The nice thing about fighting tier ten monsters was the difficulty.
They were pulling two thousand and forty-six experience for each monster, and while it was divided amongst the group, it was still delivering real progress on advancing their spells, which was great.
But the real value came from the challenge.
Bob had been brute forcing his way through combat ever since he'd arrived on Thayland. He'd focused on making a bigger, badder Jake, and when that had struggled, he'd made more bigger, badder Jakes.
There was no problem that couldn't be solved through grinding his spells up a few levels.
He'd become complacent.
The only person in the group who hadn't was Mike.
The retired Marine understood small-unit combat in a way that the rest of them didn't.
But they were learning.
That might have been an even greater benefit than the experience that wasn't just rolling but cascading in.
He wasn't summoning Jake. He had his Eternal Servant skill pumping out his mosquito swarms, but his active casting was using his Summon Mana-Infused Object spell.
Bob had replaced Harv, throwing up temporary walls to funnel the monsters to the Beacons while preventing them from getting a glimpse of the rest of them.
Harv was blanketing the entrance to the temple with his necromancy, which worked to counteract the massive aura of starvation that the locust-like monsters generated.
Bailli had become a living bug zapper, standing behind Mike and Jack, pushing her Lightning Blast out as an Area of Effect, using spell sculpting to exclude her team from the maelstrom of electricity that whipped through the hall that lead into the temple.
Dave and Amanda were working together. Auruffra, Amanda's summoned wolf, was infused with a dark green glow. Whenever the wolf bit into a monster, her bite left sizzling holes, while any monster that bit into the wolf came away with melted jaws. Auruffra was much smaller than normal, but significantly faster. The wolf, no larger than a puppy, was careening off the walls of the hallway like some sort of adorable canine pinball. One that left the much larger monsters with gaping holes and missing limbs.
Eddi had clearly been watching too many movies because clinging to the ceiling above Mike and Jack was a chitinous horror, black and oozing acid. It speared down with its tail, slashed out with its claws, and in several instances, a second head had shot out of its mouth like a piston.
Eli and Wayna worked together to keep the monsters from flanking Mike and Jack, dashing into parry blows that might have otherwise torn into the two Beacons.
All the while, Jessica and Erick strung together Anima Blasts with an array of modifiers.
Working in the hallway allowed them to control the number of monsters that could swarm them. Previously, they hadn't worried about any sort of resource management, but under the guidance of Mike and the life and death conflict, they were learning.
Immediately killing the monsters wasn't always the right choice. Sometimes, you held them in place after they'd been crippled enough to render them less harmful, which prevented fresh monsters from piling on, and allowed the group a moment of respite.
Those moments were crucial. Mana and Stamina pools refilled, the stacking Effect Over Time Anima Blast spells knitted together torn flesh and replaced lost blood, and the tunnel vision of combat pulled back slightly, heralding the return of situational awareness.
He was grateful that while they followed the same design as the temples in Meluben, the temples in Kulaod were much grander, and correspondingly larger. The block of stone that was released to block the entrance was massive enough to hold back the monsters for longer.
New Quest!
Kulaod has been overrun by monsters! The Urlinad have barricaded themselves in their temples, praying to their gods to save them. Unfortunately, their gods are not real, but the monsters are. It falls on you to save them.
Kill the monsters, 186,480/210,732
Locate the Temples, 141/160
Protect the Urlinad.
He checked the timer he'd started when they entered the Dungeon, confirming that they'd been at it for almost fourteen hours.
He felt his Summon Mana-Infused Object spell snap, and he summoned another wall.
Bob was aching to ask the Urlinad in Kulaod a few questions, namely, just how big their cities were. He didn't know how they'd handle a city this size if the monsters weren't concentrated around the temples.
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Lara was surprised to see just how weary Bob appeared when the stumbled out of his portal.
She'd been watching 'television' while they waited for him to clear the next city, and she'd become more adept at reading human facial expressions and body language.
