We spent the next five days challenging the dungeon, and we managed six attempts per day. We found out from Aidor that we should have been collecting the behemoth demon’s claws since they could be turned in for contribution points back at the outpost. The four-legged demon Aaron saw was called a leviathan demon and we were never able to fight it, although during our last days we were able to last until there were only a couple of behemoths left before we could face it.

I continued training with Gabrielle’s sword every day when we left the dungeon and retired to the training yards. Even though I hadn’t reached the same level of skill with the sword I took it with me on our last few attempts and noticed a huge difference in the number of small demons I was able to kill. Using the one-hand spear with my shield meant I had to hold it in an underhand grip and I struggled to quickly shift directions with an attack. When I used Gabrielle’s sword combined with Earthen Might it made dealing with the small goblins a breeze and I was able to conserve much more Essence for when we fought the behemoths. I planned on selling the spear and purchasing another sword if I could when we returned to the outpost.

Once I leveled Earthen Might it increased both of the stats it gave by one, and it reached level four by the time we were ready to leave. With an increase of seven to their strength and vitality, Gary and Zack were able to handle the behemoths without using any skills, although they still had to steadily fall back while fighting them. Once I leveled my class to seven I decided to hold my skill point instead of spending it on unlocking Tremor, since I was close to being able to upgrade Barkskin.

I finally earned the 25000 experience I needed for Barkskin level ten two days before left and it upgraded into Stoneskin. The improved skill made my skin incredibly hard and it almost caused the smaller demons' claws to stop cutting us when they hit unarmored spots. Zack and I were able to block the behemoth's strikes with our shields and it allowed Gary to easily kill them from behind. Upgrading my first skill made me feel like I made a serious step forward, especially with how effective it was during our fights and it quickly reached level two.

I didn’t use Thornbolt as much as my other skills, but it still reached level eight from clearing out the smaller demons when they swarmed us. The skill was slightly stronger afterward, although it still wasn’t strong enough to do more than distract the behemoths.

Rejuvenation also leveled once from healing any small injuries we got from the dungeon. There were a few close calls when we fought more than three behemoths at the same time, but Zack was always able to push them back with Shield Bash if they started to get close to Aaron and Gabrielle behind us. Snaring Roots leveled once and I found that I was able to bring roots up from two spots if they were close together. This let me grab both legs of the behemoths with the spell and I was able to slowly whittle one down alone if I needed to.

Gary improved noticeably with his spear over the few days he spent training with his new skill, Spear Art. He spent some time talking with a hobgoblin at the training yards and they sparred together every day after that. He unlocked Sweeping Strike when we advanced to level seven and with it, he was able to send out a wave of a cutting force with his spear. The skill wasn’t strong enough to pierce the behemoth's skin but he was able to easily clear out large groups of the swarming demons with a single cast.

Fireball upgraded into Fireblast and the spell didn’t change much visibly other than when it landed and caused an explosion of force. Gabrielle could even stagger the behemoths with the improved skill and the power of her spells was quickly increasing as she leveled her Flame Attunement passive skill. Flame Pillar grew immensely in strength as the days passed; from badly burning the behemoths at level one to searing them to death in the bright orange flames at level four.

Aaron’s Imbued Arrow was our main strategy for quickly killing the behemoths when they grouped up and he started spending the majority of his Essence on the skill as we grew more familiar with the dungeon. He was able to level the skill to level five and the arrow was able to blast a hole through any behemoth he sent it through at the end of our stay at the dungeon. Seeking Arrow didn’t sound helpful for this dungeon and he upgraded Drill Shot to Piercing Shot before our last attempt at the dungeon. The new skill let him send an arrow through a behemoth, although the wound was only the size of an arrow. Aaron was still happy with the improved skill since it cost a fraction of the Essence that Imbued arrow did and he could kill the demons in one or two casts if he was able to get a good shot.

When Zack first learned Shield Bash it created a wide shield in front of him when he thrust forward and as the skill progressed it increased in size and strength. By level three the skill was five meters wide and easily sent the behemoths flying back through the air. He wasn’t able to use the skill too often since it was a waste of Essence in most situations, but Zack used it once every run just to earn some experience since it was an incredibly strong skill. He unlocked Intercede at level seven and the skill let him push off the ground with a burst of strength. The skill didn’t see any use in the dungeon but he wasn’t able to upgrade any of his skills yet and it could be strong in the right spot.

Once we finished our last attempt at the dungeon we were all ready to spend some time away from the repetitive routine we had developed over the week we spent challenging the Demon’s Wasteland. We had behemoth claws strapped to the sides of our packs since all of them were filled with the six-inch-long claws and I hoped they were worth the trouble of retrieving them. We only took the claws from the first behemoths we killed during each run since we didn’t have time to cut them off they started to group up to assault us.

