Bob woke up to a dull rumbling sound coming from all around him.

He blinked his eyes and reached up to rub the sleep from his eyes before realizing that his head was unnaturally warm.

Bob sighed as full consciousness arrived, and with it the realization that Monroe had decided to drape himself over Bob's head, providing the stereo effect of purrmuffs.

"Hey buddy," Bob said as he reached up to stroke Monroe's silky fur.

Bob carefully wiggled down a few inches in order to allow himself to situp with disturbing Monroe.

He stood up, stretched, and crossed the room to the shower.

He'd advance himself to level eleven this morning and then hope that the twelfth level of the Dungeon sucked a bit less than the eleventh.

Confirming the temperature, Bob stepped into the shower and started to lather up.

He had a choice to make.

He'd already decided to give Thidwell the information for the Path of the Patient Warden. And while he wanted to tell Bailli about the Path of Elemental Conjuration, he was hesitant.

At what point did he stop?

Bob was aware of his social difficulties. And while the people of Thayland were much friendlier and just nicer, Bob wasn't sure he wanted to put himself in a position where he was the answer to all of their pathing questions.

He wanted to be left alone, maybe have breakfast with Elli, Harv, Bailli, Kelli, or even Eddi every few days.

Bob winced as he washed he ran his wash cloth across his hip.

The healed burn was still a little tender.

Maybe he could publish one path for each affinity crystal?

Bob rinsed off as he thought that over. At the moment, they knew where to find Summoning, Dimension, and Conjuration Affinity Crystals in Holmstead. Assuming Calder cooperated, they could trade out those Affinity Crystals at a one for one ratio for Abjuration Crystals.

Bob turned off the water and grabbed a towel before stepping out of the tub and over to the sink.

Bob grabbed his bristle brush and shaving soap and started to whisk up a thick foam as he considered the costs and ramifications.

Figuring that Harv would ritually transmute the printing plates at cost, he could probably get away with one page for how to obtain Affinity Crystals and their uses, and then half a page each for four paths that required them, one each for Conjuration, Dimension, Summoning, and Abjuration.

So three plates, or three hundred crystals.

Bob was currently sitting on sixteen hundred and nine mana crystals.

The problem was that the next five levels were going to take two hundred cystals each, so hitting fifteen would take a thousand crystals. Then it was four hundred a level for four levels, so another sixteen hundred. All in, it was going to take twenty-six hundred crystals to hit level nineteen. He then needed the crystals for the ritual, which if his math was right, would require almost three hundred mana crystals.

Another three hundred for Harv's Transumation rituals, and call it another hundred as a nest egg for whatever recovery time he'd need, and Bob was staring at thirty-three hundred mana crystals.

Bob desperately needed another tenth floor.

He'd been told that the first ten floors were for training, but he hadn't really appreciated it until he had delved the eleventh level of the Dungeon.

Now he was just hoping that he'd find a level he could farm up some mana crystals on, because he needed a lot of them, and the eleventh floor wasn't the answer.

Bob equipped his armor and then buckled a sleepy Monroe into his own before attaching the big fellow to the Makres.

He'd woken up early, and wanted to take twelve before hunting down Bailli at breakfast.

At some point during his deliberations, he'd decided to tell Bailli about the Elemental Conjuration path.

She was sort of a... a friend.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob sat in the ritual room, his eyes closed and focused on his breathing

Leveling up to twelve had gone as expected, and now having used the Elemental Water Affinity Crystal for a five-level boost to the school, he had only the Earth Crystal to go before he had all four. Then it was Plant, then Animal, then Conjuration, then he was out of Affinity Crystals.

No, it was the fact that hitting seventy-five percent matrix damage had shifted the math of his increased mana usage. He'd expected it to be two point seventy-five. But it wasn't. It was three.

Triple the cost of all his spells. His portal spell now required forty-two mana, and a persistent effect remained out of reach at sixty.

Deep breaths.

"Trebor," Bob said quietly, and as calmly as possible, "I'm assuming that reaching the seventy-five percent matrix damage triggered the jump to triple the mana costs for spells."

'It would appear so,' Trebor said pleasantly.

Bob grimaced.

Trebor had warned him.

In a roundabout kind of way.

Trebor, Bob considered, not for the first time, made a pretty shitty Google.

Bob pulled himself to his feet and reached up to rub Monroe's chin.

Heading up towards the tavern, he strove for calm.

It didn't matter. He was still on the same deadline with the same goals, and the same skills to do the job.

As Bob entered the Tavern, he spotted Bailli sitting at a table with Harv and Elli.

Sliding Monroe off the Makres and into his arms, Bob strode over to the table and deposited him onto the table within easy reach of Bailli and Elli, who both perked up at the sight of their Feline Overlord.

"Morning," Bob said as he sat down, catching Theo's attention and giving him a nod.

"Do you mind if I give him a catnip ball I made?" Elli asked as he rubbed Monroe's ears.

Bob nodded and motioned towards Monroe, "Go ahead, he'll most likely pass out."

