Congratulations! Your Rogue Job has advanced to Level 4!

Rogue Level 4 Skill: Knife Fighting 1:

Shank: Use this martial ability with a dagger or knife to inflict the bleeding affliction on a target. This is a magical effect, and its duration can be extended by multiple applications. This affliction will absorb all healing and regeneration up to an equivalent limit of damage according to its duration.

This ability has a short cool down, and a moderate stamina cost! Stab away!

Dagger Parry: Use this martial ability to deflect nearly any attack with your offhand dagger. Doing so will put the foe into a critically vulnerable state, increasing the damage they take by a significant margin.

This ability has a long cool down time, costs no mana unless you're deflecting a magical melee attack, and has a high stamina to force deflected cost.

Dagger Riposte: Use this martial ability after parrying a foe, any parry will do, and deal heavy critical damage to a foe.

This ability has no cool down time, but a moderately high stamina cost.

Critical Damage Passive Skill: Your attacks deal more damage based on your perception, and have a chance to deal increased amounts of damage based upon your Luck and Dexterity Attributes. This ability is shared by almost all Dexterity based Martial Schools.

Rogue Level 4 Perk: Unorthodox Combat: You suffer less negatives for using Adaptive Fighting to overcome equipment and weapon requirements for skills. Your Attributes will scale better when applied to these and other skills when used in inventive ways.

Ivan dismissed his scroll after reading what had already begun to come clear in his mind. After clearing most of the maze of its patrols it was no wonder his Rogue Job had advanced, but this was a marvelous rate. Standard Jobs weren't the hardest things to level by far, but managing even a few levels in a number of weeks was amazing.

Even better, his scroll had read that he had rolled high on his attribute gains this level gaining three points in both Dexterity and Charisma. Agility gained two points, but already he could feel the strength of his body increase.

Azalea came back to him after the recent fighting and ducked under his arm to hide in the folds of the Shroud. Once there she was able to dismiss her weapon, she clung meekly to Ivan's arm as he went about as he had been every other time they fought anything in the dungeon.

“Plunder!” Ivan chanted over each corpse, their bodies dissolving into trails of smoke and ribbons of materials as they were unmade.

His ability cost a great deal of mana, but through Quixla's dagger in his left hand he was able to store a great excess. Ivan hardly felt the strain now as he normally did at the beginning of the dungeon. He suspected without his Dark Sparks' mana draining power he would find this task rather tiring in the least, but right now... His fingers caressed the silk of the daggers hilt in his left hand. Azalea clung to his arm on his right.

The others watched, panting, and passing canteens of water to one another. Ivan gave Marvin, Andy, and Davian a glance. With Penelope and Azalea there to throw in a little extra spell power and two more bodies for the melee besides his friends were doing extremely well in the dungeon, but they were growing tired. Ivan hadn't needed to heal them yet again, but a glance at Myrn confirmed his own thoughts.

She nodded.

“Stamina tonic them. The best and longest lasting you have. You guys eat the snacks Layla made, the special ones in the wrapping. You too Ivan. I know you're feeling great on full mana, but you're still breathing hard, and you've been fighting. Time to recover, and get as close back to one hundred percent as we can.” She instructed.

Penelope stood near her, hands on hips, and looking down the large center path they were on in the maze. She nodded, seeming satisfied, but was also distracted. So Ivan hit her with a mana and stamina potion first.

“Administer Medicine.” Ivan sneered at her.

Penelope's eyes went wide and then her gaze shot to him. She stuck her tongue and whined, actually whined.

“Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Oh by the black of night that is just..wait...no, no, that really is just awful.” Penelope complained.

Azalea giggled. It was a sweet sound that made Ivan's heart ache, and he hugged the ghostly demon to his side.

One by one Ivan went around, raising his left hand, as marked by Quixla and with dagger in hand as he chanted, and each time smoky tendrils of purple darkness shot from his fingers as he did it. Myrn squirmed as the remedy was magically administered, seeming startled by the tendrils for a moment before she realized what they were. Marvin and Andy accepted them for what they were, and had various similar reactions to the phantom taste of the tonics. It was still nothing like drinking the potion the traditional way with the taste lingering for minutes, but the magic still managed a rush over the taste buds.

