Bob was sitting down in a canvas folding chair, watching Jake tear the ever-living hell out of pair of Scorpions.

He picked up the canteen in his lap and took a sip.

Even though it was seventy-something under the awning, it was still incredibly dry, and Bob was determined to stay hydrated. To that end, he'd purchased a canteen from Gary that looked suspiciously like Elli's.

Turns out you just had to feed a mana crystal into it, and it was good to create ten gallons of water. It was well worth the hundred and fifty mana crystals.

The tenth level of the Dungeon was proving to be a bonanza.

Monroe was in another cloth chair next to Bob, sprawled out and napping.

So far, Bob and Monroe had only had to abandon their shelter twice, when a rogue scorpion arrived.

Bob sighed as he stood up and started packing away the chairs, scooping Monroe up onto the Makres as he went.

He'd been down here for ten hours.

Thidwell had been right, with his Endurance over twenty, the anxiety had disappeared.

Still, he wanted to make it to the Tavern before dinner was over. After hours you could still get a sandwich, or maybe a cup of soup, depending, but it wasn't a full meal.

And even if Bob could have gone on short rations, he knew that his feline overlord would be terribly displeased with him if they missed dinner.

Bob finished packing up the tent, dismissed his UtahRaptor, and portaled back to the Gateway.

He'd murdered ten thousand two hundred and eighty-five scorpions. Well, Jake had murdered them, on Bob's behalf. One scorpion every three and a half seconds.

Bob shook his head as he pressed his token to the gate.

Another four hundred and one crystals, and his summon UtahRaptor had reached level twenty-two.

As Bob walked towards the tavern, he considered how easy this was for him.

With his broken matrix.

And no path.

Affinity Crystals were truly the difference between struggling to survive this world and mastering it.

He knew that when the Endless Swarm kids hit level ten, they'd have an even easier time of it than he did.

He'd done the math, and at level ten with a maxed out nuke, his 'Super Savants' were going to be one-shotting three scorpions at once with a barrage.

Bob walked into the tavern and spotted Eddi sitting with the three J's and Bailli.

Bob wandered over and seeing as the table lacked plates, deposited Monroe in front of the J's and Bailli, who eagerly reached to lavish affection upon him.

Bob took a seat next to Eddi and pulled Harv's old staff out of his inventory.

"Harv gave this to me," Bob said awkwardly as he presented the staff to Eddi, "and showed me the initials of everyone else who'd used it," Bob pointed out the rough carving on the shaft.

"It served me well, and I figured you might like to have it now that you're level five," Bob finished uncomfortably as he handed the staff over to a wide-eyed Eddi, who clutched it tightly in one hand before lunging forward and hugging Bob.

Bob fought back the urge to panic. Eddi was just a kid, and he wasn't attacking him. He was... hugging him. This is what people did.

A few awkward seconds went by before Eddi let go, and Bob let out an involuntary twitch.

"So," Bob said, determined to ignore what had just happened, "I've spent the past two days on the tenth level of the Dungeon, and you are going to love it there," Bob promised Eddi.

Eddi gave him a grin and cradled his new staff to his chest.

"So," Bob turned his attention to Bailli in hopes of finding a less uncomfortable conversation, "Bailli, how are things going?"

"Fantastic," Bailli gushed with a wide smile, "I haven't taken my path yet, but I'm just destroying the rats on the fifth level of the Dungeon."

Bob nodded and asked, "What level is your lightning blast spell at?"

"Thirteen," said Bailli with a chuckle that four parts good humor, and one part maniacal laughter.

"Damn," Bob said, "that is impressive," he paused to do a bit of math before continuing, "it's what, five hundred and forty-five or so?"

"It's amazing how you do that," Bailli huffed, "but yes, I'm at five-hundred and forty-six points of damage with a lightning blast."

Bob shook his head and said, "You know you could one-shot the Scorpions on the tenth level of the Dungeon, right now?"

Bailli blinked and her mouth opened into an "O".

"Really?" she asked.

"Yep," Bob confirmed and nodded to Theo as he approached the table with plates for everyone else.