Elli grinned and pulled out a ball that appeared to be hollow, given the many tiny holes in its surface.

He shook the ball, and while it didn't make a sound, Monroe, who had been lounging indolently on the table, sprang to his feet and crouched, his back slightly higher than his front, and his tail upright and twitching as he stared at the ball intently.

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Elli shook the ball again and moved it from side to side, watching as Monroe tracked it with intense focus. Smiling widely, Elli rolled the ball forward onto the table.

Monroe exploded into motion, pouncing on the ball and rolling over with it, holding it in his front paws while he bit at it, and used his hind legs to rake it.

Monroe twisted and turned and rolled as he savaged the ball, moving across the table and back before he suddenly let the ball go and rolled over on his back with his paws curled up and his tail draped across the table and started to purr loudly.

Elli chuckled and retrieved the ball.

Bob reached out and pulled Monroe into a position that wouldn't interfere with the breakfast that Theo was bringing to the table.

Bailli was beaming as she reached out to pet the now semi-comatose Maine-coon.

"Monroe loves catnip," Bob said idly as eyed his scrambled eggs.

"I can tell," Bailli said, earning a snort from Elli and Harv.

"So, Bailli," Bob started hesitantly, "How angry would you be with me, if I told you that I'd discovered another, better path for you, that requires a Conjuration Affinity Crystal?"

"What do you mean a 'better path'?" Bailli asked.

"This," Bob said and slid a sheet of paper over to her, where he'd written out the Elemental Path of Conjuration.

"Stars," she breathed as she read it.

"And stones," Harv added as he read it over her shoulder.

"I just reincarnated," Bailli grumbled.

"Yeah," Bob said awkwardly, "I didn't know about this path then, but I figured I should tell you about it before you go too far."

Bailli grimaced and said, "Well, I'm still level five, although I was planning to take six today if Gary has my enchantments done."

Bob nodded and said, "Well, at least you can still gather crystals on the sixth level of the Dungeon."

Elli let out a sigh and looked over at Harv who was rereading the paper Bob had handed over.

"You're going to do it aren't you?" Elli said sadly.

"The difference is obscene Elli," Harv said quietly.

"Yeah, but I'm going to be cooling my heels for months while you work your way back up to where we can group together again," Elli grumbled.

"Well," Bob said as he hesitantly pulled another piece of paper from his satchel, "I did sort of come up with something for the melee people, as we haven't found any affinity Crystals for them yet."

System Help, Path of the Arcane Blade. The Path of the Arcane Blade is obtained by having the following Skills: Magical School of Summoning, Summon Mana-Infused Object, Magical School of Conjuration, Weapon Enhancement, an Elemental Strike ability matching the Elemental Weapon Enhancement, and finally, the user must have currently equipped and active Summon Mana-Infused Object: Weapon (any), with a Weapon Enhancement skill. The user must also have an Affinity for the Magical Schools of Conjuration and Summoning. The Path of the Arcane Blade reduces the total penalty and mana cost of the Skills Weapon Enhancement and Summon Mana-Infused Object by two percent per level of the user. At each level, the user may select one additional skill from the Magical Schools of Conjuration and Summoning. Upon obtaining level five and every five levels thereafter, the user may select an additional Magical School or skill. Upon obtaining level five and every five levels thereafter, the user may select one skill and increase its maximum level by five. Upon reaching level twenty-five, the Mana-Infused Object and the summoned Weapon with the Weapon Enhancement requires no concentration to maintain.

Elli looked over the paper thoughtfully.

"I'd have to wait until level six to take Swords," he muttered, "but eventually..."

"Assuming my math is correct," Bob said, "and keeping in mind you'll have to level three skills to get there, but at level ten the math says you'll be hitting something for five hundred and fifty-one points of elemental damage, every sword strike."

Elli's jaw opened, then closed.

"That's almost twice the damage I'm doing now," Elli said quietly.

Bob nodded and said, "The level twenty-five bonus is what makes it truly disgusting. I did the math, and I kid you not, at level twenty-five you are sixteen thousand points of damage per hit."

Bob shook his head. "Now the Elemental Conjuration Path would deliver about ten percent more, I think..." Bob trailed off.

"Too many variables," Bob muttered, "anyways, it would put you in the same league, and let you continue fighting with a sword," he finished.

"I'd have to change to one coordination, two endurance, one intelligence, and one wisdom each level," Elli said as he stared off into space, clearly no longer paying attention.

Harv smiled and reached across to clasp Bob's shoulder as he said, "Thanks Bob, my main worry was that I'd end up making Elli wait around for me," he smiled warmly, "this way we can stick together."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Half an hour later, Bob walked out of the Gateway, and into the twelfth level of the Dungeon.

It was almost completely devoid of light, and Bob grumbled as he fed a mana crystal into his light-orb.

His surroundings now visible, Bob realized he was standing in a cave, complete with stalactites and stalagmites.

The floor was rough, uneven, and appeared to lead up from the Gateway at an angle. The ceiling was well outside the range of the light, and Bob could hear... something from up above.