“Your Dark Spark really is trying to bond with that healing job isn't it?” Marvin asked.

Ivan nodded, and though his gloves covered the magical mark upon his forearm and palm he still felt the fanged skull and webs there on his flesh. They were pulsing with the amount of magic stored in the dagger. He needed to stop somewhere and feed this bounty to Quixla. For one thing he owed it to her, and for another he was excited to see what the spider would do upon receiving so much more than he had ever brought her before. It brought him joy to see the creature so elated and happy.

A thought brought Demonology 1 to the fore of his mind, and the book strongly advised against attempted summons inside Dungeons, as they were abandoned sanctums. If Ivan could not overpower the dungeon's hold on the place for the duration of the conjuring, the Dungeon itself might take Quixla as its own. He didn't want to do or risk anything of the like to her. The spider already suffered under one master, and one kind of seal. Ivan wouldn't do that to her again.

He felt the dagger pulse and quiver in his hand. It was full, so very full, and yet so far from sated. Thinking about it, about its magic, made him hungry. -But the wrapped and sugary special treat Layla had prepared wasn't what the dagger was hungry for. It was still good however, surprisingly so. It shot energy through his limbs as soon as he swallowed. The stamina tonic he followed it down with was less good, but it would provide him constant energy over the next few hours.

He shivered under its effects, and, he had to admit, the taste. His own brews were effective, but the rudimentary nature of the Hedge Doctor Job compared to a true alchemist showed its ugly head in a few noticeable ways. Myrn and Azalea giggled at him.

“Not that I'm too worried, but I just want to mention...” Marvin began, waving his hand about the large open paved corridor they were in, somewhere near the center of the maze. “-But should we just be eating and sitting around here?”

“Mboss Fgight.” Ivan mumbled around another bite of his chewy Dungeon treat snack, and pointed down the way they had yet to go.

It led to a huge center courtyard that approached the main tree itself, the Old Oak, that was already towering above them.

“Well certainly we should be away from that?”

Ivan shook his head as Myrn stepped into the center of the group picking up the lead in the conversation.

“No. As long as the dungeon boss hasn't appeared that is. He's the first floor guardian. Thankfully he's rather simple, but that doesn't mean it won't be a hard fight. I was wondering just how strong the few of us would have to get before we were able to do this, but with increased numbers we should be able to take the Night Watch Commander. Perhaps even right now.”

She paused looking over the group. Everyone, though a little worn and battered from fighting, were still showing their post battle exhilaration. Ivan had shared a grin with each of them as he looted the copious amount of dungeon mobs they had taken down today. There hadn't been a lot of really good loot, not like last time, but there was enough of the basic stuff to be sold, and to afford many of them upgrades in the shops around town. It would be a good day going home and things looked promising, each of them knowing that the sign of real adventurers was told in how often they made it to and past the first floor guardians of most dungeons.

Taking a dungeon stem to stern wasn't always in the cards however, many groups stopped at the first floor guardian of most dungeons in reality. It was a trip of days at times to go further, including periods where the group would need to work in shifts to sleep. Small groups like their own could only expect to go so far, especially without having a team of support adventurer's at their backs to keep them running in top shape all the way through multiple floors.

So yes, for small groups clearing until one Dungeon boss was often enough the best solution until they grew in levels. If it was too tedious to push further in a day's time, or caused too much fatigue; then many groups moved onto the next Dungeon in difficulty to assault the first floors there, and manage what they could until they achieved the same. In this way they moved about, taking on what dungeons they could manage, and jumping onto the fairly serious hunts that could show up around the more dangerous and more advanced of the mysterious magical sites.

“Normally a group will take out the Maze Owl-Knight set on patrol a number of times before they get this far. They might even try to fight him while taking on a patrol or two, and make sure certain members can handle him one on one. There are various ways to handle him.” Myrn explained.

