[Body Reformation] fired off and I [Healed] the last two points of [Health] I had lost. It was the only Spell I had to [Heal] myself with and it sucked. The casting time was one minute, ten times the normal. I had to concentrate to cast it, I had to remain motionless, and it had failure rate equal to the percent of damage I had taken. If I had lost twenty-five percent of my [Health], then it had a twenty-five percent chance of failure. The worst part was that [Healing] two [Health] points every minute was as fast I could go right now.
I checked the time on my HUD. Six twelve AM and the Boss Chamber was still empty. I was going to have to fight the spiders again. I pulled up my Quest log.
Complete the Karma Quest to acquire the Boon [Armor of Justice].
Quest Goal: Take a total of 4,317 more damage for a total 10,000 damage from the first strikes to damage you from at least 290 more monsters for total of 1,000 monsters located in any Dungeon.
You have twelve months to complete this Quest.
>
The damage was averaging under 10 points per creature. I was going to finish the race to 1,000 monsters before I took 10,000 points of damage. It was going much slower than it had when Selenia was [Healing] me. I was willing to take more damage knowing I had backup. Now I would only let the last two monsters in a spawn hit me. It didn't help that my own [Healing] Spell was so slow.
I had backed off my race to Level 4. When I had gotten to Aeseiriral, the Quests had dried up. It might be possible to get some more with enough time and planning, but that would be later. Harmin helped me keep up the pace for a while. I did every general open Quest available in the city in the first week I was here.
From Level 4 to at least Level 20 I would earn enough to pay the 10,000 Karma necessary to get two Karma Quests per Level. I wanted those extra two boons for my build. It would get me extra Metamagic Ability slots. I would be using almost all my Boons until Level 10 to get those. On a percentage basis it was small in the long run, but in a fight for your life every little bit counts.
I wanted to start farming Floor Bosses. I turned to check the Boss Chamber again. No black portal, so the Boss still hadn't respawned.
For my
I had returned to Everdale because it was the only Dungeon I could get into. The Dungeon here was [Chaotic Neutral] at Level 10 and below. Only the first 9 Levels of the Dungeon had the nine separate entrances that corresponded to the nine Alignments. Most of the residents of the city were [Lawful Neutral] as that maximized their Karma for hunting monsters. It was also why I couldn't get into the [Chaotic Neutral] Dungeon entrance. The trip was costing me. Four golds for the round trip between Aeseiriral and the Dungeon in Everdale. My job with Harmin paid for it, but I was only making sixteen gold a week. I couldn't come everyday, even it I wanted to.
The Giant Spiders started materializing. It wasn't gradual. They just appeared, webs and all. Given any amount of time they would spin more webs, but they weren't going to get it. With the extra range from the Spell Power that my Ratskin gloves gave me, I didn't even need the ladder anymore. After I killed the first few, I pulled out a torch and lit it. I hurled into the core mass of their web. It stuck and started a blaze. I really appreciated the help the webbing was giving me by holding that torch. Once the fire had burned away their ability to get close enough to attack me, I started in on them.
I had gotten halfway done when, I felt three people with Virtues run into range. Then [Notice] fired off and I heard it. There was something running down one of the nearby corridors. Correction, there were somethings running down the corridor towards me. I heard a few bipeds being followed a host of octopeds.
Great! They were pulling a train at me while I wasn't done with my own spawn. It could have been worse. The Giant Spiders were on their back foot anyway. I didn't think it would be too bad until I saw what was coming. Three Adventurers rounded the corner followed closely by a Falling Death Spider. And then two more. And then all the rest of them too. That [Poison] sucked. I only had two [Cure Poison] potions on me, so I had to be careful.
The narrowest gap in the tunnel was between me and the parade of death heading my way. I ran to fill the gap and shouted in broken High Common, “Run! I hold them off.”
[Integrity], [Faith], and [Confidence] fired off.
They shouted something I mostly didn't understand, but I caught the last part, “...[Portal] closed!”