Bob summoned a concentration-based UtahRaptor and walked outside the safety of the Gateway's radius.

He could hear shuffling and faint clicking noises in the darkness.

Bob took a few more steps forward then stopped, eyes wide, as a swarm of cockroaches scurried into the light.

Jake lept to the attack, dashing forward and slashing, clawing and biting into the swarm.

There were six of the cockroaches, each nearly four feet long and two feet tall, and they swarmed over the UtahRaptor.

Bob watched in horror as Jake was quickly torn apart, his flesh stripped to the bone. The UtahRaptor only lasted four seconds, in which time Jake had valiantly slain two cockroaches. Bob summoned another one as the first expired and sent it in.

This one lasted six seconds while killing three more roaches, leaving Bob to summon yet another UtahRaptor to deal with the last.

"Trebor," Bob said slowly as he stepped back towards the gate, "what the hell?"

'These are fully formed monsters,' Trebor replied, 'unlike the ones Thidwell has managed to cripple in the lower levels, they have primary skills.'

"So," Bob said quietly as his mind raced, "They have some sort of physical striking skill? Like Elli has swords?"

'Exactly,' Trebor replied, 'as the tier of this Dungeon is five, and we are on the twelfth level of the Dungeon, I expect they would have two skills, the other likely being durability given the creature type.'

"Fuck," Bob cursed softly.

'You'll remember,' Trebor continued, 'that very few people delve a Dungeon alone, although Curators are often the exception."

'Three mana for an effect over time barraged summon,' he thought quickly, 'another three to get a fourth, another three for a fifth, and another three for a sixth, so twelve mana, multiplied by three, because fuck matrix damage, so thirty-six mana.'

Bob grimaced. His current mana regen was sitting at ten point eight mana per second which left him with a net deficit of four point six mana every time he utilized that skill pattern.

That was, of course, assuming that a level six Jake could even tangle with one of those and come out ahead.

"You know," Bob said angrily, "given that Jake is a mana-infused creature, which is basically a monster, shouldn't he have some of those skills?" he asked in frustration.

'Yes,' Trebor answered.

Bob mentally reviewed his UtahRaptor's status.

"I'm not seeing them," Bob said.

'Under normal circumstances,' Trebor said, 'you'd receive a System message giving you options to choose from as you completed each threshold on your path, however, given your lack of a path, it isn't terribly surprising that you haven't received them.'

Bob gave in and screamed into the cavern, "FUCK!"

"So even with an affinity crystal on my summon UtahRaptor spell, because of my matrix damage, I'm a shitty summoner?" Bob asked sadly.

'I would say you're quite exceptional, most especially in comparison to the other summoners in this solar system,' Trebor said calmly, 'however, yes, your damaged matrix continues to impact you.'

"How much am I losing?" Bob asked with resignation.

'Well, based on your conception of the UtahRaptor,' Trebor said, 'I would assume it would have a natural attack skill, and likely a movement or a dodge skill, each of which would be equal to the level of your Summoning School.'

'So at the moment, a sixty-percent increase in damage, and likely its ability to dodge,' Trebor finished.

Bob shook his head.

"Trebor," Bob said, "can you tell me if this is a good place to farm crystals in terms of the rate at which they coalesce?"

'Yes,' Trebor responded, 'it would fall very close to the coalescence rate of the Boars and Scorpions you fought on the sixth and tenth level of the Dungeon.'

"Ok," Bob said thoughtfully.

The first fight had lasted roughly fifteen seconds or so. Maybe a trifle less, but calling it fifteen was easy enough.

That would equal out to twenty-four cockroaches a minute, or fourteen hundred and forty an hour, give or take.

Bob sighed and summoned out a barraged concentration based UtahRaptor pack.

"Let's see if this is any easier," he said and stepped back out of the Gateway's safety.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was a bit easier. It wasn't necessarily that much quicker, but it was safer, only requiring Bob to summon two waves instead of one.

It still wasn't as easy or safe as the sixth or tenth level of the Dungeon, as Bob had been caught out by a cockroach when the scuffle had come to close, and it had targetted him instead of his newly summoned UtahRaptor.

He'd made a mistake, and as seemed to be the usual, it had nearly cost him his life. His health bar had dropped so low that it was barely a sliver as the scything pincers had penetrated deep into his chest from both sides.

It had taken three quickly administered potions to bring his health back up above half, and he had vowed that he'd ask Harv if they had anything stronger.

Still, the twelve-hour long delve had paid off.

He'd slain fourteen thousand, three hundred and twenty-eight cockroaches, earning a total of four hundred and fifty-eight mana crystals.

It wasn't as good as the tenth level of the Dungeon, and Bob was willing to admit that he'd made a mistake in leaving that level without all the crystals he would need.

Still, Bob mused as he waved to Austan with one hand while tossing him a pouch with a dozen crystals in it with the other, if he could just push through this level for another five days, he'd have enough crystals to be safe.