"H-how many ponds are there?" Lucas asks. "A-and w-where are they?"

"There's one down that way," I point to our right. "If we follow the road or the walking path, it'll be at the corner of the park. It's of a decent size and the walking path curves between it and the road."

"G-g-going to check t-t-that one first?" Lucas asks. "O-or is that the o-only one?"

"There are four more," I point to our left. "If we cross over the next intersection and look left, there will be one. So it's technically not in the park but across the street from it. If we go back into the park and follow the walking path – or the road – we'll come across a pair at the corner of the park. They're pretty close together with about twenty feet of space between their closest ends.

"If we keep walking past that," I continue. "We'll come across the last of the five. The walking path splits away from the park's driving path and goes between the pond and the main road, curving around some grassy fields, while the park's road turns in to continue along the playing fields and parking lots."

Lucas stares down that road for a few moments, then steps closer to me. Just leaving the "safety" of my home has made him nervous and I'm sure all of the open space is only making it worse.

"S-so we'll go that way s-since there are more?"

"Not first," I tell him. "We'll have to come back here after anyway, but the other four will take more time to check than just that one since we have to walk further to get to all four. This way, we'll have to walk less if it's at the lone one."

"O-okay."

We cross the main road and into the park, then start walking down the path. The trees that were planted throughout the park have grown larger and the grass is taller than it was normally kept, about eight inches, now. Originally planted in clusters or lines of two to five, the trees are now more numerous as well, forming clusters and lines of five to ten.

No real undergrowth aside from the grass, but the clusters of trees now have flowers growing on the ground as well. Taller grass makes it more difficult to make out the flowers but if that were shorter, those would definitely qualify as small groves.

"We're on the right track," I tell Lucas.

"H-h-how do you know?" He explains and I point out what I've noticed. "T-t-that makes s-s-sense."

His stutter has gotten worse and worse since we left the house. The attack yesterday definitely isn't helping with his anxiety and the monsters we've faced since then have only made it worse. Overcoming that isn't a matter of a snap but it might be possible for him to calm a little bit.

He just needs a reminder.

"Try taking some deep breaths," I tell him. "Slow inhales and exhales. The two magihawks that have attacked us aren't a problem and that snake was easy. I know the screech from the hawks rattles you a bit but I promise, I'll keep you safe."

"I-I-I know," he says. "I-i-it's just… w-w-what if y-y-you don't n-n-n-notice s-s-s-somet-t-t-thing?"

"Yeah, I'll acknowledge that," I try to think of something. "Just try the deep breaths. I'm sure you've been taught it before."

Lucas nods and starts doing the breaths as we continue walking. Only a few more weak monsters attack before we reach the first pond, which has grown larger. It was already pretty large to start with but is now almost twice as big, making it pretty much a small lake.

There were only a few trees against the pond before the Mana Flood with the rest on the side of the walking path opposite of the one the pond was. The location where the trees for the pond were no longer exists since the ground has sunk down and the pond expanded to fill those locations, but there are still trees by the pond.

More specifically, there's a grove of them at one of the curves into the pond. I can see it pretty well from here and don't see a Dungeon Gate, but it's possible one is hiding. The trees there aren't too much taller than the old ones were and it looks like they've got flowers on them, a difference from the other small groves we've passed by on our way here.

There's no guarantee that all Dungeon Gates have the canopy that the [Zorvinax Forest Caves] Dungeon has but if there is one for this, the canopy for the grove itself could potentially be obscuring it.

"I-i-i-if we go i-i-i-into the g-g-g-grass a-a-a-and-"

"Hold on," I pull off my backpack and toss it to Lucas, who clumsily catches it. "Hold that for me. You might want to step back a little. There actually is something coming."

"W-w-where?"

"There," I point in the direction of the closest end of the pond, which is about forty feet away from us and about twenty from the nearest part of the walking path. "Back up a bit."

