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Ishan: Luca the Reaper
Chapter 14 - Dungeon Spelunking

Chapter 14 - Dungeon Spelunking

I fell, or at least my brain said I was falling, I felt vertigo but I couldn't see anything, it was just pitch black and I knew that dungeons had a way of fucking with reality. Notifications appeared to distract me from my falling, or not falling.

Congratulations you have found a Tier 4 challenge dungeon, Spring Falls. As you are one of the first to enter you will gain higher rewards for completing the dungeon. As this dungeon is upgrading the party parameters have not been set.

You have received a new Quest.

Quest: Dungeon Spelunking

Type: Dungeon-mandatory

Description: Traverse each floor of the dungeon completing the challenges of the dungeon and exit through the treasury.

Reward: Access to dungeon treasury. New title. 2000xp. Extra rewards based on individual room completion.

Penalties for failure or refusal: Impossible to refuse

Accept: yes/yes

As this dungeon has recently upgraded your starting room will consist of a challenge that includes those by the entrance of the dungeon.

The falling sensation lasted for quite a while before reality finally warped around me. I felt the world squeeze and then elongate, things began to appear around me. At first it was a table, then a workbench, then some shelves, some more work benches and tables, then a whole forge including a bellows. Slowly what looked like a smithy appeared around me, lastly tools, ore, ingots and some partially created weapons appeared around the smithy littering the area as if a bunch of people had just vanished mid work. Then the first skeleton appeared and I fired my Identification spell at it.

Name: Elite Skeleton Swordsman

Level 47

Type: Rare

Description: A skeleton created by the necromancer. This simple monster is capable of complex commands and is one of the stronger undead warrior variants.

Health: 4000/4000

Mana: 1000/1000

Effects: Vulnerable to holy damage, Vulnerable to fire damage. Immune to curses. Immune to death magic. Immune to poison.

*Note, as this creature is recognised by your Soul Reaper class as an adversary, all combat restrictions are removed from all class abilities (excluding disabled abilities or skills) and you will be able to gain xp from defeating this monster.

It was one of the elite swordsmen, the armour it wore was designed for a human, it had a few puncture holes showing that it had been looted from a corpse. The sword it held was solid steel and didn't appear to have any kicks or dents. A second skeleton appeared followed by one of the elite skeleton mages a few steps behind them.

Name: Elite Skeleton Mage

Level 45

Type: Rare

Description: A skeleton created by the necromancer. This simple monster is capable of spell casting and following complex commands as well as leading some lesser undead.

Health: 1000/1000

Mana: 4000/4000

Effects: Vulnerable to holy damage, Vulnerable to fire damage. Immune to curses. Immune to death magic. Immune to poison.

*Note, as this creature is recognised by your Soul Reaper class as an adversary, all combat restrictions are removed from all class abilities (excluding disabled abilities or skills) and you will be able to gain xp from defeating this monster.

I tried to move but I was locked in place, I could still feel my body however it was like I'd been hit with a Hold Humanoid spell, thankfully the skeletons weren't moving either so they must have been under the same effect. Between us was a workbench with a large silver and black warhammer on it and the large metal anvil sat just beyond the workbench.

I took the time to quickly plan out what I needed to do. I needed to take out the mage first, killing it outright would be impossible but if i didn't deal with it it would be easy for it to stop me with a spell. The swordsmen might be the easier of the two however they would be able to block a physical attack, Death Bolt was my go to magic attack but it was severely limited against the undead, you know, with them being dead already. My planning was interrupted by a notification.

Challenge 1: Defeat your opponents by any means necessary.

As soon as the message appeared I felt the force holding me disappear and I made a decision, my feet settled onto the floor and instantly I was gone. I appeared next to the swordsmen on the left, I watched an orb of dark mana fly through where I had been seconds before and splash against the wall. The spell splashed against the wall leaving a sticky black goop wherever it touched, I had a feeling it would be really bad to be touched by the black goop.

