Bob looked over the list of potential paths of apotheosis.

- Or'lind

  Mostly humanoid, Endurance, Coordination, Melee, Parry. Head ridges, long fingers, no facial hair.

- Hansi

  Mostly humanoid, Endurance, Wisdom, Elemental Earth, Elemental Fire. Coarse, broad features, lobeless ears, both shorter and stockier but still within the normal range.

- Etaru

  Mostly humanoid, Endurance, Elemental Water, Elemental Earth, Plant. Very tall, almost outside of human norms, slender, delicate features. No incisors, apparently not omnivorous.

- Ala-dari

  Mostly humanoid, Endurance, Elemental Air, Elemental Fire, Sanctum. Would look almost perfectly human, except the skin coloration ranges through the colors found in a sunset or sunrise. Possible to pass as having an especially ruddy complexion.

- Uansai

  Mostly humanoid, Endurance, Coordination, Intelligence, Elemental Water. Ashen skin, slightly canted eyes, webbing between their toes, and gills running down their sides.

- Seaur

  Completely humanoid, Endurance, Psychometabolism, Telepathy, Telekinesis. Especially vivid eye color.

- Baursin

  Mostly humanoid, Endurance, Dimension, Transmutation, Conjuration. Proportionally larger than humans by twenty percent in all dimensions.

Trebor had advised that if he removed the requirement for Endurance as a natural affinity, the list would grow by a factor of ten.

If Bob gave up on the humanoid requirement, the list would grow exponentially.

He wasn't at all certain he was willing to entertain the idea of Apotheosizing at all.

He had a lot of work to do, and realistically, none of it required him to be over level twenty-five.

His lifespan was already reaching three centuries.

The idea of being something other than human...

Bob had taken the Polymorph: Animal spell from the Animal school.

Mostly because he thought it would be useful if he ever needed to hide or blend in.

Also, because he'd thought it would be neat to play with Monroe when he was a cat as well.

That had been a bit fun, and Monroe had certainly seemed to approve of his human recognizing the perfection of the feline form, but it had been odd.

The idea of living in a body that wasn't his made him shudder.

Bob slid the list into his satchel.

He would have plenty of time to consider his options; he hadn't even reached level twenty-five yet, let alone amassed the crystals needed to apotheosis to tier six.

This morning he'd be heading to Harbordeep, courtesy of Calder's dimenionalist friend who was going to hop over.

Bob just needed to have a quick chat with Thidwell first.

~ ~ ~ ~

Ali gestured for Bob to head into Thidwell's office as soon as he entered the waiting room.

Bob opened the door, walked into the room, shut the door, and sat down on one of the chairs in front of Thidwell's oversize desk.

The huge man was standing in front of a bookcase to the right, presumably reading something, although Bob couldn't see a book from this angle.

Seconds passed, and then a minute. Finally, Thidwell turned to face him, sliding a book back onto the shelf as he did so.

"Bob," Thidwell grunted, stalking back to his desk.

"You're off to Harbordeep this morning," Thidwell stated.

"I am," Bob said, "but I wanted to drop these off first," Bob slid six Summoning Affinity Crystals onto the desk, "before I left."

Thidwell's lips twisted into a grim smile, and he scooped the crystals.

"Another step closer," the big man said, "to every town and city suffering from no casualties during a wave."

Bob nodded and asked, "Is there anything you think I should know or be cautious of in Harbordeep? Keeping in mind that I'm not local?"

Thidwell grimaced and nodded, "A few things to keep in mind," he said gruffly, "first, Harbordeep has a sort of hierarchy, socially."

"It's mostly based on tier, although differences in level, path, affiliation with various organizations, and religion come into play within your tier, and can, in the right circumstances, stretch beyond it slightly," Thidwell stated.

"As a base tier, that won't matter too terribly much to you," he continued, "bow your head and move out of the way of everyone, and you won't offend anyone."