The J's sighed in an eerie harmony, and Jammi said, "That's why we are holding at level five and farming up crystals on level six."

Bob cocked his head and looked at the three sisters, who were all petting Monroe, and eloquently said, "Huh?"

Jacki said, "We know you'll come up with some crystals and plans for the rest of us," she said.

Bob swallowed and quickly said, "I'm not sure what you three do in combat, but unless it has something to do with Summoning, Dimension, Abjuration, or Conjuration, I'm afraid I don't have any crystals that will help you."

"We're sure you will soon enough," Julli said confidently.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob lay in bed with Monroe curled up on his legs.

The conversation had veered off, although Bob had discovered that the J's had some sort of religious path, and they were spear-wielding, healing, valkyries. Kind of.

He resolved to ask Thidwell just exactly how he determined what was on each level. Assuming he had that degree of control.

A monster with healing magic, Bob though, would be a cast-iron bitch to beat down, without the advantage of affinity crystals anyway.

It all came back to affinity crystals.

Bob was pretty sure that Eddi would be able to take on the twenty-sixth level of the Dungeon when he had leveled himself up to twenty.

All you needed was one person, who wasn't a power-hungry, secret hoarding douche.

And for all the other power-hungry, secret hoarding douches to leave that one person alone, he added darkly.

He was pretty sure that Trebor was right on the money, and in another couple of months the Royals and the Nobles would show up to try and shut the knowledge down.

In preparation for that event, Bob had started putting together a short, condensed document explaining how to obtain Affinity Crystals and the best ways to use them.

He figured he could do it all in one page.

Then he just had to build a printing press.

It didn't have to be fancy, no need for any sort of typesetting. It had to print one page, over and over again.

Or he could throw a hundred or so crystals at Harv and ask him to ritually transmute it for him.

Either way, he was going to work to have this knowledge spread far and wide.

Bob reached down and rubbed Monroe's ears, prompting the big fella to start purring.

Bob closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob was putting in the work. Two more days had passed, and he'd been on the tenth level of the Dungeon for twelve hours each day.

Twenty-four thousand, six hundred, and eighty-three scorpions.

While it was pleasant enough, Bob was getting sick of sand and scorpions.

Still, he'd managed to not only level his Summon UtahRaptor spell to level twenty-three, thereby reaching his current cap, but he'd also managed to level his summoning school up to level six.

Bob had also pulled in nine-hundred and thirty-seven crystals, bringing his current total to fourteen hundred and eighty-six.

While he was pleased with his progress, as he walked back into the tavern, he couldn't help but feel anxious.

Bob loved math. And he'd done his. In three more levels, he wouldn't be able to use his Portal spell. The mana cost would be too high.

If his math was correct, he'd still be able to barrage out a concentration-based Summon UtahRaptor all the way until level nineteen... but he was anxious.

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He found an empty table and sank down into a chair with a sigh.

He thought about the huge pile of crystals in the satchel in his inventory.

In theory, he could push to level ten, and then all the way to fifteen, just with crystals in that bag.

He wouldn't be able to take sixteen, but he'd come close.

Bob pulled himself out of his thoughts as Theo approached the table, and in a rare moment of verbosity, looked at Bob quizzically and said, "Cat?"

Bob chuckled and pulled Monroe out of his inventory, pouring him onto the table. Theo nodded and headed back to the kitchen.

Bob reached out and started petting Monroe, who seemed to recognize that it was dinner time, and he was in the place where dinner was served and had therefore decided to forgive Bob for pulling him out of his nap.

Bob was focused on Monroe and didn't realize Bailli had sat down at the table until she added her own offerings of affection to the big Maine-coon.

"Long days in the Dungeon?" Bailli asked as she played with Monroe's toe-tufts, and activity that was hit or miss depending on the day. Today appeared to be one of the days when it didn't displease him.

Bob nodded and said, "Twelve hours yesterday, and twelve hours today."

"Those are some long days," Bailli agreed, "but I can't say anything, as I've done just over ten hours a day for the past two days."