I lashed out with my scythe and cut through the swordsman's spine just above the pelvis. I brought the snath of my scythe up to block the sword it swung and it bounced off harmlessly off the metal as the skeleton collapsed to the ground. I used Etheric Step to move to the otherside of the smithy as another spell passed through the place I had just been standing. I needed cover from the spells that the mage was casting. I heaved on the workbench I stood next trying to create a barricade, I stood there for a few seconds, like an idiot, trying to heave the workbench that I realised was either far too heavy or, more likely, was magically stuck to the floor. I wondered why my Danger Sense hadn’t triggered and I looked up to see that the skeletal swordsman was getting back to its feel, spine intact once again, I narrowed my eyes and realised that the skeletal mage had healed the swordsman.

Fuck.

I decided against trying to shift the table and instead went back on the offensive. I grabbed my scythe that I’d dropped on the floor and used Etheric Step to appear next to the mage, I quickly cast Empower Attack as I lashed out in an attempt to decapitate it. My blade hit a magical barrier and bounced off it but it left large cracks from the impact, I watched as the cracks slowly began to fix themselves and I frowned. I danced back and sidestepped as the swordsmen lunged at me. The skeleton was a little faster than I was and I felt its sword slice through my robes and graze my side. I winced but rotated my wrists, my scythe swung around and just managed to catch its left wrist and sever it. The skeleton’s sword clattered to the ground along with its hand, I felt my Danger Sense go haywire and I rolled sideways on the ground as I felt the air around me become charged, I just managed to get out of the way as a bolt of dark lightning crackled and curved into the warhammer that was on the workbench next to me. There was a long bang and I cried out as a shard of metal slammed into my thigh. I took the time to pull it out and cast Lesser Regeneration on myself to fix the damage the exploding warhammer shards had caused.

As I got to my feet I lept high into the air swinging my staff in an overhead chop right towards the forge, at the last second I used Etheric Step to appear just behind the swordsmen. Combat Grace kicked in and my scythe cut through the metal helmet it wore. The downward momentum I had built up didn’t have enough to carry on through the skull of the swordsman but I was satisfied to hear two clangs as the helmet fell to the ground in 2 parts. I rolled forwards past the skeleton and gracefully got to my feet just in time for my Danger Sense to spike again and I rolled past the metal anvil before jumping up and over another workbench knocking leather scraps everywhere. A ball of dark mana exploded against the anvil behind me as I rolled over the workbench.

I imagine the fight looked really cool with me appearing and disappearing constantly and the mage not being able to hit me with a spell. If I’m honest I was surprised I was doing so well. I had trained with Raven to become more agile with my dodges and rolls and had worked hard with Taylor and Harold to get better at combining magic with non-lethal attacks. I was so impressed with myself I momentarily forgot that my scythe had its blade out. I was so used to fighting without the blade that it caught on the workbench and was whipped out of my hands. The jolt messed up my momentum and Combat Grace ended abruptly causing me to lose my footing, with all the grace of a bag of shit, I bounced off the top of the next workbench scattering tools before splatting onto the ground and having all my breath forced out of my lungs.

I winced and tried to look around for my scythe but I couldn't see it. I did see the skeletal mage charging a spell and the skeletal swordsman had grabbed my scythe and threw it away from me, it raised its sword in its only remaining hand. I watched my scythe fly through the air before looking back at the mage, I needed to wait for it to launch its spell before moving. The swordsman grew closer but I waited until the mage thrust its hands forward and I saw another black orb shoot out of its outstretched. I used Etheric Step to move away and appeared by the forge. I frantically looked around and quickly found my scythe half in the forge, I grabbed it and turned as my Danger Sense went haywire.