Each of them nodded remembering at various points back in the maze where Myrn had mentioned other spots where it was convenient to fight the Owl-Knight, or even let reinforcements come to the position on purpose. All were parts of plans meant to speed up getting to the first boss or putting the group through the fire in a more or less controlled ambush situation.

The Old Oak was a fairly simple and easy dungeon to handle when one stayed upon its first floors. It was a great place to train, and gain the experience needed to push Combat Jobs to the Adept Rank. The fighting inside would push their party to Advanced, if they could manage to push inside and manage their teams fighting cohesion well into the trickier and deadly parts of the dungeon. Inside the suggestion of having a healer became a requirement as many of the halls and monsters dealt out deadly poison and venomous debuffs that could only be countered magic to magic.

Myrn had been inside, all the way down to lowest levels where the hidden guardian lay, and up to the massive top of the tree where the Dungeon's final guardian lay. There were various intermediary bosses all the way up the tree, usually every other floor, and even some areas that had been totally sealed by the Gods to provide a true resting point. These areas were strange, and some old adventurers even lived up there, minding shops and other accommodations to the very exclusive number of adventurers who made it that far.

All these were things that Myrn had told Ivan and the rest of them at some point or another, and were easy enough to pick up from the locals who had heard as much and more before from others. Ivan looked out over the ribbons of fog over the empty courtyard, and could imagine armies of Owl-Knight's standing there with their priests and slaves, and servant races. He shivered thinking of it, of being a human caught in chains alongside the more intelligent beast races, too afraid to look up or challenge their masters who had grown such a huge temple with their magic.

“We'll need to decide if we want to try him at all. We can turn around right now if anyone is uncertain. I can explain him first if we like, and talk about how we might fight him before we decide, but I want to make this clear. This fight is serious. It's laughed at by some because there's little magic effects, it's on flat ground, and there's no particular trick to it other than fighting, but it's going to be hard, as hard a fight as we've faced.” Myrn explained.

Her eyes flashed as she looked over each of them, the human of them at least before looking defiantly at Penelope. Penelope grinned at her, but gave a little suggestion of a curtsy and a dip of her head.

“I am Ivan's guide in his training. You however are his guide to this Dungeon and I will not gainsay what you think is right, especially when you advise caution in the face of what could be a challenging encounter. But if I may ask, what you know of his resistances to various forms of magic?”

“The Night Watch Commander is as weak to fire as any of the other Owl-Knights. Other than having some kind of mixed fighter and militia title job he's little different from the other Owl-Knights in appearance. He will however have an abundance of skills that need to be dealt with by our guardian, that's you Andy, as they will come in fast and hard. Marvin may not be able to duel him on his own, perhaps requiring Ivan to step in with him as a main focus. We will need to keep that as a last resort however since Marvin and Ivan will be required to take up front line roles elsewhere.” Myrn explained.

Andy looked up from where he sat with his shield and halberd ready beside him. He glanced out over the massive courtyard with curious and stern eyes.

“There won't just be him?” Andy asked, answering his own question with a nod out at the massive open field.

“No.” Myrn answered right away.

“We've taken down every patrol in the maze...” Davian said, trailing off in thought.

Myrn nodded soberly.

“Correct, but he will summon more.” She answered pointing across the courtyard to a massive shut gate beyond atop a flight of stairs that seemed to mirror the plateau of the dungeons entrance.

Ivan could just make out what she meant before she said it.

“There are two doors beside the stairs there. There's chests inside, what most consider the Boss's dungeon loot, but you can get to them during the fight. It's just that he'll summon reinforcements from inside. They aren't in there, but the dungeon will conjure them at his call. There's no way to prevent them. They have to be taken care of during the fight.”

She pointed to the far sides, the north and south ends, of the giant courtyard.

“He'll summon knights too from there and there, all when he blows his horn. With our numbers we best anticipate getting two at once instead of what I hoped for dealing with just one with our smaller numbers. If we get one occasionally think of it as the dungeon giving mercy, and think of that rarely, it has little capacity for it.” Myrn brushed back her hair from her eyes and went on.

