Eli found he'd leveled up his Heal spell just by using it in the goblin attack, but it hadn't changed much. Just an increase in health healed and mana cost. Light in the Dark leveled up too, but he couldn't see any change in the spell.

Sigil of Light had gained a rank on its own, but that was from before when he was fighting the zombies. He added three skill points to it for a total of 5. The description didn't change, but he was sure it would do more damage now, especially with the added intelligence.

He also added 2 skill points to Warp, hoping to see the description change to allow him to take other people with him. It did not. Surprised, he saw his Harming Light had reached level two as well. That must have been from using it as a bludgeon on the goblins. It now had a number for weight in the description, which was interesting.

Several new skills were available to him, and he'd barely started reading before he picked one:

Aegis of the Dying Light:

Mana cost: 75

Cast time: N/A

Cooldown: 200s

Description: Surround yourself in a protective layer of light that will absorb damage from physical attacks.

He leveled up the skill to 5 and cast it on himself. His entire body shone for a second, then he could see no difference, except for the buff in his status bar. There was no timer on the buff, meaning he could sleep with it on. Eli felt some tension disappearing from his shoulders, and he breathed a little easier, feeling a little safer in this hostile world.

Returning to the available skills window, he saw several new and interesting choices.

Feast of the Dying Light:

Mana cost: 15

Cast time: 2s

Cooldown: 10s

Description: Create food and water for the hungry to stoke the dying light.

He added a point for that spell, thinking he'd really chosen correctly when selecting a priest. Now he didn't need to worry about food anymore. Or water.

He had a choice of a cure-like spell called Cleanse, that was like the super version of cure, removing all ailments, poisons, and curses. Would this one perhaps work on Amy? Either way, it would be a useful spell to have. It was only a matter of time before diseases started spreading. Still, he decided to forego Cleanse for the moment in favor of another spell.

Turn Undead:

Mana cost: 80

Cast time: 4s

Cooldown: N/A

Description: Provides a small chance of instantly killing undead and demonic creatures.

Eli did not like reading that demons existed, but he did like the idea of instantly killing them. It was a single target spell, but Eli picked it anyway with his last skill point. There was a formula attached to calculate the change of killing the target outright, but he didn't have the patience to figure it out at that moment. He was much too tired for that.

About to close the Skills window, he thought he saw a shimmer run across his field of vision, focused around the spells he'd selected. Concentrating, he thought Open, not really expecting anything.

A new window popped open Skill Tree.

Eli: Guys. I just found something I think you'll find interesting. Open up Skills window and then focus on a skill and think Open.

Amy: Holy shit.

Eli winced as a new screen appeared, showing a complicated interconnected network of nodes, spreading from the Sigil of Light spell placed in the middle of the window. A small number indicated its level. Eli selected a node, increasing the Sigil of Light's healing output, and the small number decreased by one. It wasn't the level of the skill. No, it was the available skill points. Each level of the skill gave him a skill point to use in the skill tree.

Eli: This is going to get very complicated.

Zack: This is going to be so much fun.

Looking at every possible node for every possible skill was beyond him, tired as he was, but he couldn't just let the skill points sit there, unused. He opened up the skill tree for Aegis and found a plethora of options. Some made the protection stronger. One added protection against spells, while other nodes acted more like talents, changing how the skill worked. A talent node gave the spell offensive uses, turning it into an attack that exploded whenever the shield of light was struck.

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Another node made the shield far stronger, but only around an actual, physical shield. Probably something for a crusader, Eli thought. He added all five skill points into two nodes, increasing the shield's protection against ranged attacks and spells. Nodes for specific spell types existed, like elemental spells, which provided a larger bonus, but Eli figured he didn't know what sort of attacks would be directed his way, so a more generalist node would be better.

They hadn't learned anything about skill caps and he saw no information about that in the Skill Tree. It was frustrating not knowing. Not having all the information available to him, the risk of screwing up your skills or stats was too great for his comfort. It wasn't like he could go online and look up builds and guides.

The rest of his skill points for Sigil of Light, he used to increase the area of effect. Here, he found a cap. The node maxed out at 3. At that point, the area effectively tripled, but it would not go further. Eli wondered if increasing the level of the spell would add even more, since he'd noticed the area growing which each level gained.

With Light in the Dark, he added to a node that increased the chance of a Blind status effect. And with his regular old heal, he found some interesting choices. One gave a speed buff for a short duration after healing. Another added an Aegis-like protection after casting, but not as powerful. A third increased its damage against the undead. The fourth simply increased the healing, which he leveled up a few times.

He stopped at one of the nodes that changed the spell's fundamental effect. The node made the heal a continuous cast, lessening the healing effect a little, but rather than having to cast it again and again, it would just continuously heal, ticking up his target's health quickly. Not sure if there was a way to change his mind later, Eli didn't want to risk picking that one just yet. Instead, he chose one that lessened the amount healed a little but allowed him to target the entire party at once with only a little added mana cost.

Eli breathed in deeply and exhaled as he opened the Warp skill tree. There it was.