The bolt of dark lighting slammed into my chest and I cried out in pain as my limbs locked into place and all my muscles tightened. A cold sensation dove deep into the core of my body as I felt my strength leave my limbs and I tumbled over onto my side. I crashed to the ground like a statue tipped over by a group of rowdy drunkards, I tried to relax but I could still feel the magic coursing through my muscles keeping them locked in place. It took a full 2 seconds before I was able to move again and they were the longest 2 seconds that I’ve had in a very long time. I could only watch as the mage charged up another spell and the swordsman trudged across the room towards me. On the plus side I was still holding onto my scythe, albeit in a death grip that was causing my knuckles to pop one by one. When I could finally move again I used Etheric Step from the floor to appear behind the semi-melted anvil. I took a second to catch my breath and quickly checked my health.

Health: 1167/1500

It wasn't too bad, I cast Lesser Regeneration again as the spell had ended and then rolled to the left, a dark lightning bolt hit the anvil. I looked around and saw the skeleton swordsman had turned around and was heading back my way. I took 3 quick steps and used the anvil as a springboard to launch myself towards it. I brought my scythe around and used the Soul Lantern end to deflect a slash before the blade swung around to stab it through the head. I held onto my scythe as I landed and rolled, I heard the many crashes of bones scattering and felt a sudden lack of resistance on my scythe. I rolled again before popping up to my feet, I felt Combat Grace activate again as my Danger Sense once more alerted me to imminent danger. I threw myself backwards into a handspring and a ball of dark mana splashed against the wall in front of where I had stood.

The mage had tried to predict where I was going to go, if it hadn’t been for Danger Sense I would have continued moving forwards and been hit by it. I needed to kill the mage quickly as it had started picking up on my movements, if the fight went on for too much longer my dodges would not cut it and I would start getting hit more often.

My back handspring brought me back to the anvil and I cast Empower Attack before using Etheric Step just as the mage launched another dark lightning bolt at me. I appeared in front of the mage and heard its lighting splash against the wall behind me. I brought my scythe down in a heavy overhead chop aimed at its skull, my scythe slammed into the magic barrier once more and it was held at for a split second before the barrier parted like butter against a hot knife. The skeletal mage didn’t stand a chance as my scythe slammed into its face and carried down through its bones until it was cleaved in half and the blade bounced off the ground.

I stood there panting as more bones clattered to the ground, I looked around to make sure that it hadn’t healed the swordsman. Nope, it was still in a pile on the floor. I sighed in relief and collapsed to the floor. I appreciated Harold just a little bit more, I did not like being hit by offensive spells and he tanked them like an absolute boss. A slew of notifications vied for my attention and now that I was out of immediate danger I looked through them, most were damage notifications but there were a few important ones and one that made me break out in a huge smile.

You have slain a Elite Skeleton Swordsmen Level 47, as this creature is recognised by your class as a foe, you do not receive any penalties. You have earned 50xp.

You have slain a Elite Skeleton Mage Level 45, as this creature is recognised by your class as a foe, you do not receive any penalties. You have earned 45xp.

You have levelled up and reached Level 11. You have gained 1 Class Ability point. You have gained 5 Characteristic points. At level 11 you have a choice of 1 out of 3 new class abilities.

Challenge 1 has been completed. Please collect your rewards and enter the next door.

After I read the final notification a section of the floor started to rise up out of the ground with an extremely loud grinding sound. I grabbed my scythe and readied myself for more fighting, the grinding sound continued on for a few seconds but thankfully no more enemies appeared. I looked over to the section of the floor that had risen up and saw that it had turned into a pedestal that had a small statue on top of it. I gawked at the pristine statue, it was of me launching myself off the anvil and swinging my scythe at the skeletal swordsman. It was a work of art that I was totally not jealous of, not one bit, Dungeons get to cheat by just magicing things into existence whereas the rest of us have to work hard to make something that looked half that good. A section of stone slowly lowered to reveal 2 golden boxes that looked like presents and they even had large golden bows on the top of them.

I stared at the prize boxes for a second before I broke. Instead of diving into my rewards and what the Dungeon had decided to give me for completing its challenge, I remembered how close I had been to ending the necromancer.

