run that Gregory had an idea.
So far he hadn't actually done anything with arguably his most useful ability. His WIll of the Sculptor was perfect for creating whatever kind of build he wanted, but he had only been using it to balance himself. His mana was probably a little inflated, but other than that he hadn't really done anything with it.
It was time to change that.