The boss of this dungeon was literally a dinosaur, but not the sort I had seen before. The massive creature the size of a bull stood in shade toward the back of the canyon in a circular arena bound by rocky cliffs. It had a short, crocodilian-like snout with two menacing tusks, a spiky sail on its back, and powerful legs along with a relatively short tail then ended with more spikes. The thing was built like a tank. There was plenty of room to maneuver inside the arena, but I had other ideas.

“Why face it head on if we could safely shoot it from above? It wouldn’t be able to reach us no matter how much it tried.”

“Sure, but the gods frown on cheating. They’d punish you by granting lousy items, or none at all.”

“Gods?”

“The Holy Seven, of course.”

“They’re .. real?”

She eyeballed me with a blend of disbelief and a hint of amusement. “Sure, they're real, and a handful might be wandering around in disguise. You might've bumped into one without catching on to their true nature.”

I scoffed. “Is that so?”

“Why? Which gods do you worship among the Drakon?”

"Uh, that’s a matter of—" I hesitated, shifting uncomfortably. "What are we going to do about this boss?"

She raised an eyebrow, clearly noticing my dodge, but after a brief pause, her gaze shifted to the monstrous dinosaur looming before us. “Strong, but slow," she said, tapping a finger against her temple. "Here’s the plan: you hit it with some illusions, mess with its senses. While it’s distracted, I’ll jab it with my venom stings. We’ll grind that brute down until it’s moving slower than a snail on a bad day."

“Alright, but if things go bad, climb up to safety. Life is more important than any treasure.”

This serious opponent required a serious weapon. I put away my smallest, Swift Wand and took out the Heavy staff-wand in its place. I placed my thumb on its power crystal, waited four seconds and then walked ahead into the arena. In response, the menacing dino turned its head in my direction.

The high-pitched wail and hum of the staff-wand grew louder by the second. I felt the vibration travel up my arm. I lifted the wand-staff up, steadied it with both hands and pointed at the boss.

It continued staring at me as if expecting for me to get closer before it would bother. Was it lazy, or simply dumb? Did it expect me to wrestle it? I didn’t think it appreciated what was about to hit it.

With a resounding boom and a cracking snap, the staff-wand fired out a red bolt. It raised up dust in its wake, pummeled the boss in the ribs like a wrecking ball, and the dino nearly fell over on its side.

That got its attention, and the monster lurched forward into a charge. The tip of the staff-wand was in splinters. I cursed under my breath and dropped it. The power must have been too much for my shoddy item.

I left a steel trap and an illusion of a bullfighter holding up a red cape in its path. Thumb on a power crystal of the Bolstered Wand, I bolted away to come around on its side.

Then something odd happened. The dino’s energetic charge had turned into a sluggish wobble of a drunk. It staggered about, tipping from side to side, blood coming out its mouth.

“Huh?” I stopped and stared.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The Bolstered Wand was ready to fire, but I took the thumb off the power crystal. The boss took another step, stopped, and keeled over.

[Evolution Points gained: 2]

[Congratulations! You have gained level 10.]

[Please Select One:]

* [t3 Passive] Measured Savagery

* 100% increased attributes for 60 minutes after midnight

* 5% reduced attributes when [Measured Savagery] is inactive

* [t1 Passive] Arcane Rejuvenation

* Sleep effectiveness is doubled

* Mana Regeneration is 50% less while sleeping

* [t2 Passive] Brutal Pride

* Stamina is doubled

* Received healing by [Healing] type spells is 50% less

Darya strolled up to me with a grin on her face. "I reckon you’re ready to tackle a tougher dungeon, eh?"

“Y-Yeah? Wow, I didn’t expect it to die from a single shot like that.”

Though I should have. The damage on the staff wand was about three times as much as my other wands. If the Heavy wand could crack a solid boulder, then it made sense that it could shatter the ribs and puree the lungs of a dinosaur. I went over to pick up the pieces of my Heavy Wand, but couldn’t find the quartz crystal. I managed to salvage the copper writing and the power crystal. I absolutely loved how it performed, and planned to make a sturdier version in the future. One that wouldn’t blow up in two shots.

“But first I’ll get some armor,” I said. “Karl promised me a breastplate for tomorrow’s Dark Night.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

While we walked over to examine the dropped items, I eagerly looked over the three passives. [Arcane Rejuvenation] looked interesting. With it, I could gain an extra three to five hours every day to craft, run dungeons, or hunt for meat. I also didn’t mind the downside as my daily mana usage was low anyway.

[Brutal Pride] was powerful for defense, but I had doubts about it. While I hadn’t seen anyone with healing spells in the village myself, I didn’t want to cripple such a potentially crucial option.

“Are there any healers in the village?” I asked Darya.

“Several, why?”

“Why hadn’t you asked one to come along? It would be-”

“Of course I did. But they ain’t willing. They’d seen many go in and not return. They think it’s too dangerous.”

“What about you? You don’t look afraid at all.”

“Well, to be fair, it's different for them, they have families to worry about, you know? I-I don’t have kids of my own or a- ..”