I’m not proud of what happened next and I’m going to gloss over the few minutes, or 20 minutes, of screaming, shouting and destruction to the smithy I caused. Thinking about it I acted more like an overgrown toddler had been told that it wasn’t allowed desert before dinner. In my anger and rage I even managed to slightly move one of the workbenches, I think, maybe?

When I had burned through most of my anger and most of the contents of the smithy was burning in the forge I sat down, I was still pissed but I managed to get myself into a meditative state and I felt my mana and stamina start to replenish. I cast Lesser Regeneration to fix the damage the dark lighting had caused and continued to meditate. Once I had finally equalised out my mental state, I stood up and looked at the reward boxes. I was excited by the fact that the boxes were golden since most challenge dungeons rated rewards by colour. The rankings went; Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum then Crystal, there was supposedly another tier above crystal but I had never seen it before. With a glee that could only be found in goblins who’ve stumbled across an unguarded cave filled with cooked food, I opened the boxes.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Item: Honest Cog's Always Ready Trousers

Rarity: Uncommon

Weight: 0.5lb

Description: The always ready trousers are everyman's best friend. These simple trousers are able to change into a variety of different colours and styles as well as being self cleaning and repairing. Nothing will get in their way or stop the wearer being ready for anything.

Requirements: None.

Item: Prize Upgrade Coin

Rarity: Rare

Weight: 0.1lb

Description: This coin can be used to upgrade the rarity of a reward chest by 1 grade. Place on the lid of a closed box to use it.

Requirements: Must be used on an unopened chest. Must be used within the Spring Falls Challenge Dungeon.

The trousers were definitely cool, they were self cleaning and self repairing which would save me a lot of money from not having to buy new ones after every fight. Looking underneath my robe showed that I currently needed to put on a new pair since the ones I was currently wearing were nothing more than strips of fabric. I was thankful that Dungeons never gave out cursed loot else I would have been tempted regardless of how cursed the trousers were. I paused for a second wondering if I should be worried, the loot challenge Dungeons gave out was meant to prepare the person for future challenges. I wondered what self cleaning and repairing trousers was meant to mean but I pushed those bad thoughts to the side. The prize upgrade coin was an incredible reward and I knew that I would be saving this for a platinum or, if I was lucky, a crystal reward box. I stashed the coin in my bag before looking at a set of notifications that I had been hoping to see for the last 10 years. I sat down with my back to the stone podium and read over the first notification with a huge grin on my face.

You have levelled up and reached Level 11. You have gained 1 Class Ability point. You have gained 5 Characteristic points. At level 11 you have a choice of 1 out of 3 new class abilities.

10 years had been a long time to be stuck on a level but with a class like mine, gaining enough experience to level up was incredibly difficult. I had found that I gained the most experience from putting souls to rest, however it was still only miniscule amount, fighting the shades and the undead had given me the most amount of experience I’d seen in over 7 years. I was looking forward to picking a new ability and I was hoping that it wouldn’t be one that we limited by my class restriction Reaper’s Purpose. I opened up the Class abilities I could choose from and held my breath.

Class Abilities

*Level 11 only grants the option of 1 class ability point and 1 skill point cannot be saved. Points cannot be saved and if the notification is closed without spending the points, they will be lost forever.*

Ability: The Right Perspective

Cooldown: Active

Description: While active this ability allows the Reaper to see how long a person has left to live.

Restrictions: None

Ability: The Right Tool for the Job

Cooldown: 10 years

Description: Soulbinds a weapon to allow for it to be summoned to you from any distance for a varying mana cost. Additionally since the weapon is an extension of you, you will never be harmed by the weapon. Should the weapon be destroyed it can be resummoned for a large mana cost.

Restrictions: None.

Ability: The Right Magic for the Job

Cooldown: None

Description: The Reaper must not only use their strength but also their magic to complete the job. With this Ability any spells cast, while fighting class approved opponents, have the benefit of costing 50% less mana to cast and have a reduced cooldown time of 50%. Any spells used against opponents unapproved by Class have their mana cost increased by 50% and their cooldown time increased by 50%.