I glanced back, and sure enough the entrance to the Boss Chamber was solid black.
I could see as the delvers ran by me that they were in no shape to fight a Floor Boss. I managed to get one [Force Punch] in before the the first monster was on top of me. The narrow spot I had moved into had very little in the way of flat spots. It wasn't great for conjuring barriers with [Local Portal]. The next best thing was sending the charging spiders head first into sharp rocks.
The bodies started to pile up. They were acting as obstacles, making it harder for the spiders to get at us. Occasionally a [Stone Bolt] or an arrow would fly past me to strike at the spiders. More often than not it would bounce of a shiny exoskeleton. Once the passage had been constricted so that only one Falling Death Spider could get at me, I got fancy. I had seen these creatures fight before. I knew they liked to use a foreleg to pin their prey and follow it up with a [Poison] injection from their fangs. I liked to send that foreleg into their head with a [Local Portal]. My strategy was working better than theirs.
I heard a scream behind me. It couldn't turn immediately, having to deal with the fangs in front of my face. Once my enemy was down I spun. The Giant Spiders had come down from their webs to attack. Two were headed toward the man with the bow. The other Adventurer was on the ground, clutching his side. A Giant Spider stood over him, poised to strike.
I had three or four seconds before the spiders in the tunnel pulled the body of their fallen kin away and had access to me. I decided to risk it. Using [Force Punch] three times probably would kill it, but four certainly would.
Congratulation! You have a saved a life by yourself! You have completed your Karma Quest! You are awarded the Boon [Cry of Souls]
You gain 10% Experience toward Level 4, 10 [Law Karma Points] and 10 [Good Karma Points].
You hear the [Cry of Souls] and know the need!
It was as if I was experiencing Soulburn. There was a sense of the man's soul crying out. I heard the joyful moments in his life, not specifics just the after echos of laughter and contentment. There was pain and loss. Only a little a regret. Triumph blared. He was a delver after all. His pain. The [Poison] in his side. The antidote in my [Inventory]. I knew he only had minutes to live. I just saved his life but I had to it again. Needed to do it again.
My soul sang out too. I could hear my desire to save him. To be an Honorable Hero. It was only as if I could hear these things, because I was remembering them. I couldn't remember the experience of receiving all that information. I just suddenly recalled all those things. Instantly. I wasn't downloading and processing the information, I just knew. It was all revealed as a memory. Everything I needed to keep him alive came into focus as the harmony of our two souls resonated as one with our desire to save his life.
With it came the knowledge that I needed saving too. The man on the floor had looked at me. He saw the Falling Death Spider looming behind me. I had guessed wrong about three seconds instead of four. My Luck paid off, because his song shared that information with me. I even saw my mistake in the melody we shared. I hadn't been using [Map] to watch my own back. It didn't matter now. With the precise knowledge of the monster, my no-look kill was automatic. The spider's foreleg went through one its eyes right into its brain.
I activated [Sprint] and crossed the distance between us as I pulled the antidote out. He started drinking the potion, but I was already turning back to the spiders coming into the room. [Force Punch] broke the first spider's eye. A second punched dropped the spider. It had collapsed, but I didn't get a System notification. It was pushed aside at the next spider came in. By this time I was close enough to use [Local Portal] again. For all of its hurry to get to me, it only hastened its own decapitation.
I cast the final [Force Punch] necessary to kill the other Falling Death Spider laying unconscious on the ground. That gave the last of it's kind the chance to make through the corridor narrows in time to get a [Local Portal] to close across its midsection. I wheeled around, blasting out [Force Punch] where ever I saw the Giant Spiders lurking on their webs. The bowman had done admirably and there were very few left.
I had a few breath of silence before I asked, “Everyone fine?” After two acknowledgments I said, “Be right back.”
