After the first room where Grant had clearly learned another new skill, Merownis was content to watch him work for the most part. He had gained a level simply from the act of Grant destroying the cave full of enemies. Enjoying the feel of the single Power, Regeneration and Command points it came with, he placed his five attribute points straight into Regeneration as well. Grant had a skill to make it quicker, but it was clear his recovery speeds were already much faster than Merownis’ own. However, it wasn’t his regeneration which made Merownis’ excited and worried in equal measure.

It was Grant’s growth elsewhere. His quick learning of Mana Shield could have been considered a fluke. Perhaps the skill had been close to forming before their game. Merownis would have been fine with that explanation until he saw Grant upgrade a completely separate skill. The fairy had started eating and distracted him, but now that the Sundercat had time to think, he was struggling with a choice. Should he tell Grant how important skill levels were, and encourage him to chase more, or allow him to go in his own way?

All of Merownis’ knowledge about how things were “supposed to be” came from the System itself, mixed awkwardly with a fake life that seemed more storybook by the minute. He had never spent a night under the stars of that false world, not really. His mother had not brushed his fur at night and taught him magic in secret when his arrows and blades never landed clean hits. It had been the System, the Tree itself, which had given Merownis that ability. All of that memory simply came from the skills which had been written onto his soul at the time of creation.

Skills given by the System were exactly that - memories of those who learned things the hard way beforehand, etched into one’s pathways by the System itself. The soul and System together tore apart the structure into something which fit the individual, leaving a skill structure in their pathways. The process was instantaneous, but there was a tiny leakage to the user which then informed them on how the skill worked. Merownis couldn’t say why, but the System was normally incredibly stingy with releasing these packets of information.

He kept thinking and wondering, occasionally fighting alongside Grant but mostly leaving him to it. The human had levelled another time and a new feeling clicked into place. “You’re level twenty four, right?” Grant asked. Merownis hadn’t told him of his own level up, so apparently the man had sensed it somehow. The Sundercat could only smile and shake his head. This really was an interesting situation. “My Party Leader skill should kick in now,” Grant explained.

Unable to keep quiet any longer, Merownis spoke up as he tapped some of the demolished scorpions for their loot. “How many skills do you have, Grant?” Those with one Aspect often had a skill from their connection to the truth. With Guidance Stones, another couple of skills were possible. Of course, Grant had grasped the potency of magic quickly, so he had learned a few simple tricks of mana control on his own. Having seven or eight skills at their level was almost mind boggling. Merownis himself had three.

Skills

Magic Missile (Level 4)

Common

Conjured Claw (Level 3)

Uncommon

Bestial Force (Level 2)

Uncommon

Each had started at level one with his evolution, and had leapt in progress quickly. Grant himself didn’t have a benchmark for these gains but Merownis knew their strength was rising at a ridiculous rate. He had gained three levels in Magic Missile during his and Grant’s game, which had been the only reason Merownis could keep up. As his mana didn’t recover as quickly as the regeneration monster Grant already was, Merownis had used his skill sparingly and as efficiently as possible. It still jumped by a large amount.

Conjured Claw used a large amount of mana in a more destructive manner than his missiles, creating a spectral hand in the air to swipe at enemies. Within the caverns, he hadn’t had much chance to fight with these skills but the early levels were the quickest. The feeling of getting stronger was intoxicating, and ultimately the reason the Sundercat would encourage Grant to chase this power. The System would notice, of course, but challenges would come regardless. They would just need to get even stronger before the System noticed…

“Fifteen.” Grant’s casual answer was so outside of Merownis’ calculations that his thoughts stuttered to a halt abruptly. Well, the System would definitely notice that amount of concentrated power. Grant smiled at him, happy to share the information. Merownis smiled back, not quite sure how to tell Grant he was a ticking time bomb of trials. The more valuable a soul, whether it be achievements, skill levels and stages, or some other metric, the more the System would exist in opposition to them.

“Oh,” he answered meekly. “That’s quite a lot…” Floating up behind them came the answer to his quandary, with a surprisingly loud burp. How could he tell Grant? He wouldn’t. Unable to forget the sounds of her eating, Merownis turned and faced the fairy with newfound fear. Logically, thanks to the System, he knew that Naea’s ability to devour the creatures of the dungeon only worked on the deceased, but still…

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

All those teeth.

When she decided to land on Merownis’ shoulder, he shivered and Naea giggled. She patted his head and whispered a quiet warning in his ear. “Don’t spoil the surprise, kitty cat.” Merownis nodded quickly and accepted that he was just going to have to watch the eventual fallout of this. Grant was protected from the System’s attention by the dungeon in certain ways. It seemed that protection extended even to the dungeon’s fairy. Just what was Naea planning?