Restrictions: Reaper's Purpose.

I beamed out while looking at the abilities, 2 of them did not have the hated restriction of Reaper’s Purpose. The Right Perspective was completely out, I did not want to know that information and never would want to know, I valued the time I had with my friends and I didn't want to create a mental barrier knowing when they'd die. Also the name was a bit ominous, all my abilities had gained new effects over time and The Right Perspective made it sound like eventually it’d alter my perspective which I didn’t want. The Right Magic for the Job was interesting. I did have quite a few spells and only two of them were offensive magic however the wording for the ability was extremely ambiguous. If I used my Identification spell against an non-class approved opponent would that incur the increased mana cost? I had no real way of finding out unless I picked the ability. The Right Tool for the Job looked just as good as The Right Magic for the Job. Having a soulbound weapon I could summon to me, would mean that I wouldn't have to constantly use mage mage hand to retrieve my scythe. While it wasn’t common for me to be separated from my scythe, the last 2 fights being the outliers, making it impossible to harm me and being able to resummon it after being destroyed was pushing it towards being the meat choice. The 10 year cooldown was long but then again I liked my scythe and it had been a long time since I’d changed my weapon entirely.

I deliberated for a while and made my decision, adding The Right Tool for the Job to my ability list was easy and as I picked it I felt like a fountain of knowledge bloomed in my brain. I screamed in pain and grabbed my head as new pathways were forcefully created in my brain, knowledge I had no way of knowing forced its way into me leaving me a mess for a few minutes. When the knowledge finally settled into place and my brain stopped burning I looked at my scythe. It had been a custom job that had cost me no small amount of gold, I had to have an artificer design it, a smith forge it and then an enchanter set up the magic.

The artificer had changed quite a lot from the original farming tool, it now resembled more of a boa staff with a blade on the end. They had designed it with the idea that I would be constantly spinning it and the blade would only be a quick rotation away from striking again. It had proved a better design that what I had originally sketched out but then again I was not a high level artificer. When I had approached the blacksmith about creating the weapon he looked at the design and smiled, at the time I’d thought it was due to the challenge creating the weapon would pose, instead it was actually because of how much money he was going to charge. The smith had used Moonstone and Dark Steel to create a very durable but extremely light metal staff and then had used more Dark Steel coated in a thin layer of Mithril to create the blade. I almost baulked at the price when I went to pick it up but after watching the smith carve off a piece of their metal anvil with minimal effort, I knew that I would be satisfied. The enchanter had cost the most but had been worth every gold coin. They added 3 enchantments, the first was adding extra durability to make sure that magical attacks did less damage to it and the second was to make it even lighter so I could spin it faster. The final enchantment was the most important one though, it was the enchantment that let me conjure or dissolve the blade at will so I could pass it off as being a staff rather than a scythe. This had let me keep the scythe with me while walking around areas that didn’t allow people to carry weapons. Over time my scythe hadn’t changed much, the only real difference was that it had a few nicks and dents from fights and that my Soul Lantern ability had manifested the Soul Lantern on the bottom of it.

I thought about the process I needed to go through to soul bind my scythe and winced as my brain still hurt a bit. I pricked my finger on the blade and drew a set of runes in my own blood on the snath, after each one I felt a painful pulse in my finger and a pressure build inside my chest. It’s hard to describe what the runes looked like, there were a lot of flicks and dots but none of them made any sense outside of the context of the soul binding process. When the last one was completed I spoke the ritual words to complete the process.

"You are me as I am you. We will commit ourselves to one purpose and strike down those in our way. Nothing shall pass between us on our path forwards."