I charged at the black portal covering the entrance to the Boss Chamber. I came through at full speed. This time the Fiendish Fat Rat Boss was sniffing around the main pathway through the chamber. It didn't need to track me. I was coming to it. I already had the special vial I had purchased for the occasion in my hand. I tossed it at fatty.
The saleswoman had said it was the urine of a Tier 2 Celestial Lion mixed with some reagents. This was a well know concoction for fighting this Boss that was sold throughout Everdale. When the vial burst it smelled like a men's gas station bathroom to me. The rat started sneezing and convulsing. I aimed for the eye. I missed the first time, but hit the second attempt. It popped like a grape. The convulsions were so bad now that it turned into dry heaves.
The rat was turned slightly away from me, so I couldn't hit its other eye. With smell and vision out of the way I went for the last sense that it could use to track me. I pulled an illusion cube from my [Inventory]. I had already activated it, just before I put it away. That meant it was already playing the song. It wasn't the first track on the album, but Laerenshel was right, “Floor Boss Boogie” was the best. I tossed it off to my left. I threw out two more. We had a round! It was way out of sync. I think drunk kindergartners singing “Row, row, row your boat” would have been more musical than the noise I was making. Kind of the point though.
The dry heaves stopped being dry. The rat released from every orifice. I claim credit for what came out of the left eye socket. Now it didn't smell like just any men's bathroom. It smelled like the men's bathroom in the St. Louis bus terminal on July fifth, three years ago. The smell was as specific as the date. The creature collapsed into the foul mess.
It tried crawling away. I circled the monster. I was able to attack it using [Force Punch]. Killing it took longer than last time, but it was easier. I'm not sure the smell was better than all the wounds I took. It certainly was safer.
The XP and Karma where the same, but the loot wasn't nearly as good. It was an uncommon necklace that slightly reduced Mana and Chi loss from debuffs. Killing the rat didn't add to the extra damage from the
The bowman was John. The caster was Allen. I escorted them back to the spawn point of Falling Death Spiders to pick up two of their colleagues. The men put the bodies in [Inventory]. Having them would make [Resurrection] cheaper.
We teamed up to hunt on Level 3. It let me take more damage from the monsters. Allan had some Spirit Arts for [Healing]. I got closer to finishing my other Karma Quests. I said good bye to Allen and John after they had enough delving. We talked about teaming up the next time we were in the Dungeon together. They were impressed with [Party Chat]. I was not impressed with losing half your party and dragging monsters down on unsuspecting strangers. I was polite and didn't say anything. They had helped me gain enough XP to Level after they left.
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Ding!
Congratulations! You have reached Level 4.
Your Class Power Rating has reached 16
You have gained the inherent Ability Double Density, Level 1
You have gained the inherent Ability Double Temporal Flow, Level 1
You have gained 7 [Archwizard Ability Points]
You have gained 1 point in all [Statistics] and 1 free [Statistic Point].
Double Density was easy to understand. I weighed twice as much as did before. It was easier to understand why Double Temporal Flow worked. As my strength went up, the energy I had to move my body went up linearly. Kinetic energy was the square of velocity. That meant the increase in velocity that occurred was based on the square root of energy. I doubled my velocity at Level 4, Level 16, and Level 64. When Celestium had explained that it clicked. He tried to explain why Double Density followed the same pattern, but it was taking too long, so I had changed the topic to another question.
Double Temporal Flow had a neat toggle. When you activated it, time seemed to slow. I tossed a copper up in the air just to watch it come down with half the apparent force of gravity. Most people left the toggle off unless they were fighting. It was unsettling to have physics change like that, plus it made conversations with people outside the time dilation really aggravating to listen too.
It had another significant effect. Regardless of whether I was using the time dilation toggle, the minimum casting time for my Spells went down. I could now cast a Spell in half a second instead of one second. As cool as that sounded it actually worked against me a little. My Level 0 Spells cast at the minimum time, but regular Spells still required the same casting time. Subjectively, that six second casting time felt like twelve seconds.