"The Adventurers Guild in Harbordeep doesn't hold nearly as much prestige as it does here in Holmstead," Thidwell shook his head sourly, "The nobles and royalty are the most powerful group, wielding enough social and economic influence, as well as raw physical and magical might, that the Churches and the Guild are left to squabble over the scraps."

He gave a shrug of his shoulders and said, "Given the nature of life, the Church tends to take primacy, leaving the Adventurers Guild as a mainly bureaucratic organization, curating the Dungeon, keeping track of delves, and collecting and categorizing the reports from the Guild branches in the other cities."

"Unlike Holmstead," Thidwell went on, "you'll purchase your Gateway Token from the Guild rather than the Church."

"You'll also find that the Guild in Harbordeep is considerably less concerned with the welfare of its members," he grimaced, "which means that your delving on the twenty-sixth through thirtieth floors should go unremarked."

"Avoid the noble quarter, and avoid the palace," Thidwell instructed, "you'll not be noticed in the rest of the city."

"Finally, be prepared to pay five, or even ten times the cost for meals and lodging," Thidwell said, "and twice or more for anything you might decide to have crafted while you are there."

"I have about a thousand mana crystals," Bob said as Thidwell had either taken an extraordinarily long pause or had finished, "will that be enough to cover my room and board?"

"It should, and if not, you'll have been gathering Crystals while you're there," Thidwell grunted.

Bob nodded. There wasn't much else to say.

"Ellan will be here in an hour or so," Thidwell said, "best have everything you need on you; Calder says he likes to keep moving."

"I'll be ready, he can find me in the tavern," Bob said as he stood up and reached across the desk to clasp Thidwell's shoulder.

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"I'll be back with your crystals as soon as I have them," Bob promised, and then headed out the door.

~ ~ ~ ~

"He'll be fine," a disembodied voice spoke from the corner of the room.

The air rippled, and two men appeared, one tall and stocky, the other short and slender.

"Assuming he can keep his head down, no one will notice him," the taller of the two said.

"From what Kelli saw in his mind, he's had long practice at that Calder," Thidwell said as he sat down in his chair.

Calder and the slender man took seats across from him.

"I have to admit, I'm quite excited about those paths he's discovered," the short man said, "enough so that if I can find someone willing to take the Path of the Bountiful Step and serve as our dimensionalist for a while, I'll be reincarnating to that path."

"That's one of the reasons I shared that pamphlet with you a little ahead of schedule," Thidwell said, "I figured you'd want to lay things out ahead of time, Ellan."

"So he found you a special path as well?" Calder asked.

Thidwell gave his friend a smile that twisted up on one corner.

"That he did," Thidwell stated.

"Care to share?" Calder asked with a smile of his own.

"Do you have anyone who can take over your Dungeon if you reincarnate?" Thidwell asked bluntly.

Calder sighed and shook his head as he slumped back.

"No," Caldwell said sadly, "no, I don't. There are always a few people taking the Curator path, but most of them are holding around level ten or so, and I doubt I could tempt them into advancing to tier six quickly."

"I'm not sure how well Bob is going to like curating Holmstead's Dungeon while I reincarnate," Thidwell rumbled, "but if it turns out he enjoys it or at least doesn't dislike it, you might be able to convince him to help you out as well."

"How did you convince him to take a Curator path and help you?" Calder asked with a bright smile.

"I sent the Adventurers that saved his life, spent a couple of hundred crystals helping him get situated, and then offered him the full support of the Guild here in Holmstead to assist his efforts toward saving his cat," Thidwell said flatly.

"Bob is a man of..." Thidwell hesitated.

"I'd say honor, but it's more akin to integrity," Thidwell mused, "if he gives you his word, or he feels he owes you a debt, he'll go to any end to fulfill his obligations."

"At the same time," Thidwell rumbled, "if he had to make a choice between saving the life of a person he didn't know and his cat, that stranger is as good as dead."

"His morals are skewed by virtue of not being from our world, and his world having mistreated him so badly that the most important thing in all the universe to him is his pet cat," Thidwell finished.

"I don't think that's really a positive endorsement," Ellan blurted out.