I felt something deep inside my core shift and snap into place, there was a great rushing sensation as my mana and stamina emptied out of my body and the runes that I had drawn in blood began glowing a bright red before they slowly faded into the scythe. I was suddenly aware of every part of my scythe. Each dent and scrape, the magic that the Soul Lantern was using to attach itself to the end of the scythe as well as the blade that was proudly on display. I dismissed the blade so that it was in the form of just the staff and I could feel the magic that had hidden the blade. Well hiding it was the wrong word, it was more like the blade had been shifted to the Etheric Plane and waited to be called back into existence. It was pretty cool but I also needed to test out the recall function. I spent a few minutes throwing my scythe like a javelin and recalling it before it hit the wall, after only a short time of testing I had worked out the following. The recall only took a second however if my scythe was 5 feet away from me it took 10 mana to recall it but if it was 10 feet from me it took 11 mana to recall it. I was tempted to try testing however I still had my characteristic points and skill point to allocate before I could move on.

For the 5 characteristic points I continued with my previous planned progression, by that meant I dumped all 5 in constitution. I had taken a few beatings in my life and the kick by the skeletal minotaur was not the only time I had come close to dying, instead it was another instance in a long line. I needed to get a bit more health so that I wouldn’t be killed outright from a big hit, even if it wasn’t meant to hit me. I watched as my health increased by 500 points and I didn’t notice any changes in my body, however an increase of 5 points was not a major change, if it had been 10 or more than I'd likely feel the changes occurring.

The last thing to look at was my 1 skill point. Unassigned skill points were hard to gain and because they could be placed in skill they were extremely valuable, I needed to take my time in considering what to put it into. Looking through my list of skills there were only 4 skills that I considered putting the point into. My Carving - Wood skill had been stuck at the Master rank for a few years and while I had been working to push it into Grand Master it had stubbornly refused to increase. Staff Combat and Mana Sense were both poised to move into the Master rank, Staff Combat would directly increase my combat ability as well as my survivability if I ran into a tricky situation whereas Mana Sense would let me find, track and analyse mana a lot easier. I had heard that there was a hidden benefit for getting Mana Sense into the Master rank but I hadn’t managed to find out what that benefit was. The last skill I had taken note of was Mana Manipulation, it was set to move into the Greater ranks which would make altering, overcharging or just using my mana without a spell that much easier. I dismissed Staff Combat, I could train the skill to reach the Master rank, the same could be said for Mana Sense as well and Taylor had a very comprehensive training regiment for the skill that I could join them for. Mana manipulation and Carving - Wood were the only 2 real options. I sat there and meditated on the 2 options before deciding to go with the skill that I enjoyed the most.

Your skill Carving - Wood has increased to Grand Master level 1. You now have a finer control over the tools you use. You have a greater chance to create masterworks. You now have a greater understanding and ability to unlock the hidden potential of anything wooden you carve.

I beamed as I finally managed to get a skill to reach Grand Master, I was going to look forward to telling Taylor about it, they had been trying to find a Grands Master of a skill to study the effects the change in skill level had on the skill being used as well as the mana that the skilled used. It had been a side project of theirs that they had been hoping to write a research paper on. Now that I had a skill at that level I would be able to help them start the paper, sure they had been hoping to find someone with a magic based skill but last time I spoke to them, they just wanted to find anyone with a Grand Master skill who would let them observe them using it. I smiled at the thought of helping my friend start their research paper.

I looked at the black doorway that had appeared just after the podium had stopped growing, it stood at the side of the forge like a Trap Wyrm waiting for an unsuspecting traveller to walk into its range. I frowned and decided to look over my status before finding out what the next challenge was.

Name: Luca 'Shade Slayer' Piel

Class: Soul Reaper level 11

Xp to next level: 75/2000

Health: 2000/2000

Mana: 27/2600

Stamina: 27/2750

Titles

Shade Salyer

Effect 1: +50% damage against all Shades. Effect 2: +25% damage against all Shade variants. Effect 3: +5% critical chance against all shadow aligned creatures.