“So they will have a little time to come, but if they are given time to gather speed we could easily lose people to their charge skill, Diving Strike. Luckily, they come at such a range that I should be able to kill or at least ground them on my own, but that will be the whole of my job on one side with Penelope working the other with her magic. The melee group, being the rest of you, will need to deal with the two nearby patrols he'll summon with each horn blast as quickly as possible, and without letting Andy get overwhelmed by their numbers or on his own by the boss.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“An add fight...” Davian said, his face a little pale.

Ivan gave the courtyard another look. Azalea still hung on his arm, and squeezed until he looked down at her. Though her hood hid most of her face she smiled up at him, the lights of her eyes visible through the ragged blue gray oversized hood. Ivan hugged her to his side, feeling her delight and excitement.

Ivan reached into the Shroud and handed her something he had been working on, cramped into the hours of training and fighting after purchasing the Pyromancy 1 tome. Azalea giggled, an evil, girlishly malevolent giggle, as he handed her about a dozen neat rolls of parchment sealed in red wax. Even though they were more or less resting the combat tension was still high in most of his friends and they turned to look at the giggling ghostly Pathfinder and him as the items passed between them.

Ivan felt their auras take in the crudely made magical scrolls he had both made and enchanted. They were delicate one-use things, and he had prepared them in case the worst were to happen, but Azalea had also spoken to him about them being used this way. Such had been the source of her earlier comment.

Had he been thinking more clearly he would have prepared Divine scrolls of healing as he knew the spell, and given them to Azalea to use in an emergency. Though it would drain her and keep her from combat for a little while, she could simply vanish into the Shroud until she recovered, or baring that, Ivan could beg Penelope to enact the scroll to save the life of the one who had fallen in the very least. Her Divine Spark would make her very capable of using it, and she had nearly boundless mana besides, but he doubted she would like using healing magic. She had the Scholar job too after all, and like Azalea's Acolyte Job it would have given her at least one skill to use Spell Scrolls.

After handing Azalea those few simple scrolls, usable practice versions really, he went on to the more advanced items he had made less of. Each of them had taken considerable mana on his part to make, the initial investment of shape and form that would guide the spell for the later caster being considerable enough that he was only able to make a chosen few.

In total he handed Azalea the following scrolls, noting them on his own conjured inventory list he had been making and collating with Azalea's help at her suggestion. It was a very scribe like thing to do and Ivan approved. He was focusing on his other jobs right now, but the experience it would give to his Scholar Job to inspect and catalog each new item sourced from the dungeon would give him steady experience that could be relied upon later. Or now as was the case with the scrolls he had made.

Item Inspection, Crafted Items, Grade 1 Spell Scrolls, Inspection of group items successful.

10 x Crude Grade 1 Scrolls of Cast Fire Orb

2 x Crude Grade 1 Scrolls of Cast Fireball

1 x Normal Grade 1 Scroll of Ring of Fire

1 x Superior Grade 1 Scroll of Fireball

Fire Orb: Grade 1 Pyromancy Spell

The affordable and handy version of fireball that will do just great in taking down small packs of mobs, or setting most of a troll on fire. Its arching casts and slow projectile speed can be difficult to aim over long distances and be easily dodge by fast moving mobs, but it will get the job done if it hits!

Costs moderate mana and some stamina to cast, and the backwash of the blast can be dangerous so don't let your foes get too close!

Ring of Fire: Grade 1 Pyromancy Spell, Minor Ritual

A great spell to have if you ever find yourself swarmed by enemies! Ring of Fire will protect you by conjuring a ring around you about ten meters wide, but if you're working it from a scroll it can be easily changed and set to greater or larger areas affecting the cost of mana for it to be cast. This is a channeled spell, but if it's used from a scroll or scroll-like ability like a ritual the cost can be channeled and set, leaving the caster freely able to act while being protected!

Costs variable magic depending on the manner in which its cast, and will drain some minor stamina per second while the effect is being upheld during channeling.