Thidwell shrugged.

"Don't stand between Bob and Monroe, and you'll likely never encounter that aspect of his personality," Thidwell said, "but if you make the man an offer and he accepts, he'll see it through."

"And what could we offer him?" Calder asked slowly.

"More of those Plant, Animal, and Abjuration Affinity Crystals," Thidwell suggested.

Calder and Ellan both grimaced at that and exchanged a loaded look.

"Truthfully," Calder sighed, "I've been trading every Abjuration Affinity Crystal I have to you, in exchange for Conjuration Affinity Crystals because I think those will have more impact in Everwood."

"And we don't have anyone at the correct level to delve for the Plant and Animal Affinity Crystals," Ellan added.

"That's easily enough solved," Thidwell said, "grab a promising fresher, swear them to secrecy, and offer them a Conjuration Affinity Crystal, as well as the Path of the Elemental Conjurer, in exchange for rushing to whatever level they need to gather those Affinity Crystals, and then doing exactly that, say twenty-five of each."

"You would be alright with us starting a fresher early?" Calder asked eagerly.

"As long as you drop a Geas on him to keep it to himself," Thidwell replied.

"That could work," Ellan said thoughtfully, "especially if you explain to them that the secrecy is just temporary, and everyone will have this capability soon."

"I could work the hero angle," Calder mused, "Promise to keep them on the wall to significantly reduce, if not eliminate casualties."

Thidwell shrugged and said, "You're the Curator of Everwood, I'm sure you can ascertain where to apply pressure on one of your Adventurers."

~ ~ ~ ~

Bob sat down and carefully manhandled a sleeping Monroe out of his inventory and onto the table.

Theo caught his eye, and they both nodded to each other simultaneously.

Bob sighed as he reached out to dig his fingers into Monroe's ruff.

It was jarring to think that he had friends here that he would miss while he was in Harbordeep.

He'd never had friends before.

Eddi crashed down into the seat next to him, grinning happily.

"Good morning Bob!" Eddi said excitedly, "how are you and Monroe doing this morning?"

Monroe opened one eye to gaze disapprovingly at the creator of the loud noise that had woken him from his peaceful repose.

"I'm doing alright," Bob allowed, "but I think you've awoken his imperial majesty."

Eddi reached out and offered chin rubs to atone for his sin, which Monroe appeared willing to accept as reparations.

"I heard you did great on the wall," Bob said.

Eddi's grin widened further, and he said, "It was awesome! The Rexettes kept everything back from the wall, and when a huge badger came up to the wall, Rexxy just destroyed it!"

Eddi gestured wildly with one hand as he spoke, the other still occupied with offering kitty worship.

"I mean just 'Chomp!', 'Rip!', 'Tear!', it was fantastic!" Eddi gushed enthusiastically.

Bob smiled and reached over and clasped Eddi's shoulder, "You saved a lot of lives," he said, "you should be proud of that."

Eddi blushed and calmed down a bit, turning both of his hands to the task of feline adoration, a situation of which Monroe approved.

"I just tried to do what you did," Eddi said, "except I was never in any danger, but you," he struggled for the words, "you risked your life for people you didn't know. I've seen the memories, and you almost died three times."

Eddi shook his head, "I'm not really a hero, not like you," he said quietly.

"Saving lives is saving lives," Bob said firmly, "believe me, if I hadn't had to risk my life, I wouldn't have."

Bob shook his head and said, "The difference between stupidity and bravery is often survival."

Eddi let out a little laugh and replied, "I'll remember that."

Bob nodded before changing the subject.

"Are you going to be rushing to twenty-two or twenty-three to start gathering Summoning Affinity Crystals on the twenty-seventh floor?" Bob asked.

Eddi nodded and said, "That was the deal Thidwell made with me, I get to be one of the first people to have an Affinity Crystal and a special Path, but I've got to gather fifty more Summoning Affinity Crystals for him."

"Just remember," Bob said with a smile, "every crystal you gather is one person who can stand on the wall like you did, ensuring that no lives are lost during a wave."