I could play with the new Abilities later. I was already having to recharge Stamina, Mana, and Chi to keep myself awake. It was time to go home. Level 4 monsters were twice as fast too.
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I exited the [Personal Palace] of the Guild porter into the Gate zone of Everdale. Instead of nine Gates, like Neral City, Everdale had multiple sets of nine gates, intaking and expelling travelers in the shadows as the early morning sun failed to penetrate into the valley. The shimmering gray [Portal] closed behind me and the brown roc and his rider took off into the sky. I started moving toward the ticket stand to pay my way back to Aeseiriral, when-
You hear the [Cry of Souls] and know the need!
I had the full experience. The sweetness and sadness of another soul in trouble, but the remembrance didn't contain a threat of imminent life or death. She was afraid her baby would die. She barely had enough money for food and rent, much less for a [Healer]. She would get paid at the end of next week. The baby just had to hold on until then. Maybe he would make it. He had too. It was only two silvers to see the healer, but there was no leniency in payment. This was a [Lawful Neutral] city, not one filled with bleeding heart [Neutral Good] people. There were some charities, but there was limit to the number of people who got helped. A baby with a cough wasn't a priority.
I walked toward her. She was standing in line waiting to buy tickets to somewhere. She looked young, and [Consider] told me that was a distinct possibility. If she had taken the Oath Against Aging, she had taken it before she reached Tier 2. It was highly improbable she wasn't an actual young mother in financial trouble. [Cry of Souls] didn't tell me her whole backstory. It only gave enough information to fix the problem.
She had a blousy beige top, and course brown pants. Her clothes had the look of undyed natural fabrics. Her curly brown hair was pulled back into a pony tail. She had an olive complexion and brown eyes. When I got close she looked around nervously, because I was staring at the pretty young woman as I approached. It was not helping her mood that I was in ragged leather armor, covered in spider guts, and smelling of cat piss.
I pulled ten silver from [Inventory] into a stack between by thumb and forefinger. I held it out to her. She looked at it with some suspicion.
I think she asked, “What's that for?”
My High Common was getting better, but it was still pretty poor.
“Healer,” I said.
“Why, what do you want,” she insisted.
I smiled and said, “Karma.”
[Acumen] and [Integrity] both triggered. This Boon was awesome.
She smiled as she took the money. Thanking and bowing to me. She started to tear up and tried to take my hand. The people next to her in line were turning toward the commotion. Attention was something I wanted to avoid. I pulled away and turned back to get my tickets.
[Cry of Souls] triggered again. This time it was young man who was going to be kicked out because he was late on rent. I wanted to help, but I couldn't be a bottomless charity for everyone. [Cry of Souls] triggered four times before I walked back through the [Gate] to Aeseiriral. All heart wrenching but non-fatal issues. On the other side in the elven city, the needy were less prevalent.
I stopped and thought about the girl. She was attractive. I really hadn't had much of an opportunity think about relationships since I got here. Slaying and Questing were taking up too much of my time. That kind of opportunity hadn't even crossed my mind when I first walked up to the young mother.
I had always been good at talking with girls. I had just never been very good at talking to girls. If we had something in common to talk about, even if was just a willingness to explore a new I idea or share my opinion, I was golden. If I was trying to put the idea of a date, much less sex, into her head, 'fa getta bout it.' It was easier to be charming and then wait for them to show some interest. I could politely say no to the ones I wanted to disregard, and then say yes when I was after them. It was way less stressful than having to have 'game.'
Aloof disinterest worked as well as 'negging.' It was the same mechanism with out actually having to insult anyone. Two girls I had dated each came to me for a hookup after I broke up with them. I didn't have sex with either of them while we were dating. I just decided it wasn't working. I guess they had to make sure it wasn't because they weren't sexy enough. Yeah. 'Negging' is a real thing, but in this world it would probably be [Evil]. Come to think of it, it probably is on Earth too.