Fireball: Grade 1 Pyromancy Spell

Mix the dangerous area effect of Fire Orb together with the speed and power of Firebolt, and you'll get this spell here. This Fireball spell will zip straight to your enemies, possibly blow them to pieces, and cover them in fire! An expensive, but classically effective spell.

Costs high mana and moderate stamina to cast, and you won't want to fire at anything too close!

Ivan read the descriptions and was beginning to wonder if the Infinite Library hadn't just given him some sort of attendant Scholar. It made him wonder if all scribes who used the skill as much as he did got one. Or if he would someday be called upon to work in the Library itself, and deal out knowledge who paid the fee of mana it asked for. He would deal with it in time either way.

For now he was glad that the scrolls would come to some use. They had been hard to make, and considering the environment he had been kicking himself for not focusing on making simpler scrolls he might have more easily used. Firebolt for example would have been a great spell to have in his pocket, even if he didn't know it enough to call up upon his own scroll just yet, forging the physical scroll would have worked toward that, and given him an excuse to work on his spell craft besides. Even then had he known Azalea would be brought into the combat he might have made scrolls of Hand of Flame, or Minor Fire Breath for her to use against a single stronger foe, or a group of enemies she gained the flame on respectively.

The sooner she manifested Pyromancer, or even the Fire Wild Caster Job the better. It would give her more stats and mana to rely upon even if she didn't use the magic in direct combat as she seemed to prefer.

Ivan patted Azalea's head as she tucked the scrolls away into tall narrow pockets inside her robes as if they were made just for them. Ivan was continually impressed by her, but worried about her all the same.

“What were those Is—Ivan?” Davian asked, his mystic ears more or less twitching at the sudden appearance of the magic scrolls. Anyone with a spark could feel a spell scroll or magic item when it came near, trouble was that they were almost always around in the small city full of adventurers.

Ivan turned his scroll about and cast a hand forth, sending it floating to the Bard. He caught it with his aura, and deftly brought it before him. The man blinked.

“You bought these?” Davian asked.

Ivan shook his head.

“Made them. It's tiring, but I used to make scrolls like it all the time. Not Pyromancy, but things like Cure Disease, Cure Poison, and Ease Passing. They're pretty simple scrolls, easy magic with a Divine Spark to invest and create.” Ivan answered, his voice sober with memory.

The group too readily remembered his earlier emotional breakdown, noting his downcast eyes, and the way he seemed to hug Azalea to him all the tighter as he stood there. The demon made a soft sound, and wrapped her arms about Ivan's middle as the Shroud writhed and nearly obscured her from vision entirely.

“Wait so can't you just make scrolls of healing? Just like you did with your projected scroll before? Shouldn't you just be doing that instead of the thing with all the basic alchemy and herbs?” Davian asked, sounding confused.

“It would make it easier for him, yes, but only marginally. All making a scroll physically does for Ivan is remove the investment cost of shaping the spell. That can be useful on higher tier magic, but with simple spells like what he knows now it won't conserve him much mana and cost him materials and prep time besides.” Penelope answered in a gentle, informative tone.

Myrn nodded in agreement.

“I have a larger mana pool than Ivan, but my Plant Spark would hardly help ease the burden of a divine healing spell. We'll have to have you try a spell outside of your affinities some time Dav. It's exhausting. Rolling a stone up a hill with your hands tied behind your back would be easier.”

“So what good are scrolls?” Davian asked, sounding still confused and a little frustrated now.

“Learning spells and magic you don't have a handle on mostly. Get some scrolls of an ability you want to learn, or is included in a grade of magic you're trying to learn. If you're a level 6 Pyromancer without any of Pyromancy 2 in your Skill abilities it can be a good idea to pick up some of those higher level scrolls, or make them yourself. You'll have the mana and affinity for them, and I'm pretty sure all Apprentice Wizards learn Use Scroll just like Scribe or Librarian at some point.” Andy answered, getting some looks in the process.

He shrugged casually.

“I pay attention sometimes.” He admitted without shame.