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I woke up still feeling tired, but I forced myself to get up early since we were trying to hike back to the outpost today. I quickly packed up my bedroll and started a fire while I waited for the rest of my team to wake up. By the time I finished cooking everyone else had joined me and I served each of them a hot bowl of oats.

“Thanks, Eli,” Zack tiredly nodded towards me.

“No problem, I’m just ready to get this climb over with,” I smiled half-heartedly. We wouldn’t have to climb as high as when we came from the outpost as we were still about a quarter of the way up the side of this side of the mountain, but it was still going to be a long climb to the peak.

“Oh, shut up, Eli,” Gabrielle rolled her eyes with a smile. “You're going to be talking about how easy it is with Earthen Might the whole walk back, I can already hear it.” I scoffed and everyone laughed playfully at my expense.

“You know, now I’m kind of looking forward to using Intercede to dash up the mountain,” Zack grinned, “I bet I can make it ten meters uphill!”

“Honestly, hiking to dungeons is the only time I ever get to use Leap, so I know how you feel, Zack,” Aaron replied wryly.

“Leap has saved you plenty of times, don’t be dramatic,” Gary said with a shake of his head. “Let’s get moving, I want to sleep in a real bed, tonight.” I perked up at the thought of a bed in my room back at the outpost and quickly packed up the cooking supplies before throwing them on my pack. Gary led us back up the path towards the peak of the mountain and we whittled away the hours of the day training our skills until we reached the peak and started descending towards the outpost in the distance. Despite being able to see the outpost around midday we didn’t reach it until just before nighttime and all I could think about was reaching a bed once we arrived.

I tiredly made my way through the gate in the fading sunlight with the rest of my team after we got through the line waiting outside the entrance and followed Zack as he led us back towards the Dusk Battalion building.

“We’ll meet up at the common room for breakfast whenever everyone gets up,” Gary said while we walked into the building.

“Good, it might take me a while to get out of bed,” I yawned around my words.

“Well, don’t sleep too long or I won’t wait for you to go to the contribution hall,” Aaron teased me. I rolled my eyes and joined Gary at the counter to get our rooms from the hobgoblin behind the counter. I sluggishly made my way to my room once I got my key and I quickly got undressed and into bed. I pulled up my status contentedly as I let myself completely relax for the first time in a week.

Eli - Lvl 7 Druid

Experience - 7880\20000

Strength-14 (+2)

Dexterity-16 (+1)

Perception-11 (+1)

Vitality-13 (+1)

Spirit- 23 (+3)

Willpower-17 (+2)

Stoneskin - Level 2\10 Upgradeable

Experience - 70\200

Thornbolt - Level 8\20 Upgradeable

Experience - 6710\25600

Rejuvenation - Level 7\10 Upgradeable

Experience - 3020\12800

Snaring Roots - Level 7\10 Upgradeable

Experience - 9110\12800

Earthen Might - Level 4\10 Upgradeable

Experience - 320\800

I almost couldn’t believe the progress we made from only a week spent training at the challenging dungeon. All of my statistics had improved dramatically, especially Spirit from the extra statistic point I spent once I reached level seven. I was considering spending my next free point on Willpower since it was starting to take longer for me to fully recover my Essence. Now that we were back in the outpost I planned on using Stoneskin as much as possible to move through the quick early levels, although I wasn’t sure how long we would be spending here. We would probably go see Chief Duskar before going to the contribution hall in the morning, so hopefully, we would find out what we were being ordered to do next then.

After the week spent living close-by to the other hobgoblins, Duergar, and drow elves I found myself becoming more comfortable spending time around the non-human races. Gary had seemingly developed a friendship with the spear-wielding hobgoblin he had sparred with constantly over the past few days and I went with Zack to talk with Aidor a few more times before he left with his team a couple of days before us. I asked him where the closest human territory was and he told us about the Priestess of Purity’s territory. He had mentioned the name before when Gabrielle called him a monster upon first meeting him and the territory was at constant war with all nearby non-human races.

I was disappointed at that knowledge now that I had spent some time with Aidor and he told us about other nearby territories that had more humans within them. Ascended Skorv’s territory had some humans living in some of the cities closer to the center, although they were a rare sight even there. The Scarlet Horns territory that the Warband was formed to fight against was comprised of mostly demons, although Aidor informed us they didn’t resemble either of the types in the dungeon. The war between the two territories had been waged for years, but it never moved past the borders where the warbands met every year. Newly awakened came from several close territories to join one side or the other for the opportunity to be trained and spend at the warband's famed contribution halls.