My strategy wasn't working on Elfandrael. The only people I hung around with were elves. That presented several problems. The girls in training were all looking forward to their time in the convent. Even Aern'Lenninisal was shocked when I accidentally insinuated that Emearia should be with me in the Dungeon alone. Their culture was closer to the fundamentalist religious cultures of Earth than how I had grown up. I understood and even respected their commitment to strong relationships, but sometimes it was an effort to remain conscious of their sensibilities.
It wasn't that that weren't cute or sexy in an alien, wiry sort of way. Besides their culture and not wanting to creep on the people I was nominally training, there was the whole different lifespan problem. I could start out with an ancient elfess and eventually surpass her in Levels and power, or I could be with a young girl who could never learn or grow fast enough to catch up. The other side was even weirder. Unless I hit really high Levels and learned some form of immortality, I'd die from old age in a fraction of her lifespan. Almost all of the few half-elves that did exist grew up with only one parent.
It kind of left me high and dry for opportunities. My favorite pick up line didn't even work here. 'How yu doin,' wouldn't translate. The full 'Joey Tribbiani' required the proper cultural references to work. I'd never used it. It was my favorite pick up line because a girl used it on me. It surprised me. Not just with how smoothly it communicated her intent without seeming vulgar, but also that it would still be in use so long after the show went off the air. Afterward I realized it lived on in reruns on streaming services. One of my babysitters had it on all the time when she was watching me. I think I would have fond memories of the program if anything memorable had ever happened on it.
I figured I'd let my woman problem wait unit I hit Level 10. Having a [Personal Palace] would help. I could subtly peacock with the bathroom I was going to have. I wouldn't even have to bring it up. I could just be casual and say, “Oh, the bathroom is down the hall.” That would be my new pickup line.
You Hear the [Cry of Souls] and know the need!
There was a young elf desperately trying to qualify to join the Sixth Legion of Aeseiriral before they shipped out to do a continental sweep for monsters. He needed to raise a few skills. [Resist Piercing Damage] was among them. I could have fixed his problem with six days of training, but that wasn't my responsibility and certainly wasn't life threatening.
I was almost back to the Guildhouse, where Harmin had arranged a room for me. It wasn't as bad as Everdale, but the needy were still making themselves known to me. I changed course and took the long way around. [Cry of Souls] might have more chances to trigger, but I didn't want to risk running into the wrong people. I was doing my best to stay away from the Faction Chapterhouse. Harmin looked the letter over for me. He said if I ignored the request to come to the election party, the whole thing would blow over. Wanting to avoid the attention of Aern'Lenninisal's mother, it seemed liked the best choice. After a two nights and a day in the Dungeon, I was ready for a shower and to go to bed.
----------------------------------------
You hear the [Cry of Souls] and and know the need!
I bolted upright! There was someone coming into the Guildhouse who needed [Healing]. I had some potions in my [Inventory] that would fix the problem. The Guildhouse healers could do the same. I went back to sleep. Everybody's soul screaming their problems at my was starting to grate.
I woke up again at the crack of noon. I had cleaned up the night before so it was time for little house keeping. I had gained 7 more points for [Personal Wardrobe]. I was able to put in two white lace cuffs and a white lace cravat. The shoes were starting to show a little wear, but I finally had one full set of clothes available for use. I used the last point on more cotton underwear. I could only wear my outfit every other day, but I would always have clean underwear!
I pulled a steaming hot roasted chicken from [Inventory]. The only food the Guildhouse had was jerky and crackers. I had stocked up on roasted chickens so I wouldn't suffer through iron rations every day. This part of town was full of professionals. Almost everyone had [Personal Pantry]. The local restaurants were an expensive luxury I didn't need. The only reason the Guildhouse had food at all was because it was from the Philanthropist Guild. It was the Merchant Guild that specialized in the three [Good] Alignments. Harmin had been escorting the elves I was training as part his duties with the Guild when I met them all. The Guild's propensity to offer mentorship was why I was staying here now. They had the facilities we were using. The elves would be by later in the afternoon for our session.