“What's Ease Passing?” Marvin asked, his voice calm, but his eyes serious on Ivan. “I don't think I've heard of the spell.”

Ivan stiffened for a moment, but warm memories flooded his mind. Things he would never forget, and would always hold dear. Things like the Goddess falling into his arms, crying her eyes out, after leaving some backwater village and the funeral pyre of one of her followers. Ivan had been surprised, almost scared at first, but he remembered Mother Melda's face then too.

Mother Melda had rolled her eyes at first, that same tired, but humor filled expression she got when one of the orphans was throwing a fit. Ivan, barely fourteen at the time, and was barely big enough to be called a man and his voice still squeaked even then. When the Goddess crashed into him hugging and crying into his neck and shoulder he hadn't known what to do until seeing the Elder Priestess's reaction. Then it all made sense. Ivan held his dear Goddess through her sobs, patted her hair, and rubbed her back until she was able to pull herself together. It had taken Tanya showing up, and being pulled into the hug right there with him until she did, but the Goddess did calm eventually.

“It's a sleep and execution spell.” Ivan said, hearing how dull his voice sounded.

“Not a powerful one, but elegant. You won't find it in any spell book other than maybe ones Istania might have had on hand.” Penelope put in, but Ivan shook his head.

“It was one of her personal spells, never to be written down in a tome, and the scrolls made for specific purposes. She taught it to me in a closed session, two years before he taught it to-- to Tanya.” Ivan answered, just holding it together saying that name.

“A personal spell? Istania's personal spell?” Andy asked, obviously curious about the spell too.

“Most of the people who lived in Parishes or Temples knew it too, but yeah. It takes away all the pain, and puts them to sleep, helping them dream and remember their lives one last time before the end. It doesn't damage them in any real way I understand, but the connection to the soul stops, and the body dies in a matter of minutes with no struggle or pain.” Ivan explained.

He could practically feel the raised eyebrows of the group.

“I'm sorry, but isn't that kind of dark?” Davian asked, the use of his charisma attribute going into play as he asked the question everyone else had on their minds while dealing the least amount of emotional damage on Ivan.

Ivan didn't know what to say, but Azalea spoke, her head resting against Ivan's chest; her soft voice filling his chest with the warmth of her emotion as she spoke.

“Istania was beloved by my kind in Hell, the Pathfinders of Eternity. She had the power to make the lives of her followers last forever though it would strain and eventually taint their souls. She could have taught them to live with it, to adjust, and controlled a village of immortals who knew nothing of pain and sickness, but she could not have done this for no more than a few dozen. A few dozen until those immortals learned enough to bend life much in the way of necromancy, forcing it beyond its natural cycle in defiance of all sense and reason. Instead she made better the lives of everyone she could, straining herself to expand, and care for so many. The souls who came to us knowing her love and worship were always ready for life beyond the gate; made glad into the depths of their souls to have been so loved. She let them pass into the next life, forgoing her pride, and welcoming the pain of it into her heart. Nothing so speaks of her kindness, and her being as Divine more than the spell of which you ask. My masters taught me much of her, but as I remember in gray half life I know it to be all the more true through the experiences of my progenitor.”

The group stared for a moment. Marvin, at Azalea with a wide eyed expression, Andy at the stone pavers between his legs, and Davian at Ivan. Penelope gazed up into the cloudy night sky with her eyes closed and her wings tight about her. Of everyone she seemed the most cold and alone right then. Ivan just about raised his arm, thinking to take her into the Shroud, but hesitated before he lifted his other arm. She probably wouldn't like to seem vulnerable in front of the others.

Marvin was the first one to process it all, with Myrn seeming to be lost in thought about something else in the meantime. He stared at Azalea for a long moment before looking up at Ivan. Ivan answered his question before he could properly form it in his mind.

“Azalea is the lingering regret and sense of duty left behind by-- by the best friend I've yet to have in this world.” Ivan said, his arm still possessively and protectively cast over her shoulder.

