Chuckling to myself a little as I left the alchemist workshop I took a close look at the boxes of pills he gave me. One box of green pills, another box of gray pills, and a box of red pills. Each box had 10 pills in it no larger than a pea, lined up in two neat rows of 5. I have 4 people in my party at the moment so I needed to divide them up in a way that works for everyone.

Walking back to my house I grabbed some wood and shaped it into little cases that can be clipped onto a belt. In Pan’s box I put 2 strength, 4 defense, and 2 vitality pills, Whisper’s had 4 strength, 2 defense, and 2 vitality pills. Emmy had 2 strength, 2 defense, and 2 vitality pills. Lastly I had 2 strength, 2 defense, and 4 vitality pills.

With that done I waited until everyone was ready to go. Over the next few days they trickled in and decked out in their new clothes. Everyone looked so cool, granted Pan didn’t have much more clothes on but you could tell she wasn’t in her night clothes at least. With short boots, a sash, shoulder and wrist guards, a leather chest plate, and a sash. Whisper’s gear was light weight and made for quick movements. He could easily camouflage into any foliage he chose, and it came complete with a hood and mask. Emmy was a red sexy version of my outfit, putting her cleavage and curves on full display. There was no way she was blending in anywhere, but at least she was protected. So, I decided not to say anything and compliment them on their new looks.

I handed each of them their pill cases and told them what each was supposed to do. I also told them I needed detailed feedback on how well they worked. Each of them agreed and we left, on our way to the Beast dungeon. Smiles on our faces, ready for adventure.

The Beast dungeon was about a week's walk away. During our journey we goofed around with our spells and skills to help stave off some of the boredom. While doing so Emmy and I discovered something interesting. It would appear that you could add conditions to spells. Amplifying both their damage output and usefulness of the spell. This did come at a cost of needing more mana to cast the spell and in some cases a longer duration of the casting sequins. Both Represented by the glowing spell formula that formed when casting the spell, representing the condition imposed on it.

Emmy and I both ended up making a few favorite conditions to some of our most used spells. I ended up adding Wide range, piercing, Targeting, and multicast to my Wind Blade spell. If I used all 4 conditions on the spell it ended up costing 32 times the mana it normally would. Also 4 spell formulas would appear around either my hand or scythe telegraphing the fact that I was casting a spell that I had layered with conditions. To make matters worse, casting it with all those conditions would require me to quadruple my casting time from normally almost 1 second to nearly 4 seconds. That doesn’t sound like much but in the heat of battle. 4 seconds could be an eternity. Keeping that In mind I told myself I would only add 1 or 2 conditions to my spells when in the heat of the moment unless necessary.

Continuing to practice with our magic along the way we finally made it to the entrance of the Beast dungeon. And let me tell you, it was intimidating. An active volcano, or a fire mountain to the locals. Lava poured around the entrance to a massive cave opening with stalactites and stalagmites lining the inside. Giving it the appearance of a massive set of jaws of some enormous creature.

Looking at the stone maw I turned to the group, “Who’s idea was it to go to the beast dungeon?”

This caused everyone who just moments ago were so nervous they were trembling, to let out a small chuckle and stare at me in consternation.

“Okay guys. Judging by the levels of mana and the sense of danger coming from that dungeon. We need a plan and a good one.” I said.

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“What's the issue? We should just go in there and murderize everything. No biggy.” Emmy said.

“Yeah, No. You’re not the one who has to stand in front of whatever is going to be charging in our direction. Though I doubt we’ll learn anything standing out here like we normally do. All this lava is sure to keep the defenders inside.” Pan said.

Standing up after listening to what we had to say and examining the ground. Whisper said, “It looks like Infernal Bears roam around out here. Basically bears with fur made of fire or something like it.”

“I told you we should have got a healer.” Emmy said.

Whisper, Pan, and I all sighed, placing our hands on our heads in surrender. Emmy just stood there, hands on her hips in a pose of victory.

“Well it's too late now. Let's hunt down the outer defenders to test the waters then move in once we have a good idea of their strength.” I said to the party.

Looking around we eventually found an Infernal Bear. Just as Whisper said it was a bear cloaked in bright glowing orange flames. What he didn’t mention was that they were nearly 20 feet tall when they stood on two feet. Watching one of the bears stand up to strike at a bird's nest it spotted on a rocky outcrop. We all slowly turned our heads towards Whisper.

Our eyes silently saying, “What the hell dude. You didn’t say they were huge bears made of fire!”

Whisper looked at us and just shrugged and turned his attention back to the monstrous bear of fire. Suddenly he knocked an arrow and leapt up into a tree.

“It noticed us and is about to head our way.” Whisper said.

As soon as he finished warning us the air around noticeably rose. Sweat began to form on my head and I could feel waves of heat washing against my back. Causing my cloak to flap and billow.

I started charging up a spell with one of my conditions primed and ready to go. I could feel the foot fall’s closing in on me. Each giving off small tremors, announcing the approach of the massive bear. Once it was relatively close I dove forward casting my spell.

3 blades of water crashed into the fiery bear who was only 10 paces away with a raised paw. One large enough to smash through a tree with brute strength alone. The bear roared in pain, missing me with its swing out of surprise from my sudden attack. Before it had a chance to recover I fired off 3 more water blades that was soon followed by 3 more cast by Emmy.

With so many blades of water crashing into it, the bear stumbled back. This gave Pan time to regain her composure and close in on the beast. She seemed to have steady her mind and charged in without a care in the world. Swinging her sword towards the bear's burning muzzle.

While she did that Emmy and I rained down water blades on it. Whisper took the opportunity to fill the bear's elbows, knees, flank, and head with arrows charged with the Ice element, thanks to his Elemental Arrow skill.

When Whisper's arrows landed, the bear howled in pain. Searching for whatever was doing so much damage to it. Not finding the culprit the bear was enraged, swiping at Pan with everything it had. In a desperate attempt to kill whoever dared to injure it. However, it wasn’t long before Whisper's arrows struck one of the vitals of the bear and it fell to the ground, dead.

Once the bear was dead we skinned and dressed it. While we waited to collect the meat I inspected the fur. Now that it was dead the flames were gone but a deep red and translucent fur remained. It was warm to the touch and small embers floated off of it when rubbing against it. I wondered what kind of things could be made from this excitement evident in my expressions.

I noticed that everyone was giving me a look of exhaustion, looking between me and the pelt in my hands. Scratching the back of my head I just looked at them and smiled. Taking the moment to relax. I sat against a tree taking a deep breath and pondered on the possibilities the fur represented. The fight wasn’t hard but if caught unprepared those bears were incredibly dangerous. Taking another deep breath I closed my eyes and stretched my arms.

“So, how much meat did we get from the super sized bear over there?” I asked.