Aern'Lenninisal showed up early as usual. I opened the door and greeted him in my bathrobe. It wasn't just stylish, it was comfortable. He immediately cast [Tongues] on me. I shuffled back over to my bed. He was a bit more animated has he sat at the small table we were using as a desk.
“I think this is the day,” he said. “I think I can cast [Recharge Mana].”
I groaned. “I wanted to take the day off. My new Boon is more than I can handle.”
“Do not human out,” he demanded. “We are almost done. Then I can start teaching you [Tongues].”
I had thrown my arm over my face. I lifted it so I could peek out at him. “'Human out', That sounds kinda racist.”
“Yes. I am keenly aware of the differences between our two races,” he said confidently.
Well that didn't work. I rolled over on my side and asked, “What do you mean by 'human out?'”
“It is inevitable. You will move on with your life. We all age into adulthood. You humans just do it much faster than elves. You cannot promise to regularly associate with me. It just hope that you will be my friend long enough to teach me the Spells and Structures so that I may become an Archdruid,” he said.
“I think you're underestimating my capacity to be juvenile. I don't have be like you to be your friend. Why would you doubt that I would stay your friend?”
“It has already started. You wish to stop teaching me after only a few months. Humans change so quickly. They promise things, but their goals change so fast they are unable to want to keep those promises.”
“That's not true. I'm not feeling well today. I can't control my Boon. It woke me up while I was sleeping. Any idea how I can control it,” I asked.
“The best way to control a Boon is to use [Design Skill] and create a control Skill,” he said.
“And how long will that take,” I asked.
“No more than month, If you work at it. You can [Limit Break] one more quickly,” he answered.
“That's a long time to wait to fix this. It seems like a there'd be an easier way,” I lamented.
“You could try to control the Boon directly. Push on it and turn it off,” he said.
“What do you push on it?”
“In your mind picture the Boon. Push against it. Push it down. Push it away. Exert your Willpower against it,” he explained.
I tried it. After a few moments of imagining me drowning the aggravating Boon in a small bucket of water, I could feel it switch off. “Huh. That was easy. I guess I'll have turn it on and off when I go to the Dungeon.”
“You can give it blunt commands also. It only requires a control skill for highly detailed instructions,” he said.
I followed his advice. I pushed against the part of it that was annoying me, imagining anything but a lethal result from [Cry of Souls] as being silenced. It seem to accept the condition.
“Thanks. I feel better already. I know you've been working all day at the Academy, but do you want to study [Recharge Mana]?”
He replied quickly. “Of course. My studies are a disappointment now. She has arranged my classes so that I only learn the introductory Spell for the lower Schools of Magic. She is making me complete the Aspects before I start studying the Structures. If it were not for you I am not sure I would ever become an Archdruid.”
“Have you though about going to another school? I hear there's another one in Mesh'atel.”
Aern'Lenninisal had started back at the Academy last week upon his return to Aeseiriral. This community of elves were [Lawful Good]. They had very little need for a place to study Magic. Mesh'atel was a [Lawful Neutral] community of High Elves. They had the best elven Magical University on Elfandrael. I was considering attending. It would be nice if my friend could come along.
“It would give mother a chance to marry me off. I can't risk it,” he said.
He did indeed finally master the Spell [Recharge Mana] after a few hours of study. We finished well before I had to begin training all the elves later that evening. I was recharging for them eight hours as usual. With our enhanced Constitutions we only needed one quick break to work until a little past midnight. Regamis supervised the training today. He focused on [Resist Slashing Damage]. I though we accomplished a lot. After all the tools were put away, I headed back to my room. I had a big day planned for the temple. It turned out that wasn't going to happen. Two women in uniform were waiting for me outside my door.
The first woman asked, “Eric Swindall?”
“Yes,” I said hesitantly.
“You are under arrest,” she said.
“For what,” I demanded in a shout.
“For illegal campaign contributions by a non-citizen,” she answered.