The grass is flattening as the creature draws nearer to us, half of it already flattened. What's flattening the grass is a three-foot blob of translucent, bluish-green goo with some sort of membrane over it. At the very center of the creature is what looks to be a three-inch ball, no doubt the core of it.

A slime monster, which came up out of the pond. Now that I've noticed one, I've realized that there are others hanging around the water.

"C-C-C-Carter!"

"I've got it," I say, only for a pair of magic circles to form in the air in front of the slime. "Fast!"

Lucas bolts back a bit as the spell circles complete. Level 5 [Water Bullet]s. I barely have time to get my arms up in front of me before the [Water Bullet]s slam into them. A small grunt escapes me from the pain. This thing is fast at casting and it can cast two at once.

Fortunately, I was able to keep my focus on the spell I'd started casting before it and am able to shoot off the [Flame Bullet] the moment I can move my right hand forward. It pierces straight through the center of one of the spell circles the slime was casting and the other spell circle breaks. That… wasn't my goal at all and I hadn't even aimed at that, I was just quickly shooting off my spell.

My [Flame Bullet] continues past the spell circle it shattered and pierces into the slime, some of the monster's goo sizzling as steam rises from the beast. It pierced about two inches into the monster, so nowhere near enough to kill it and I doubt that's going to do enough damage quickly enough to not cover me in injuries taking this thing down.

Even just hitting it in the same spot over and over might not work since the membrane seems to reform in the damaged part, and I'm betting that the membrane has extra resistance over the goo. That would be some pretty bad luck if slime monsters heal back stronger.

"Tch!" I click my tongue in annoyance as another [Water Bullet] slams into my arm. "Fine. We'll do it the hard way."

This thing needs to stop recasting as soon as it shoots off. Two spells at once is not fair here, especially since it's strong enough to break skin. Not enough to do more than that but this fucking hurts! If it hits the same spot more than once, then it'll be even worse, too.

I take two more pairs of [Water Bullet]s to the arms, chest, and stomach before the spell I'm casting finishes and the moment it does, I make sure to thrust it toward the slime.

You have learned [Flame Blast].

It's no fireball, but it's the closest thing I have to one right now.

The blast is only about one inch in form but when it strikes the slime, its effectiveness is obvious. Because it bursts on impact, that one inch of size turns into almost three and a half inches of slime membrane burned, melted, evaporated, whatever.

Unlike with the [Flame Bullet], the slime also reacts to the attack. Its gooey body jerks back a little, ripples flowing away from the impact point, and the spell circles for the [Water Bullet]s it was summoning shatter.

Unfortunately, the slime recovers just as quickly as I do and begins casting more [Water Bullet]s almost immediately. That's kind of unfair.

We exchange attacks a few more times with me seeming to come out worse, more and more attacks hitting me than I land on the slime. Its membrane recovers before I'm able to get each next [Flame Blast] off while my skin doesn't just heal up like that. Dodging the monster's attacks aren't too easy, either, due to its faster casting rate. I do manage to avoid some of its [Water Bullet]s, but most of them hit me.

However, the slime's also getting noticeably smaller. I am hurting it and if I can damage it enough, I might be able to get an [Air Bullet] into its core. Just in case, I try shooting the slime with one of those and it only pierces about four inches into the beast before coming apart, turning into a bubble within the beast. I try a [Flame Bullet] next on a whim and find it traveling the same distance in, but dealing more damage.

"Damn!" I exclaim when a [Water Bullet] strikes me in the forehead.

"C-C-Carter!"

"I'm fine!"

The [Flame Bullet] struck deeper this time than it did the last time. If I assume that the membrane is what's taking up most of the power from the attack, then the membrane is getting weaker. I test this with my next two [Flame Blast]s and confirm that each one does a little bit more damage than the last.

It's only slightly more, however, which is why I didn't notice before. The spread is almost four inches for the second of those, which is my sixth [Flame Blast] in total. However, it means that the membrane is healing back thinner, not thicker.

That's good. This fight is taking far more Mana than I want it to and it's causing me way too many injuries.

