Peace settled over me as my mind cleared. Not wanting to waste any more time before the town meeting, I began to go over my notifications starting with the first one.

Congratulations! You have survived Old Mining Camp Dungeon Level 2! Level 3 unlocked! Rewards based upon contribution! Level 2 is now available as part of Old Mining Camp infrastructure.

Congratulations! You have been rewarded for your contribution to Old Mining Camp Dungeon Level 2! You have received one Platinum Item Box, three Ruby Item Boxes, 100 gold and increased reputation with Old Mining Camp.

Three more Ruby Item Boxes. The last Ruby box had been the portable alchemy kit and the items for Van and Marci. Both had been hesitant to accept the items at first but they had played a huge role in our success in the dungeon. I hoped they would continue to be rewarded as well. I brought up the contribution leaderboard in full to see what had changed since the halfway mark of the dungeon.

Contribution Leaderboard

Sylar

42%

Leslie

12%

Rocks

11%

Arthur

7%

Camile

7%

Gerald

7%

Jason

6%

Laryn

2%

Tim

2%

Walter

1%

Sarah

1%

Mason

1%

Paula

1%

Merry

1%

Jessica

1%

Melinda

0.1%

Brett

0.1%

Tua

0.25%

Morgan

0.25%

Jose

0.25%

Min

0.25%

The Thorks Miners that had contributed early and then hid or formed the support team only received 0.25% of the contribution. That didn’t seem like a fair margin but the framework clearly rewarded direct combat over supporting. Leslie had seen a huge rise by being the only healer in our group. There was surely a need for more healers based off of that, she would have gained many levels.

I opened the Platinum Item Box first to reveal a wooden bow made of a gray color with feathers carved in an intricate design. Marci flew over to me and gave a chirp as if she recognized the pattern. She sat on my shoulder while I held the bow and stroked it with my hand. I used Identify on it.

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Bow Of The Dusk Falcon - Unique - Upgradeable - Base Damage = Bonded Falcon Companion Agility x1.5 - Unique bow created for Sylar Till.

The bow was beautiful. The gray color perfectly matched Marci’s gray coat and the feathers carved in it were identical to hers. She chirped in satisfaction on my shoulder. The base damage of the bow was calculated based on Marci’s agility multiplied by 1.5. With her ring she was up to 51 so every arrow would have a base damage of 77. It was a threefold upgrade over my previous bow.

The three Ruby Item Boxes all contained alchemy ingredients. I had enough to create many health potions, hallowed lights, more banshee briars, any many more that I didn’t know the utility of. I couldn’t wait to have time to sit and work on my alchemy again. I found the process peaceful and fulfilling.

I didn’t think the reputation points mattered much seeing as my reputation with the Old Mining Camp was about as good as it could get. That was clearly a function meant for less well known members of towns to gain recognition. The one hundred gold would be nice when we eventually found trading partners. There wasn’t much to use it on now, town upgrades cost town points and not gold.

I moved on to my class selections next. I reviewed my current class first to keep the details fresh in my mind. The synergy with Marci and Van was strong and I didn’t want to lose that.

Friend of the Forest - One who would rather befriend a forest beast instead of fight them. Requirements - Bond with a forest beast or communicates with forest beasts regularly. Grants +1 wisdom, +1 attribute based on beast composition, 1 skill point per level. Grants skill Empower - Once an hour you can empower bonded companion by increasing your companions primary stats by 50% of yours for 10 minutes. Grants new skills every 10 levels.

The one attribute based on beast composition had turned out to be stamina. The pattern suggested that I would gain the attribute that was highest between both companions. The point in wisdom each level contributed heavily to how well my Beast Companion worked according to the loremaster from Thorks Mine.

I brought up the notification and looked at my available classes. I was underwhelmed when I realized there was only one new choice.

Dungeon Delver - Lives to challenge dungeons and explore their depths. Requirements - Successfully complete two dungeon levels. Grants +1 to all primary stats each level. Primary stats increased by 20% while in an active dungeon. Grants skill - Hidden Treasure - Gains ability to detect treasure hidden in the depths of a dungeon. New skill choices every five levels.