The density of the fairy’s mana was increasing with each large room she was able to guzzle, so at least that much made sense to the Sundercat. If Grant kept assaulting this strange dungeon in the way he had, Naea herself would become powerful. Whatever that ultimately meant for a dungeon fairy was her own business. Considering Merownis had tied his own wagon to Grant at the first chance he got, walking through the evolution door and becoming an Earth Sundercat, he couldn’t say anything.

“Uhh, let’s keep moving?” Grant asked. There was no argument from Merownis. Naea wasn’t even trying to wait for them to leave at this point, already crunching and slurping loudly in the darkness. It was with much gratitude that Merownis watched Grant create an airtight barrier in the next tunnel they chose. Their direction was random as far as Merownis could tell, but Grant seemed to have a destination in mind.

They walked in silence. Neither of them were particularly talkative in general, and they were currently behind enemy lines. In their quiet walking to the next cavern, the Sundercat’s thoughts wandered to the future. Imagining what would come from the System sensing the value of Grant’s soul lead to the obvious next question. What would happen to Merownis once the dungeon was defeated? He wasn’t connected to the System as he had been, but it was an intimidating thought to have. Would he be able to leave? To the so-called real world?

“Oh, weird. Speak of the devil?” Grant mumbled, looking at Merownis. For a moment, the tigerman was confused. A confusion which was blasted away as the connection between himself and Grant became taut. There was a weight there, one which Merownis had to pull with all of his mental control. The connection threatened to snap under the force of it, but a shove from behind helped Merownis gather the energy. It was a bundle of Spirit, he realised.

Skill Unlocked! - Stealth (Common)

A common tool for most beings in creation, but slowly refined in your hands. Unlike a one-time crook, you have begun to see stealth for the art form it is.

“What?” Merownis asked the air. He hadn’t even been doing anything special. Arguably he was sneaking but this was…

“I think it was me, actually. For lack of a better description, there was a pulling on my Stealth skill by the Party Leader one. I let the skills do as they wanted.” Grant’s explanation was quick and quiet. He rubbed his chest and then his hands together quickly as though suddenly cold. “Apparently that meant a bundle of Spirit your way? What did it do?”

Merownis gulped. “I think you unlocked the Stealth skill for me.” While not at the level of a Guidance Stone’s skill, hadn’t Grant just done something incredible? As subtle lessons filled his mind on how to better apply his weight and find true silence in sneaking, he took a deep breath. These were the memory fragments the System used, but altered. It was as though they were coloured by Grant’s touch.

“Oh. Cool!” Grant seemed genuinely excited at the idea, and with Naea’s warning in his fluffy ear, Merownis could say nothing. It wasn’t like Grant was doing anything wrong, or even necessarily dangerous. The System would simply take notice of him and change the danger levels of his world slightly in accordance with the new strength he brought with him when he left the dungeon. Whatever problems arose, Merownis decided they were issues for later.

Saying nothing else, the young man continued into the next room where he immediately set to work destroying the masses. Watching him work, Merownis had to snort. It wasn’t like he would be able to slow Grant down if he even wanted to at this point. There was a fire in his eyes, and these scorpions had ignited it somehow. There were strange things happening in this dungeon, Merownis himself more than proof of that.

Yet, Grant didn’t notice them at all. He simply pressed forward into increasing danger, using his own growing strength to plough through the System’s defences and pilfer it for more than it was planning to give. It was quite fascinating to be a part of, even if he expected it would ultimately get him killed. Simply being born in the dungeon as opposition for Grant would have got him killed just as surely, after all.

Mana Bolts flashed through the air, annihilating any of the scorpions they hit first and often crippling those beyond. The power of those magical orbs was becoming more impressive by the cavern, and Merownis suspected he had levelled the skill once or even twice since entering the tunnels together. Whenever a scorpion snuck through the barrage of magical destruction, all which awaited them was Grant’s true weapon.

For while his magic was extremely potent, it was limited by form. Mana Bolts could never be the vessel for immense power, they simply didn’t have the form to create such a function. Unluckily for the scorpions, Grant had something with the perfect form to be the repository of Grant’s strength. The Jingu Bang shattered rock and carapace alike as it was brought to bear against his enemies.

Merownis had barely left the tunnel when Grant started. The Sundercat waited for him to finish, just thanking his lucky stars that Grant had decided he was an ally instead of an enemy. Merownis didn’t much fancy a taste of what happened to Grant’s enemies. Almost too quickly, Grant was finished with another cavern full of powerful arachnid enemies. It seemed this room gave him what he had been looking for as Grant fist pumped the air with a cheer. A swirl of energy surrounded Grant and Merownis could only sigh.

Seriously? Merownis wanted to throw his hands up in the air. It seemed his worries would only become more tangible by the minute. They had been chasing an achievement? Even the Sundercat, not particularly keyed into the feeling, could sense the mass of Spirit which was sitting on Grant’s soul. I’m sure it’ll be fine, Merownis thought, not quite able to believe the lie just yet.