We've been fighting what were essentially Level 0 monsters up until now, with maybe an upper Level 0 monster in the breezestep deer. Something tells me that this slime is what would be a Level 1 monster based on the damage it's doing to me.

Unless monster difficulty is determined by group battles instead of a sole person fighting it, but I don't want to think about that.

I switch back to using [Flame Bullet]s. They aren't doing as much spread damage as the [Flame Blast]s do but they're faster and pierce into the slime. Now that the membrane is weakened and they're able to travel further before being used up, I think they're doing more damage per casting second than [Flame Blast]s do.

Having switched to this, my attacks are faster and I'm able to at least interrupt some of the slime's attacks. The [Flame Blast]s weren't doing shit to the monster's spell circles.

Unfortunately, the first [Flame Bullet] to strike the slime's core doesn't damage it, but that's partly why I wanted to test the [Air Bullet] before. Now that I know that [Flame Bullet]s can hit the core, I know that the [Air Bullet]s will as well.

My next [Air Bullet] does nothing to the spell circle it pierced through the center of, but it does crack the slime's core. Upon receiving damage to the core, the slime's casting quickens and its whole body shifts up, becoming an eighteen-inch sphere of goo with a hardened membrane. No longer does it look squishy, now seeming solid and based on the movement of the goo around it, that core is spinning rapidly.

Are you fucking kidding me?

I switch to just [Air Bullet]s this time and quickly learn that while they do crack the slime's shell – which doesn't heal up right after – the monster's own attacks are even stronger now.

"Fuck!" I exclaim.

"C-C-Carter!"

"I'm fine!"

"L-l-like hell!"

"Just stay back, Lucas!" I order. "Unless you're under attack, I need to concentrate more!"

Lucas doesn't respond and I keep up my attempt at taking down this slime. With far more Mana than I really would have liked to spend, I manage to break open the monster's shell and send [Air Bullet] after [Air Bullet] into the core, destroying it with six more attacks.

The moment the core is broken, split into five pieces, the whole slime falls to the ground, its hard shell breaking a little and goo flowing out of the cracks and the opening I broke.

You are now a Level 5/50 [Elemental Wizard]. Level is withheld until the potion's effect is ended. Level is withheld until the potion's effect is ended. Level is withheld until the potion's effect is ended. Level is withheld until the potion's effect is ended.

It's done. It's finally done. That was painful and exhausting and fuck am I drained. I'm almost out of Mana, too. As I drop to the ground, my body begging for mercy from the pain and injuries it's suffered, I realize that the notification gave four Level withheld notifications.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

I gained four Levels from that fight. That puts [Elemental Wizard] in the lead for Levels earned while the gains are blocked and at 6 Levels gained for it in total. Those increases plus the injuries I suffered plus the amount of Mana I spent on this fight tells me that trying to check out all four ponds while under the effects of the [Level-Block Potion] would be a bad idea.

Unless I cancel the potion before gaining the Perk, checking this place is far too risky. I'll need the extra Magic to take on those slimes without taking so many hits to myself. If multiple slimes attack? I probably wouldn't be able to survive the fight as I am now.

"S-s-s-so many injuries," Lucas says as he reaches me, dropping my backpack down beside me and opening it up. "P-p-potion."

"Use your magic first," I say. "They hurt like hell but some can be fixed with that. Save the potion's energy for other stuff, especially with the damage caused by the ambient Mana."

"B-b-b-but-"

"I won't die from these," I tell him. "And it might even net you a Level for [Holy Mage]. Only four casts total from full and eight seconds between them, but you can probably fix up one or two of the grazes. With another Level in [Holy Mage], it should be more efficient."

The amount he can cast is irrelevant since he can drink mana potions to recover that, so focusing on the time is a better choice here. I'm pretty sure the Magic stat increases the effectiveness of the spell and each Level in his Class raises that and also gives him a Skill Point he can save up to increase the Skill's Level.