As good as the extra stats would be while exploring a dungeon, it was just not a realistic choice compared to Friend Of The Forest. I declined to change to the new class and kept mine. I hoped everyone else got choices that were more favorable. It made sense that it was the only option, I had pretty much only spent the time between level 30 and 40 in the dungeon.

I moved to my new skill choices next. Some of the old choices were still present. It made sense as my life had not drastically changed since I was originally offered the skills. There were two new choices that I was excited about however.

Leave A Mark - Mentally mark a target, allowing you to track them on your map.

Creation Synergy - Items created by you receive a damage multiplier.

Clone Companion - Create a clone of a bonded companion for a limited time. Clone will have identical stats and skills to bonded companion but receive 200% more damage.

Summon Companion - Instantly summon bonded companion to side once per day.

The last two were both strong skills. Being able to clone Van would increase my fighting strength by a considerable amount. Even if it took extra damage, the offensive potential was great. Cloning Marci could allow for more advanced scouting and air support from the clone.

Summon companion was temping as well. Being able to summon Marci or Van to my side could save either of us depending on the situation. I wasn’t sure how far of a distance it would work from at the beginning before I leveled it. Even though it sounded nice the clear choice for me was Clone Companion.

I selected my skill and used all six of my new skill points on it. Tempted to try it out right away, I used it on Marci and created a clone of her. It appeared on my opposite shoulder with a health bar appearing in my vision. Marci let out an indignant shriek and flew off my shoulder to face it. I could sense the confusion from her and tried my best to explain what was happening.

The Marci clone didn’t move or breathe. It sat still as a statue on my shoulder as Marci circled it and sized it up. I gave it a mental command to fly and it did. I commanded it to fly after Marci and it began to follow her. She was greatly irritated and tired to speed away but it matched her perfectly. She got frustrated and pecked it with her beak and I watched its health bar move to half. The clone didn’t respond and continued to match her flying. I commanded it to stop and fly above the canopy. It complied and flew up above the treeline, Marci watched it for a minute and then followed.

I triggered See What I See and watched as the clone and Marci crested the canopy. The sun was blinding as the two falcons surveyed the seemingly endless forest around us. It was a beautiful sight and we both got lost in the moment enjoying it. I ran out of time for the day on the skill and returned to my own body in the tree. The clones health bar vanished from my sight shortly after, time expiring on that skill as well.

The possibilities with that skill were amazing and I couldn’t wait to try them out. A feeling of morbid guilt flashed over me as I realized I was looking forward to combat again. I had only been out of the dungeon for a few hours and I wanted to dive back in already. The framework had changed me so much that I wasn’t sure I would even recognize myself from before.

There was a commotion in the clearing below as I saw the other two forest apes that had been on patrol dragging a human into the clearing. I hurried down the tree while calling Van and Marci back to me before the situation could get out of hand. I recognized the human as the stryker leader that had pursued me in the forest during the battle with the first army. She was being dragged by her arms in a painful looking manner and then she was unceremoniously dumped to the ground. The apes stood beside her staring as if daring her to try getting up.

“Wait! Wait! I just want to talk! I mean you no harm!” She shouted out. “I want to talk to Sylar! Please!”

A few hours out of the dungeon and the framework was answering my request for more conflict. I revealed myself and walked up to the stryker squad leader. I projected relaxation, trust and gratefulness to the forest apes. They responded with a roar and pounded once each on their chest before turning to resume their watch from the trees. Marci had landed on my shoulder and I could feel Van advancing quickly through the forest.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, deciding to start with a simple question. I sent Marci off to find Arthur, he was better at this kind of situation.

“The King sent me back with a message. I was forced to comply. They have my family, I have no choice. I just have to deliver my message and return with your response” She replied. She looked scared and exhausted. “It’s just me, there is no trap here.”

I looked at the formerly intimidating woman and sighed. The King was truly a madmen if he really made her do this. She must have been running all the way back since returning to Etes, it didn’t even make sense that she had returned already.

“We will go inside and discuss this with Arthur. He handles town related matters now.” I said while trying to sound decisive and confident.

“It’s.....It’s not strictly town related Sylar. They have your mother, the King will hang her publicly in one week from today if you do not come to Etes to meet with him.” She said and hung her head as if awaiting death.