Bob shook his head and said in what he thought was a mournful tone, "Harv and Elli are going to be so disappointed in us."

Bailli let out a pleasant, melodic laugh, and said, "Oh don't I know it, I can almost hear the lectures in my head."

She shook her head and continued, "But the results," she smiled, "I'm back on the sixth level of the Dungeon, and I'm can kill three boars at once."

Her smile was dazzling as she went on, "The difference is incredible, it isn't even a challenge," she said, "if I'd been able to do this last time when we ended up with those extra boars..."

She grimaced and reached over to touch her newly regrown arm.

Bob nodded and said quietly, "And eventually, if everyone knows about Affinity Crystals, everyone will be able to Delve more safely."

"I wish there were Invocation Affinity Crystals," Bailli said with a sigh, "Erik, my fiance, is an initiate of Slyph, and I know he would reincarnate if there were."

Bob shook his head and said, "I don't know as much about Affinty Crystals as I'd like," Bob admitted, "besides knowing you have to be fighting something both one tier and three levels higher than you are."

"I do plan to talk to Thidwell about how he has designed the Dungeon," Bob said, "I don't know if he can control what monsters show up and what skills they have, but if he can, he could arrange for the next couple of levels he builds to produce Affinity Crystals for the most popular skills in town that we don't yet have them for," he finished.

Bailli nodded as she beamed at him, "That would be amazing! I know there are a lot of Adventurers who melee and parry, just having those two crystals as an option would be fantastic."

Bob returned her smile hesitantly and said, "You'll probably find out before I will, or maybe Eddi."

Bailli shook her head ruefully and said, "Yesterday evening I heard that Eddi managed to find someone to make him a saddle for his monster, and he was racing it around town."

Bob snorted in amusement.

"Forget the Bear Cavalry, here comes the T-Rex brigade," Bob muttered.

"So are you taking a break tomorrow, or are you planning to run a full day?" Bailli asked.

"Oh, I'm expecting to run all day," Bob said, "I'll level up to ten tomorrow morning then head down to the eleventh level of the Dungeon."

Bailli shook her head, and gave Monroe a final pat before standing up, "I'll likely see you in a few days, don't push too hard," she said as she turned and headed out of the tavern.

Bob leaned back and continued to pet Monroe, who had focused in on Theo, who was threading his way to the table, a plate for Bob and a bowl for his Imperial Majesty in his hands.

"I know Buddy," Bob quietly said to Monroe, "it's your favorite time of the day."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob sat across from Thidwell's secretary, whose name was Alli.

Bob had remembered to ask.

To be fair, he remembered everything these days. It just didn't always reach the top of his order of operations.

Bob had come directly to Thidwell's office from the Ritual Room after leveling up to ten, at the same time using the Elemental Water Affinity Crystal, and taking the school along with the five level bonus to the school's maximum level.

As expected his System Damage had risen to seventy-two percent.

Monroe was curled up in his lap purring as Bob rubbed his ears.

Thidwell's door opened and Kelli came out.

He walked over to Bob with a grin and reached down to pet Monroe.

"How are things going?" Kelli asked.

"Just leveled up to ten, heading down to the eleventh level of the Dungeon," Bob answered, "just need to talk to Thidwell for a minute before I get started."

Kelli nodded and gave Monroe a final pat and started to turn away as he said, "I'm going to have a late dinner tonight with Harv and Elli, you should join us if you can tear yourself away from the monsters."

"Sure," Bob said, as Alli motioned for him to go into Thidwell's office.

Bob slid Monroe up onto the Makres and walked into the Curator's office, closing the door behind him and sliding into one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"There has been a complication in my... our plan," Bob said, "it turns out that the matrix damage I'm suffering from is getting worse every time I increase my level, and by the time I reach level nineteen I won't have enough of a matrix intact to level again."

Thidwell grunted thoughtfully, and after a moment said, "Kelli had to pour potions down your throat when you summoned your cat," he nodded to Monroe, "so I'm guessing that this is likely to be even worse?"