"B-b-but what if-"

"I know it'll take some time," I say. "But it really is better to not waste the healing potions on lesser injuries when they can be avoided. Mana potions are better for me right now."

Lucas reluctantly agrees to that and pulls out a mana potion from my pack and lifts my head up so I can drink it properly. I grab the bottle to make sure I can stop more easily once I'm close to full, then I let Lucas use [Lesser Heal] on me. I also encourage him to drink from the potion to recover his Mana so he can cast more.

"B-b-but what if s-s-something attacks?"

"The next nearest slime was a bit further away," I say. "And we can see from here if something is coming thanks to their size. Everything else we've encountered is weak and easy for me to handle so all it takes is spotting it and it's as good as dead."

Lucas reluctantly agrees to work on my lighter injuries first, earning himself 3 Levels to [Holy Mage] before he finishes. Just as I expected, that allows him to take care of the remaining injuries the spell will work on a little bit more efficiently.

His next act is to then locate a [Basic Healing Potion], open it up, and try to force it into my mouth. I have to slow him down on that and grab the bottle so I can drink it at a more reasonable pace. Drinking it was already in my plans, I just don't think it's a good idea to try to drink it so fast that I can't swallow enough and it dribbles out of my mouth.

As I do, I can feel my remaining injuries heal to some degree and the burning within me lightens. Lucas insists on me drinking a second one which, while it doesn't finish healing my injuries, does make the worse ones light enough that [Lesser Heal] will work on them some.

Between us, we've gone through a full bottle of mana potion, so Lucas pulls off his backpack and opens up another for himself as he treats more of my injuries, including the one to my head.

"T-t-that was s-s-s-scary," Lucas says after he heals up a couple of the wounds.

"Yeah," I say. "Just a little bit, but I had to focus on the fight, not my fear. And you don't need to use more Mana for this. I'll be tender a bit, but-"

"B-b-b-but nothing," he says. "Y-y-you said that the g-g-g-golems said t-t-t-that injuries i-i-increase the damage from the M-M-M-Mana B-B-Burn. A-a-and t-t-them n-n-not being healed w-w-w-will o-o-o-only make injuries t-t-t-to them d-d-d-do more d-d-d-damage."

That's a fair point, so I start using [Lesser Heal] as well, though I also make sure to focus on keeping an eye on our surroundings and staying above half of my Mana. This earns me a withheld Level to [Holy Mage] before I finally have to tell Lucas it's enough.

"Did you gain another Level to [Holy Mage]?" I ask. "During the last healing session?"

"Y-y-yeah," he answers with a slight frown. "Y-y-you noticed?"

"With us being this close," I explain. "I can sense your pool and its capacity seemed to jump up more than just one Level would suggest."

"O-o-oh," he says. "Y-y-yeah. D-d-do you want to take some of one of my p-p-potions? I-i-it might help you with the last bit of i-i-injuries."

Lucas really is concerned about me. I guess he's worried about the actual fighter between us being in fighting shape for any other potential difficult fights. That's a good concern to have and I should definitely try to make sure I'm as healed up as is efficient for us.

"Sure," I answer.

Lucas nods, then pulls out a healing potion from his bag and hands it to me. I open it up and start downing it, feeling it restore my body some more. The pain from the injuries fades completely, suggesting that they're all finally healed up. While the burning doesn't completely disappear, there's a sign that the damage I'm taking from the air is going to be less than before.

By "a sign", I mean "a notification in my vision". I've apparently received so much healing here that combined with the rest of the work toward the Perk since yesterday, I've earned it.

Your body has suffered from ambient magical energy and survived, becoming tougher and more resilient to it. Now tougher than before, you have earned the [Mana-Infused Body] Perk.

"This one's mine, right?" I grab a backpack.

"Y-y-yeah," Lucas answers. "W-w-why?"

"I got the Perk," I open up a side pouch. "And I put the canceling pill in here just in case. No way am I staying without gaining Levels for too much longer. Maybe in the future, I'd be fine going a week without building up Levels. Right now is not that time."