“I get it. So, who’s the best healer in Moorhaven?”

“That’d be my sister, Amelia.”

“Is that right? How much can she heal for?”

Darya beamed with pride. “She’s got [Swift Renewal] and that heals for 360 over 40 seconds.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a lot, but it was close to ten percent of my maximum health. Knowing that, it felt to me like the downside of [Brutal Pride] was much too punishing. It left [Measured Savagery] as the best option out of the three. The gears in my head spun up with all manner of incredible opportunities.

It would allow me to punch way above my level for a short time. Instead of clearing the dungeons completely, I could rush much harder bosses in higher tier dungeons for better loot and greater experience. If I ever found myself in trouble with the authorities, this would serve as my "get-out-of-jail-at-midnight" card. Likewise, if I encountered a problem during the day that I couldn't handle, I could simply wait until later when I could.

I figured it would be a very rare case that the 5% attribute reduction would make a difference in whether I could tackle something or not. Having an occasional, substantial boost to peak power was far more crucial, especially when facing a significant obstacle that I couldn't overcome otherwise. The ability would be even better once I upgraded it to the max, and I was eager for midnight to arrive to use it.

I selected the option and even though the 5% decrease in attributes went into effect immediately, I didn’t notice any difference in how I felt aside from the numbers on the status screen. The reduction was too subtle. I glanced over the upgrade options as I had ten passive points saved up.

[t3 Passive] [Measured Savagery]

* Upgrades:

* Power: 100% -> 120%, 2 Passive Points

* Duration: +12 min, 2 Passive Points

I placed five passive points into the Power upgrade, and five points into Duration, upgrading both twice. This increased it to 140% attributes when active for 84 minutes. In both cases, the cost of the next upgrade increased from two to three passive points each.

Gregor had mentioned that every upgrade category could be upgraded five times, and that the last upgrade was about as strong as the four tiers combined. This likely meant that once I had this passive fully upgraded it was likely to triple my attributes for over two hours. Unfortunately, the last upgrade was the most expensive one, and I was quite short on passive points. For Attribute points, I placed the five points into agility, but decided to hold on to the skill points for the time being.

“Amelia doesn’t do dungeons either, does she?” I asked.

“No. She used to, but things have changed. She’s got responsibilities now, kids to watch over and feed.”

Next to the portal, and at the place where the boss died, four items laid in a clump. Two tusks, a hefty black pouch, and a [t2] dungeon orb.

[t2] Void Dungeon: Bone Crypt

* Portal uses: 6; Duration: 2 hours

* +10% Experience / +10% Item Quantity

* 23% increased monster action speed

“Wouldja look at that, Ivory,” Darya said. “What did I tell ya, eh? Does it work for you?”

I grabbed the two tusks that looked like rolling pins. Both were as long as my forearm and equally as thick, weighing a few pounds each. [Keen Eye] had them as [Streggon Ivory, Lesser Quality.]

“I think so? Won’t know for sure until I start crafting.”

Darya picked up the hefty pouch and looked inside. “This is wax, in case you’re wondering.”

“For making candles, right?”

“Mhm, and soap.”

“How much is the orb worth?” I asked her.

“Tier two? It's valued at two gold if you manage to sell it, but nobody around here would bite. There's a traveling merchant who comes by a few days after the Dark Night, but he won't offer a fair price for it. Best to peddle it yourself over at Kittrell.”

“How far is that?”

“A four-hour hike down south, but it's dicey. Wild critters, monsters, bandits, that sort.”

“Does the peddler sell any tomes?”

“Yeah, a decent selection, but it’s bloody overpriced.”

We split up the sixteen power crystals equally. I took the ivory, and she got the wax. The dungeon orb, we decided to run later together.

“You ought to make wands for the orphans,” she said casually.

“Do you think it’s a good idea?”

“No. I think it’s a great idea.”

I didn’t know how I felt about it, but I could see the benefit of it. This world wasn’t for the weak. It would give the orphans valuable practice with a weapon they might need to survive. Maybe I’d craft a few tiny Oak Wands so they wouldn’t do much damage to each other. With their low attributes and without [Power Shot] it may only be as powerful as a punch.

Before leaving, I noticed a corner of a tablet poking out of the sand. I bent down and pulled it out, dusting it off. It had text written on it.

In search of ground that’s always sealed

With tools of craft, our fate's revealed

In the realms where leeches grasp and bind

Amidst the tree, a key you’ll find.

“Hey, what’s this?” I asked Darya, holding the table up.

“Oh, that. It’s that stupid riddle. Many think it’s supposed to open a portal to a secret dungeon, but nobody has solved it so far -- not that I know about anyway, and I have asked many people about it too.”

“Should I take it with me?”

“Nah, just drop it, it’s worthless. I have that text written down somewhere already.”

Having taken all the loot, and eager to get out of the heat and the sun, we hurried through the portal and exited the dungeon. Back at the abbey we were greeted with a cacophony of screaming and shouting coming from downstairs. Strong smell of burning wood hung in the air. Banging noises thumped below.