Theo arrived with a plate of scrambled eggs for Bob and a serving bowl of steaming meat chunks for Monroe, who rose from his puddle state and started to delicately eat his meal.

"How are the J's?" Bob asked, "I haven't seen them for a while."

"Oh, they are camped out on the sixth floor," Eddi said, "they don't want to have to work in their parents' greenhouse this winter, so they are gathering mana crystals to hire someone with earth, plant, and ritual magic to grow a few crops for them."

Eddi leaned forward and said more quietly, "They are also waiting for you to find an Invocation, Animancy, or Sanctum Affinity Crystal."

Bob sighed.

"I thought I'd made it clear that I had no idea where to find those," he muttered.

Eddi's smile returned, and he said, "They're convinced that you'll find them eventually, so they aren't focusing on advancing too far down their paths."

Bob dug into his eggs and chatted with Eddi.

Eddi ribbed him gently about not having taken Melee Strike and expressed his astonishment that Jake had been working as well as he had without it.

Eddi told him that he'd also taken dodge, which really helped his Rexettes survive, as they weren't massively over-leveled like Rexxy.

Bob was a little surprised to learn that Eddi had also taken other melee skills, including all four elemental strikes.

As they discussed the merits of melee skills for a spell caster, Thidwell let out a rumbling cough from behind them.

"Bob," the big man said, "this is Calder," Thidwell nodded to a tall, stocky man with sandy blond hair and warm brown eyes, "and Ellan," Thidwell gestured to a short, slender man with brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Pleased to meet you," Bob said as he carefully hefted Monroe onto his Makres before standing up and nodding to each man in turn.

"Ellan here is going to teleport you to an obelisk a few miles from Harbordeep," Thidwell rumbled, "good luck, and the Gods' blessings on you."

Calder and Thidwell moved through the tavern to the exit while Ellan shuffled impatiently next to him.

"Do you have everything you need?" Ellan asked hurriedly.

Bob nodded and turned to Eddi.

"I'll see you in a few weeks," he said, "keep up the good work."

Eddi nodded and replied, "I'll put in the work," he promised.

Turning back to Ellan, Bob gestured towards him and said, "I'm packed and ready, lead on."

"Great!" Ellan said as he grabbed Bob's arm and started pulling him out of the tavern, "I'll get you there and hop back, got a lot of things to do today, can't stick around."

Bob stiffened at the unfamiliar touch, but Ellan either didn't notice or didn't care.

"We'll just pop out to the watchtower on the northeast side of the city and teleport from there," Ellan said, "I'll have you in Harbordeep in a jiffy."

Bob valiantly suppressed his supreme dislike of unwanted physical contact and cast a portal spell.

"Watchtower is right through here," Bob grunted and stepped through the portal, leaving Ellan no choice but to either let go of his arm or follow.

Ellan followed and then let go of Bob's arm as he looked around, his hands digging into his satchel.

"Thidwell said you had Dimension, but I assumed it was teleport, not portal," Ellan said absently as he pulled out a roll of copper wire and started laying out a ritual circle.

Bob was impressed at how quickly and efficiently Ellan laid out his circle.

Bob had only used chalk or the bronze inlay in the ritual room at the Guild.

"Step inside the circle, just there," Ellan gestured to his right.

Bob stepped over the copper wire and into the circle, where Ellan grabbed his arm and said, "alright, count it down from one hundred, and we'll be there."

One hundred seconds later, the world twisted, and Bob found himself standing in what would have been a massive cobblestone courtyard if it had had any walls.

There was a large granite obelisk rising fifty feet from the center of the cobblestones.

Ellan let go of Bob's arm and gestured for him to head out of the cobblestone area.

Bob considered that this was likely a wise idea as people appeared around the obelisk in a steady stream.

"You might need to shield your eyes from the sun," Ellan said, "but there it is, Harbordeep, capital of Greenwald!"

Bob squinted his eyes and raised a hand to shield them, then took his first look at the city of Harbordeep.