Not when it means my life is risked like this. Those Skill Points will be useful for speeding up some of my spell casts and the boosts to my Magic will mean easier kills. On top of that, the Perk does boost my stats, including my Constitution, every time I gain a Level.

It's also not a flat amount each Level for this Perk but a multiplied amount. I gain an amount equal to the base bonus from the Perk times the Level I reached. So reaching Level 1 will earn me 50 Aura, 50 Mana, 0.0010 Aura Regen, 0.010 Mana Regen, 5 Constitution, 5 Magic, 5 Vitality, and 5 Soul. Reaching Level 2 will award me twice that, reaching Level 3 will award me three times that, and so on.

The golem made it clear that some Perks definitely award the same amount per Level but I'm guessing that a Perk like this is normally rarer and is designed to account for the fact that our stats are already going to be higher each time we gain a Status Level. Or I could be wrong and the gods decided to grant it that way of awarding the stats bonus just because they wanted to.

"It's just too dangerous and the boosts I'll gain are just too good," I say.

"M-m-makes sense."

I pop the pill into my mouth and chew it, feeling it dissolve away on my tongue. There's a slight minty taste to it and once the pill finishes dissolving, several notifications appear in my vision.

The effects of the [Level-Block Potion] have ended. You'll now receive the withheld Levels in order from the Class which earned the most to the Class which earned the least.

You are now a Level 10/50 [Elemental Mage]. +50 Mana +0.015 Mana Regen +5 Magic +5 Mind +5 Skill Points +5 Attribute Points You have gained 5 EXP.

You have reached a milestone in [Elemental Mage]. +10 Aura +10 Mana +0.0001 Aura Regen +0.001 Mana Regen

You have reached a milestone in [Elemental Mage]. A bonus has been added to when you gain Status Levels from now on. +10 Aura +20 Mana +0.0001 Aura Regen +0.004 Mana Regen +1 Magic +1 Mind

You have reached Status Level 1. +60 Aura +70 Mana +0.0011 Aura Regen +0.014 Mana Regen +5 Constitution +6 Magic +1 Mind +5 Vitality +5 Soul

You are now a Level 11/50 [Elemental Mage]. +10 Mana +0.003 Mana Regen +1 Magic +1 Mind +1 Skill Point +1 Attribute Point You have gained 1 EXP.

You are now a Level 4/50 [Mind Mage]. +20 Mana +0.006 Mana Regen +2 Magic +2 Mind +2 Skill Points +2 Attribute Points You have gained 2 EXP.

You are now a Level 2/50 [Holy Mage]. +20 Mana +0.006 Mana Regen +2 Magic +2 Mind +2 Skill Points +2 Attribute Points You have gained 2 EXP.

"Y-y-you o-o-okay?" Lucas asks. "D-d-d-did s-s-s-something g-g-g-go w-w-wrong?"

"No," I answer. "Just gained eight… yeah, eight notices all at once. Gave me a slight headache. I now have 70 Aura capacity higher than before, though that won't do anything since I'm pretty sure I'm still taking more damage than my Aura Regen could compete with. That said, I'm also something like 180 Mana higher in capacity now. I think… 45 Points for Mana Regen higher, too? Let me add my Attribute Points and boost some Skills."

Lucas nods and watches me as I do that, probably more out of concern for my health now that he's seen me covered in injuries. Tonight's probably going to be a stressful one for his dreams but I'm sure I can wipe him out if he's up for it again.

I open up a mana potion to down and recover as I get to work on applying things.

First, I bring up all of my Level 1 Skills to Level 2. Then, I add the 10 Attribute Points I gained into Magic just to make sure my spells are that much more effective. With all of that done, I examine my Status.