"Kulaod is clear," he said as he slumped down into a chair. "I'm going to grab a shower and a sandwich, then I'll bring you out and have you go over the new reality with the folks in charge."
"You look like you could use some sleep," Lara observed.
"I could," Bob admitted, "and I will be enjoying a nap soon. There were a lot of monsters down there. It seems like the System is providing one monster for every person, and while that is a neat way to provide me with a census, over two hundred thousand monsters was a struggle."
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"Kulaod is one of the largest cities I've heard of," Lara said. "Hopefully, you won't have to fight that many monsters that often."
"Good experience, thought," Bob sighed.
"Did you level up?" Lara asked.
"No," Bob shook his head. "You'll remember that I have you leveling up your spells to their maximum level before you advance?"
"I do," she agreed.
"Well, the maximum level for my Summon Mana-Infused Creature spell is one hundred and ninety-six," he explained. "So I'll be working on leveling that up for a while."
Lara blinked. Bob had explained how tiers worked, and that he was tier eight, and not even at the maximum level, only forty-two. She was certain he had done so in order to diminish the regard in which they held him, making himself seem less. The maximum level for his spell shouldn't be that high.
"What level is your spell now?" she asked.
"Just hit ninety-seven," Bob grinned. "Of course, it's going to take over ten million experience per level for the next seven levels, but considering it was ninety when we arrive on Url, that's solid progress."
Lara shook her head. Ten million experience would be enough to level her spell and school all the way up several times over. The gap between her potential power, and the power he already wielded was indescribable.
She paused. "Doesn't that mean that at level one hundred and four, it will then take twenty million for the next eight levels?" She asked.
"It'll tick over to twenty-one million, but yeah," Bob agreed. "The numbers start to get really scary past level one hundred and sixty."
"Why?" Lara asked. "Why pursue more power? Surely you could find a place to settle down and enjoy what life has to offer. Url itself and our people would be ecstatic to host those who saved us."
"I promised a... friend, that I would cover for him while he takes a vacation of sorts," Bob replied. "He hasn't taken one in a few thousand years, and he's been nothing but good to me, so when he asked me to watch over things for him for a few years, I could hardly say no. The problem is that I'll need to be tier ten to fill his shoes."
"What level will your spell be when you're tier ten?" Lara asked.
"Assuming the math holds up, and that is a very large assumption, I think it will cap out at four hundred," Bob shook his head. "Maybe. I'm making a couple of assumptions about how things are going to play out. It might only be three hundred and twenty."
He looked thoughtful for a moment, then pulled himself out of the chair and stretched. "Something to think about in the shower," he mumbled before heading into the bathroom, leaving Lara alone with her thoughts.
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Gualla kept her head high as she was escorted into the temple proper.
The hierarchy of the temple said that as a High Priestess, even if Meluben was a small city, she outranked all but another High Priest or Priestess. The reality was somewhat less clear, with the size and importance of the Meluben being considered alongside how long she had held her position. The Priest who escorted her was a single step away from the rank of High Priest and had double the number of years in his position, and half again her number of years in the temple. Combined with serving in Kulaod, he treated her with the barest sliver of deference, and she wasn't able to call him out on it.
Still, he hadn't argued when she'd asked to be escorted to the High Priest.
As they entered, the Priest moved to stand beside the door.
An older man, his pattern wrinkled and faded, stood from his desk and moved around it to greet her.
"In the name of the Queen of Storms, I greet you, High Priestess," he began. "May the winds find no purchase, and the rain no unintended path under her blessing. I am High Priest Tyolad."
"May the Queen deliver her blessing fiercely, yet without malice, unto our people. I am High Priestess Gualla of Meluben," she responded, completing the formal greeting.
"Please, join me," Tyolad said, indicating a bench in front of his desk, taking a seat with his back to the desk.
Gualla sat, restraining a sigh. Bob's furniture was sized wrong and had too many things that either blocked or impeded her tail.