Characteristics

Strength: 20

Dexterity: 35

Constitution: 20

Intelligence: 26

Wisdom: 25

Charisma: 15

Abilities

Right Clothes for the Job

Effect 1: conjure a full set a black Reaper robes. Effect 2: caster can become ethereal for a few seconds and negate all incoming damage.

Man on the Job

Effect 1: caster becomes harder to detect physically and magically. Recording/scrying/viewing devices/spells may show distortion where the caster is. Effect 2: caster emits an aura of uncertainty which may cause fear, vomiting, rage, tunnel vision, paralysis and self doubt. Effect 3: Aura ability is able to be turned on or off. Effect 4: if caster attacks all effects are voided and a large taunt is triggered.

Touch of the Reaper *Disabled*

Effect 1: can see the exact amount of damage the target has caused to sentient creatures. Effect 2: damage from attacks is 2n slashing where n is the exact amount of damage from effect 1. Effect 3: once damage has been used up, no more damage may be dealt to the target.

Final Voyage

Effect 1: when a creature with a soul is slain you must escort their soul to its final resting place. Effect 2: for each soul, their last rites will be made known as the journey begins.

Ethereal Step

Effect 1: caster turns ethereal and moves up to 15 ft from original starting place. Effect 2: leaves an after image that slowly fades after 2 seconds or takes damage

Soul Lantern

Effect 1: the soul lantern shelters and holds lost souls safely until a time when they can be put to rest. Effect 2: lantern can be attached to the user’s weapon. Effect 3: Souls can be drawn to the soul lantern from 500 feet away. Effect 4: the soul lantern can be used to cleanse corrupted souls.

The Right Tool for the Job

Effect 1: Soulbind a weapon for 10 years. Effect 2: The weapon can be recalled to the Reaper from any distance. Effect 3: The weapon will never cause harm to the Reaper. Effect 4: The weapon can be resummoned even if destroyed.

Restrictions: None.

Restrictions

Reaper's Purpose: A Reaper is a non-combatant to any creature that possesses a soul. Should a Reaper attack all abilities are negated, the Reaper's Abilities become unusable and a powerful taunt is emitted. The only exceptions are towards creatures with stolen souls or have taken souls from their eternal rest.

Skills

Danger Sense (greater) level 9

Long blades (Master) level 10 (max)

Polearms level 8

Staff combat (Master) level 10 (max)

Combat Grace (greater) level 6

Unarmed combat level 2

Climbing level 5

Swimming level 6

Barter level 4

Hiking level 2

Animal handling level 9

Mana Sense (greater) level 10 (max)

Mana manipulation level 10 (max)

Mana control level 5

Modify spell (greater) level 8

Dual casting level 9

Stealth casting level 2

Silent casting level 1

Danger Sense level 6

Reaping - Wheat level 2

Stealth (greater) level 10 (max)

Crafting level 10 (max)

Carving - Wood level (Grand Master) level 1

Carving - Bone level 2

Tracking level 2

Acrobatics level 6

Spells

Identification (greater) level 9

Message (greater) level 10 (max)

Mage Hand (greater) level 10 (max)

Death Bolt (greater) level 10 (max)

Invisibility level 10 (max)

Charm Humanoid (greater) level 10 (max)

Detect Life (greater) level 10 (max)

Haste level 8

Mage Shield (minor) level 3

Lesser Regeneration (minor) level 10

Detect Evil (greater) level 9

Light (greater) level 5

Empower Attack level 8

I smiled at the new additions to the status and the growth I had seen, hopefully it would continue and maybe my next level up would not take another 10 years. I was also interested to see what carving the figures would be like with my new Grand Master skill. I doubted I would get to use it while in the Dungeon due to danger lurking at every turn and corner however I was hopeful that I would meet up with the rest of my party and get out of here soon. Nodding, I walked over to the black doorway and realised that it was not a doorway at all but instead a portal, I winced not liking having to use portals to get from challenge to challenge but there was not much else I could do about that. I walked through the portal to the next room of the Dungeon.