Bob nodded and replied, "From what I understand I'm going to need a professional healer, pouring spells into me to keep me alive."

He shrugged and added, "I'm also going to guess that it's going to be the most painful experience I'm ever likely to have."

Thidwell looked at Bob shrewdly before saying, "But that isn't why you're here."

Bob shook his head, "No, it isn't," he agreed, "it turns out that not only can I use Affinity Crystals, I can also use any crystal to increase my level until I take a path," Bob took a deep breath, "So, I could bank up the crystals I need over the next few days on the eleventh or twelfth level of the Dungeon, and then level up to nineteen, summon Amber, and have my matrix repaired."

"However," Bob said, "That would leave me at level nineteen, with about seven or eight levels worth of leveling to do in terms of my spell, and while my Summon UtahRaptor is quite impressive at level twenty-three on the tenth level of the Dungeon, I have a feeling it won't quite be so amazing at level twenty-three on the nineteenth level of the Dungeon," he finished.

Thidwell let out a rumbling sigh and drummed his fingers on the top of his desk.

"So," he rumbled, "you're looking for someone to shepherd you a bit once you've fixed your matrix?"

Bob nodded silently.

Thidwell stood up and began to pace back and forth behind his desk.

Bob waited quietly, recognizing the man's patterns.

"Meer or Crenshaw, probably Crenshaw," Thidwell finally said as he came to a halt behind his desk.

"The Nobles?" Bob asked warily.

Thidwell made a slashing motion with his hand and said, "They aren't like the Nobles in Harbordeep," he said with a disgusted tone, "I've fought beside them often enough to know that they don't know anything about Affinity Crystals, they're just like the rest of us."

Thidwell sat down in his chair and pointed a huge finger at Bob and asked, "Do you know how Crenshaw and Meer came to be Noble houses here in Holmstead?"

Bob shook his head.

"Well," Thidwell said roughly, "they were two of the families that were part of the original expedition that founded this town."

Thidwell gestured in a circle and said, "Those two families, over the past ten generations, have paid for seven-tenths of the wall that encircles Holmstead," the huge man then pointed down, "and they've paid for more than half of the Dungeon expansions I've made as well."

Bob waited, and when it appeared Thidwell was stopping for more than just breath, he asked, "What do you mean by 'paid for the Dungeon expansions?'"

Thidwell let out a booming laugh and said, "Do you know how many rituals it takes to create a single level in the Dungeon?" he shook his head, "I just finished the thirty-fourth level, and it took just under six hundred rituals to create it."

"Sixty thousand fucking mana crystals?" Bob gasped as the math resolved itself instantly in his mind.

Thidwell directed a grim smile at Bob, "You're damn quick with the number, and yes. Sixty-thousand."

"Crenshaw and Meer have about twenty members each who are actively delving the Dungeon," Thidwell said, "the two houses have a friendly competition running as far as who donates more crystals to the Dungeon each month, but they average around five thousand each, or about two-hundred and fifty per member, per month."

"Which," Thidwell rumbled, "is about two hours a day, every day."

He pointed his finger at Bob again and said, "Those assholes in Harbordeep are the ones keeping secrets and endangering people's lives with their stubborn insistence on clinging onto their power, not Meer and Crenshaw."

"In fact," Thidwell said darkly, "I'd lay a thousand crystals on the ones in Harbordeep being the only ones who know, at least here."

"Ok," Bob said slowly, "I can accept that the nobles here aren't bad people, and if you could see if a couple of them could shepherd me on the twentieth level of the Dungeon after I've finished the plan, I'd appreciate it."

"But this does sort of segue into another question," Bob continued, "as a curator, just how much control do you have over the Dungeon?"

Thidwell let out a sigh that rang with frustration and said, "Total control over how each level is shaped, the size, the environment, all of that."

"I can pick the plants," Thidwell rumbled with a frown, "and I can pick the animals, and I can even choose where the mana will pool and the monsters will form."

He shook his head and went on, "But I don't have very much control at all over what abilities the mana-spawned animals will have."