"Meluben is hundreds of miles away, how is it that you've come to Kulaod, especially during such a tumultuous time?" Tyolad asked.
"I come bearing dire tidings," Gualla replied. "As you've seen, the strange words in the rectangles have been proven true. The monsters descended on Meluben, much as they did Kulaod. We, too, huddled in our temples, praying to the gods for salvation."
Tyolad frowned and twisted to reach back to his desk, turning back with a sheaf of paper in his hand. "I have reports from the other temples in the city," he waved the papers. "They tell impossible tales of the Lord of Blight and the Queen of Storms herself entering the temple, and defeating the monsters as they attempted to our in."
"The tales are true, although our saviors have protested that they are not our gods," Gualla replied. "Their tale is almost more difficult to believe."
"I would hear it," Tyolad gestured for her to continue.
"They came to Uld as explorers, seeking a world without people to settle upon," Gualla began. "When they arrived, they found our world teeming with life, but without people."
"How is that possible?" Tyolad asked. "Kulaod alone houses over two hundred thousand souls, and this temple can be seen from miles away."
"We are no longer on Uld," Gualla replied, raising a handstand to with stall his question as she continued. "We are in what the System refers to as a 'Dungeon,' which is a space outside of our world. I have been outside of the Dungeon and discovered Meluben overgrown and decayed." She took a deep breath. "From what they have shown me and said, our saviors were tasked by the System to rescue all of our people. There is a Dungeon at each of our cities, and by clearing them all of the monsters, we will be returned to Url."
"I don't understand how they can battle these beasts," Tyolad murmured. "Even our strongest hunters were as wheat before the scythe."
"They have explained some of that to me," Gualla began. She pointed her finger, and a spark of lightning arced from her fingertip to strike the floor, leaving a tiny black scorch mark. "They are willing to share the power they possess, but I'm afraid it will take time, and great hardship to attain it."
"The Queen has blessed you with her power?" Tyolad asked, eyes wide.
"Not the Queen, but rather the System," Gualla shook her head. "I would happily relay what I've discovered, but I think it might be best if we had scribes writing it down and copying it. This is the third city they have liberated, and it would be best if I could convey the information more quickly as they continue their work."
"Can we not simply follow them to the next city?" Tyolad asked.
"Our world, the true world, outside of this Dungeon, is covered with monsters. Until our saviors complete their task, the land will continue to be swarmed with them, and they are far too powerful for us to battle while being too numerous for our saviors to deal with in a timely fashion," Gualla explained. "Bob, the one mistaken for the Lord of Blight, has his own small dimension that he carries with him, and he has brought me from one Dungeon to the next. He took the time after they had cleared Meluben to teach me and another the ways of the System, even providing us with precious gifts that enhance our abilities. Sadly, Jupryal and now Kulaod have taken far longer to liberate, depriving us of the chance to fight lesser monsters and gain in strength."
Tyolad frowned thoughtfully, before calling to the Priest who waited by the door. "Dyoral, gather ten scribes and bring them with their supplies," he ordered, then turned back to Gualla. "While we wait, tell me more about this 'Bob.'"
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Bob woke up slowly, which he found suspicious.
He hadn't woken up slowly in over a decade.
Monroe was a very diligent and efficient alarm clock.
He stumbled out of his hammock and looked blearily around the room.
No Monroe.
The rest of his inventory was equally bereft of not only his feline overlord but also his Urlinad guests.
He remembered opening a portal for Gualla and Lara, but he distinctly recalled that Monroe and Laura had been sleeping soundly in his bed, which had diverted him to the aforementioned hammock.
Of course, Monroe wasn't exactly stuck in his inventory. The super-sized floof could, and often did, hop in and out of the extradimensional space whenever he chose.
He opened a portal, then paused. He could sense the big cat's emotions, and that little ball in the back of his head was clearly showing warm-sun-play. Knowing that Monroe wasn't in any kind of distress, he allowed the portal to close and instead headed for the kitchen. Breakfast first, then he'd hunt down his wayward familiar.