Name: Carter Leif Elm Age: 19 years Species: Human Sex: Male Level: 1 Experience: 5/28 Aura: 0/97 Aura Regen: 0.0014/second Mana: 282/282 Mana Regen: 0.062/second Strength: 11 Constitution: 16 Agility: 9 Dexterity: 10 Magic: 52 Mind: 30 Vitality: 15 Soul: 15 Skill Points: 2 Attribute Points: 0

I'm not quite sure if the math adds up to mine for some of the stats, but it's possible that some of them changed without me knowing as well. If our bodies are able to adapt to things, then it's logical that our stats could also fluctuate. Hell, a person can lose physical strength by not keeping up with the stuff that built it up so unless the System forces things to only go up and never drop, I'm certain that stats can fluctuate.

"This looks good," I tell Lucas, then pack our used bottles into our bags and pull mine back on. "I'm significantly stronger and about half as much resilient more than I was before. The slimes probably won't be too much of a problem for me now, especially with me now being able to cast the effective spells faster."

"Y-y-you want to s-s-stay here l-l-longer?" Lucas asks, then looks out at the pond. "W-w-what if w-w-we're attacked b-b-by a g-g-group? O-o-or do you think the g-g-god doesn't actually c-c-care about the Dungeon and j-j-just want you to f-f-find the slimes f-f-for the seals?"

"The water slimes are useful for coating water storage containers," I tell him. "But no, I don't think that's it. Look over there."

I point toward the grove. Something I noticed while I fought the slime is that there's a lot of grass flattened over there – yet the slimes are all hanging around the pond and not in that grove. Apart from the one which attacked us, none of the slimes are more than fifteen feet from the water's edge.

"Something's up over there," I tell him. "And if you move back a step here and then over twice here… you can see what might be a Dungeon Gate."

Lucas moves to where I am and I shift in front of me and point. From this angle, one of the trees looks a bit mutated. It does look a bit like an archway there and I can see what I think is fog contained within it.

Though reluctant, Lucas agrees to let me check out what's over there. I triple-check that he's really okay with it, then we make our way over to the grove.

The archway for the Dungeon is similar to the ones for the [Zorvinax Forest Caves] Dungeon, which makes sense when considering it's a grove Dungeon so trees are definitely an aspect of them. The flowers growing on the twisting trunks are white and grey, however, and the archway's canopy has fewer branches and more flowers than leaves, creating the effect of a floating flower canopy.

Since the grove's trees have the flowers on it as well, I simply didn't notice the archway at first.

Ezrelnim Island Grove Dungeon Type: Standard Rank: 0

"Lucas," I say, and he looks away from the flowers in the canopy. "I think I know the reason I was given that incentive to take it on within the next day."

"Why?" He asks.

"This," I kneel down. "Look."

Lucas walks over and kneels to look at what I spotted, a small gasp escaping him when he sees what I'm looking at: dried blood. No dead monsters visible here but there was something that happened. Small splatters of blood are scattered about here.

Based on the widths of the paths of flattened grass, slimes were chasing something – and they chased them right into the Dungeon. Whether it was intentional or whoever was being chased thought it might be safer on the other side of a portal, I don't know.

But someone is in the Dungeon and I think the god wants me to rescue them. If Grandma is to be believed, then the gods wouldn't have issued me an incentive to rescue this person unless doing so would make me happy. Someone who might be able to help with building a home, maybe?

"Lucas," I say. "Are you up for a run?"

"I-i-into the Dungeon?"

"To the System Shop," I tell him. "I don't want to enter a Dungeon without knowing more information about them. It's Rank 0 so in theory, I can handle it without a problem. But that's only in theory. We know nothing about what they really are so we need more information before attempting it."

Hopefully, the basics about Dungeons is something the golems at the System Shops are allowed to tell us the basics of.

"R-r-right," Lucas thinks for a few moments. "I-I-I'm not a runner b-b-but I can g-g-give it a try. I-i-if we can save s-s-s-someone, t-t-then I'll b-b-be okay."

"Well, more a jog than a run, but yeah," I stand. "Alright. You ready?"

Lucas nods as he stands.

"Alright," I say. "Let's go."