Marvin stood up from where he had taken to a squat beside Andy. His eyes couldn't get any wider unless he somehow gained some kind of flesh spark and strange perception magic. Azalea's eye lights seemed to blink and she turned her gaze away from the group to look mostly at nothing. She relaxed against Ivan, soaking in the mana from the magic rich air, and from her connection to him within the Shroud.

“She's--! She's Tanya!?” Marvin exclaimed,but Azalea lifted a warning hand.

“I am not. I remember her. I am made of her spirit, but I am my own. I have my own sparks, mind, and dreams made of the lingering regret, and empowered by the sense of duty she left behind and unfulfilled. I am a demon of duty, regret, and caring Marvin Annatel. A spirit if you must, but a new being all the same though I wear her face and use her voice.” Azalea clarified at once, her voice as firm in tone as Ivan had ever heard her speak.

“We should continue now or turn back.” Penelope said softly.

“Right.” Myrn agreed at once, if a little reluctantly. She had been listening closely, Ivan aware of it through Taps upon the Web as with the rest of the group.

His read on them otherwise was a mix. Everyone seemed fairly happy whether they displayed it or not, glad at least of their new found success, and Penelope had been putting her charisma to use too easing their minds somewhat about her. Ivan still wasn't clear about what exactly they thought about her, or him either, but he was in it now. He would have to push ahead, charm them if he had to, or part with them if all else failed. He didn't want to kill them, but worried that it might be necessary if it came down to it. That road of thought led to very, very dark paths however and he left its pondering to another time when it seemed more likely to be tread.

“Azalea is proficient in the use of scrolls, she has a fire spark, and while she doesn't have the pyromancer Job yet she will manage to use the scrolls just fine at range, and you've all seen her fight hard so far.” Ivan said, addressing the group as a whole.

“We'll have her attack the patrols as they come in, weakening their numbers, and possibly taking them out in one with a good strike. Marvin and I will overwhelm what's left, and then turn upon the Knights. First on Myrn's side, and then together on Penelope's between the horn blasts. Once all the adds are done all of us will turn on the boss and hammer him.” Ivan suggested.

Marvin still stared at Azalea, something of understanding showing in his eyes, but he gave first Davian and then Azalea another look.

“Leave these two on the boss otherwise?” Marvin asked.

Ivan nodded.

Marvin considered for a minute, looking at Andy as he did, as if asking for his thoughts.

“Dav's a good hand in melee, but I'd feel better with Ivan close enough to cast his healing on me, especially since it will be the slow burn types. Some Adept level martial skills do magical force damage, stuff that will pierce through my armor and blocks, and it might wear me down. Those long acting stamina buffs are fine, but I like those fast acting ones in combat, and I think I might need them if I'm going to be trading skills with the big boss all on my own.” Andy said.

Marvin looked at Andy considering.

“Dav. You do less damage than Ivan, but you're doing fine otherwise, and you have that finger snap magic too. Work with Azalea on the slave and watchmen groups. Disorient and distract them so she can land her hits, and then both of you close into the melee with me to finish the job. Then Aza back up Penelope with her Knight, put it down as fast as you can manage—oh can you take potions from Ivan like the rest of us?” Marvin asked, mid way through a new plan formulation.

Azalea's cheeks managed a bit of a dead woman's flush, not really turning bright red, but filling with a blue gray color that was visible under her cloak. It was obvious she liked the nickname.

“I can, but they will be less effective than would be on Penelope or yourself with bodies of flesh and blood. I am a spirit, and while closer to fully manifesting within the Dungeon I am not corporeal in a traditional sense.” The young pathfinder answered.

“Right good, ask Ivan to potion you up during the fight if you feel your mana draining, ask early, so it has time to come back before the next wave of reinforcements. Now Dav you come with me to Myrn's side and we'll finish the Knight there. Same deal with you Dav, call for Ivan to tonic you, and don't whinge about the taste. Just hammer that thing when you can to make an opening for me or Myrn so we can kill it dead.” Marvin went on.

Ivan stared at Marvin as the fighter's enthusiasm grew, he was smiling, his hands flexing as if ready to go to work. When he looked up at Ivan he was grinning earnestly.