"By choosing the animals, I can almost guarantee that the mana-spawned animals will be those types," He grumbled, "but if there is a skill needed to select what abilities the animals will have, I haven't found it yet, nor did my father."

Thidwell grinned slyly as he finished and asked, "Been giving a bit more thought to the Curator path, eh?"

"Well, yes," Bob said, not entirely untruthfully. After all, Arcane Depths was a derivative of the Curator path wasn't it?

"But also I was talking to a few people, and they asked me about other Affinity Crystals, ones we haven't found yet," he said.

Thidwell nodded and said, "They might well be waiting for you, when I worked on the thirtieth, thirty-first, and thirty-second levels of the Dungeon, I wasn't in range to obtain Affinity Crystals," he shrugged his massive shoulders, "who knows what I might have missed."

Bob nodded slowly as he mulled something over in his mind that had been eating at him.

"You think I should become a Curator," Bob said slowly as he felt around the edges of the idea.

Thidwell nodded.

Bob blinked as he made a series of mental leaps.

"You want me to curate the Dungeon while you reincarnate so you can use Affinity Crystals, and level back up to the point where you can take back over," Bob gasped.

Thidwell directed a wide smile towards Bob, although it didn't seem to offer any assurances that he was wrong.

"Indeed," Thidwell rumbled, "once you discovered the benefits of using Affinity Crystals before selecting your path, I couldn't help but think about how much better I would be if I had used them."

"Yet, I don't have anyone I could trust to keep clearing the lowest level of the Dungeon, day after day, week after week, as I worked to regain my levels," Thidwell said, his smile now bearing an uncanny resemblance to Monroe preparing to deliver the killing blow to a mouse once he was done playing with it.

"While the Dungeon doesn't need much upkeep," Thidwell said, "it does require some, mostly routing and balancing the mana flows, which effectively requires a Curator, or someone with the same skills, who would then, of course, have taken the Curator path, because it would be stupid not to if you were going to take those skills."

"But you," Thidwell said, "you are in a position to take the Curator Path and I don't think I'm wrong when I say that you'd be happy to do so if it squared the two of us?"

Bob nodded slowly.

"What Crystals would you use?" Bob asked slowly.

"The four elemental crystals," Thidwell rumbled, "and yes, I'd need you to go to Harbordeep and get them for me."

"What about the other two?" Bob asked, "You're tier six, you'd be able to use six crystals before you took your path."

Thidwell shrugged and said, "I'll likely use a Conjuration Crystal and an Abjuration Crystal, as those are the ones Calder and I are currently finding.

"Let me give all this a little thought," Bob said as he stood, "I'll go push through the eleventh level of the Dungeon today, and we'll revisit this conversation in a day or two."

Thidwell nodded and gestured for Bob to leave.

Bob opened the door, then turned.

"What can I expect on the eleventh level of the Dungeon?" Bob asked.

"Do you remember the third floor?" Thidwell asked.

Bob winced and reached up to touch his cheek.

"I recall a particularly nasty swamp," Bob muttered, "and some vicious frogs."

"Oh," Bob said, "and branches under the water that I swear moved on their own."

Thidwell leveled a smile at Bob that practically oozed maliciousness and said, "I'm glad you noticed, it's always the little details that bring everything together," he chuckled wickedly, "if you liked the third level of the Dungeon you're going to adore the eleventh."

"It's another swamp," Thidwell said with barely hidden glee, "but this one has alligators and mosquitoes."

"Mosquitoes?" Bob asked.

"Yes," Thidwell said with satisfaction.

Bob slowly backed out of the door and closed it.

He nodded to Alli and headed down the stairs.

He once again revised his opinion of Thidwell. He'd never appeared friendly, or benevolent, but now Bob was being forced to question if the man wasn't just a tad bit evil.

If, as Thidwell said, you could select the creatures on each level, if not their abilities, that would mean Thidwell had chosen to introduce Mosquitoes into the Dungeon.

"That is just wrong," Bob muttered as headed into the tavern for breakfast.