Eli: I can Warp the whole party now.

Zack: That's nice.

Eli: Tomorrow we're going to have to tell people about the skill trees. We should find some way of spreading information to the whole group. Also, I want to see how many people we can keep in a party, if there's a limit. We have to send out scouts too, so we're prepared if the goblins return. I don't think Barbara is ever going to get her act together.

Zack: Aye aye, captain.

Amy: We should go back to the graveyard.

Eli: Agreed.

He woke with a start and found dawn had snuck up on him. Eli created some food with his new skill and was disappointed to find it very different from the fast food provided by the mystery meals. A piece of hard bread, some old cheese, and a mug of water that looked like it was made from clay. Still, it filled him up well enough and didn't taste too bad. After conjuring some more and putting it into his inventory, he headed down to the lower floors.

On the way down, he grabbed people at random, more or less forcing them into his party. Soon, he discovered the party limit was 8.

Eli: Welcome everyone. You can send party messages with a thought. Give it a try.

He explained what they'd learned about skills, skill trees, class specialization and multi-classing, basically info dumping on the ones who'd agreed to join his party.

Eli: We need two volunteers for scouting, in case the goblins return. You will get free experience just from being in our party while we go kill things at the graveyard nearby.

Bob: Testing, testing, one, two, three.

Bob: That’s convenient.

Sheila: Hello?

Zack: This is a lot of people.

Eli: We have to help people to level up, Zack.

Zack: Yeah, yeah.

Amy: I talked to Charlotte. She’s not coming.

Eli: I figured as much when she wasn’t in the party anymore when I woke up.

Eli: So. Any volunteers?

Hannah: Hello? What was that about a graveyard?

Eli: That’s right. We're going to kill zombies.

Hannah: But I'm a Blacksmith.

Frey: And I'm a Farmer.

Eli: Oh. You two should head off and focus on other stuff then. See if you can find Stu and George.

He booted them from the party and was about to add another person at random when someone squared up in front of him. She was a year or two older than Eli, he thought, and very tall and thin, with narrow shoulders. With dark brown, almost black hair in a braid across her left shoulder, and a scowl on her face, she didn't look very friendly.

"You're going out to level up?" she asked.

Inspect.

Cruella. Human. Level 1 Mage (Enchanter).

"Cruella?" he asked.

"Let’s just say my parents weren't fans of dalmatians."

"Fair enough. What's an Enchanter?"

Cruella brought out a long knife from her inventory and, without warning, flames suddenly engulfed it.

His eyes widened, and he stepped back. "Neat. You want to come leveling?"

"I tried attacking one of the goblins last night, but my spells barely inconvenienced it. Can’t stay level 1 and expect to survive here."

"You're right about that. Welcome to the Ravenous Barbarians."

"When do we leave?"

"Now. Everyone is gathering right outside the building."

He added her to the party.

Eli: Like I said, I need volunteers to go keep watch.

Bob: I'll go.

Frick: Me too. I’m pretty quick, so I think it would work out.

Eli: Great. One of you should head out across the grassy field. I think that's where they're coming from. Just to be safe, we should have a lookout in the direction of the volcano, too. You never know.

Frick: I call volcano.

Bob: Dangit.

Zack sent a private message.

Amy: Hey everyone, if you see a bear, don’t freak out. Her name is Princess, and she’s really nice.

Cruella: A bear? I want a bear.

By the time Eli and Cruella made it down to the ground floor, everyone was waiting for him. They exchanged brief greetings. Eli got a glimpse of Daniel and Marsh still sitting by the door. He really needed to talk to someone about getting them relieved.

Eli turned to his group. "Everyone ready?"

Zack was with another person and gently pushed her forward. "This is Irene."

Irene was the same height as Zack and looked conventionally attractive, with large eyes, a small nose, blonde hair, and a thin frame. Her shoulders were hunched forward and her eyes never left the floor. "Hi."

Amy waved. "Hello Irene."

"Hi Irene," Eli said. "You're a rogue?"

"Mhm."

Zack smiled at Irene encouragingly. "She's great with stealth."

Eli invited her. "Welcome to Ravenous Barbarians, Irene."

He cast Warp, sending everyone except Frick and Bob to the graveyard.

Ravenous Barbarians now consisted of the following people:

Eli - Priest of The Dying Light (Level 16)

Amy - Sheperd (Level 12)

Zack - Apothecary (Level 13)

Cruella - Mage (Level 1)

Irene - Rogue (Level 3)

Bob - Fighter (Level 1)

Frick - Commander (Level 1)

Sheila - Tinker (Level 1)

James, Dana, and Samantha were already on the other side of the fence, fighting an increasingly large group of zombies and skeletons. They were getting overwhelmed, and Eli toggled his Harming Healer talent before throwing down a Sigil of Light at their feet. The spell's radius was even bigger than he'd anticipated and it quickly killed off all the zombies, with the skeletons following soon after.

Both Dana and Samantha gave him dirty looks, and the healer glared especially hard. "I had it under control."

He shrugged. "Sorry."