“What happened to 'I can't believe you're a warlock Ivan?'” Ivan asked dryly.

Marvin lifted his eyebrows and pointed down the way toward the massive courtyard.

“We're going to kill a dungeon boss today. It's hard to argue with results.” He said, his grin and tone cheeky.

Ivan stared at him, marveling for a moment, as he looked about the group. Davian gave Penelope a nervous glance, but she smiled at him in an almost friendly way, and the man shrugged. He and Marvin were filled with the same energy through Taps Upon the Web, but were showing it in very different ways. Davian was growing used to fighting more and more, but likely wouldn't ever shrug off wounds and rip and roar into combat like Marvin or Andy. Still he had spirit, and wanted to do this, maybe to prove something to himself, or to simply gain Penelope's help with his curse.

Andy smiled up at Ivan, seeming to have gathered himself, putting together a game face that combined his most kind aspects with his ferocious nature in combat. Andy was tired of being second rate, a worthless hanger-on scion of a noble house that itself might have been in worse shape than Andy let on after the surprise war with the Lord of Light. He lifted the magical shield they had looted the day before like it weighed almost nothing at all, and then used it to stand, making its real weight clear as he set it upon the ground.

Mryn was coming to Ivan, and had already pulled a fist full of her standard arrows out of her quiver. Ivan raised his eyebrows at her as she came close.

“The good arrows please Ivan. I'd like to use my good arrows for this.” She said, her face flush with a little leftover rush of combat, and something of that to come.

Her blue eyes were sparkling, and her hair was practically shining with magical potency. Living vines twined through it, and had been as she fought more and more, going more and more wild in combat until she was dominating the field in the more open corridors. There were pink, yellow, and flowers of bright colors in her hair too, blossoming in a clear magical effect.

Touching her hand as he took the old, much recovered, and reused arrows tingled as he felt the magic racing through her body. She grinned at him as he stared, leaning in close enough to give him a view of the sweat going down her neck and into her cleavage.

“Inspect them if you're so curious...” She purred, hand touching his own for a moment before she smiled down at Azalea.

Azalea smiled at her, but her dead girl blush returned. She had been inside the Shroud and able to perceive Ivan's surroundings nearly every time Myrn and Ivan had been together after all.

Ivan did so, handing her the neat bundle of new and lightly enchanted arrows as he did.

“Inspect Magic.” He stated, using a new skill ability he rarely got to use on active effects. Most of the time active magic effects sorta did their thing and went, but Myrn's magic was persistent.

Inspect Magic Complete, Druid School Magical Effect

Mana Blossoms: A passive spell like ability of Druids, and their ilk, able to store and convert mana from their surroundings, and the expenditure of their own magic. The druid may call upon the flowers and consume the magic, recycling magic they've already spent to increase their endurance in combat.

Ivan raised his eyebrows. Myrn cast her hair back over shoulder and winked at him.

“You're not the only one who can pull mana out of thin air; having them around helps too by the way.” Myrn said, pointing to Azalea and Penelope.

Myrn smiled at Azalea, leaning down just a little to meet her eye to eye.

“I'm glad to have met you Azalea. I wish it had given us a little more time to talk at first, but we can do that later. So do your best for me, and for Ivan and everyone okay?” Myrn said.

Azalea went stiff at first, but then smiled up at Myrn.

“I will gladly sit and speak with you when the time is right, Myrn Owlfeather. I find your Druid magic delightful and would like to learn more about it.” Azalea said before hiding her face somewhat against Ivan.

Ivan patted her head encouragingly.

“So what about me in all that? Want me to skirmish between the groups?” Ivan asked Marvin.

Marvin gave him a puzzle look for a moment and then drew his thoughts together around an idea with clear focus.

“No, no. You stay on the boss with Andy. Watch his back, make sure he's not overrun or overwhelmed, heal and buff him and others as needed, and well if nothing's chewing on Andy...you know—kill the fucking thing as fast as you can.”