Deathly cold speared into me like steel blades frozen to absolute zero. I tried to scream, but my entire body seized up, every muscle locking in place. Pain and cold and withering weakness tore through me.

My heartbeat slowed as icy death gripped it on every side. My vision darkened, and my thoughts turned sluggish. I couldn’t move, couldn’t think. I tried triggering a healing potion from my hotlist, but only then realized I had forgotten to move another one into position. Idiot.

As if from a great distance, I felt more wights dive into me. With each one, the agony intensified and the cold deepened until I felt like I was submerged in the center of an iceberg. An iceberg that burned like living fire.

I wanted to scream and convulse from the pain, but still couldn’t move. I couldn’t even will myself to pass out and surrender to death.

More and more wights dove in, joining the death party. I couldn’t feel my body any more, but I still felt the pain and the deathly cold that drove into my mind.

Eva’s voice spoke from miles away, but I could not understand her words. With the last of my will, I whispered, “Yes.”

Not that it mattered any more. The wights were consuming my health, my mana, my life, my entire being.

Would I become one of them?

That was that last thought I had before blackness settled heavy over my mind. At least death would feel warm.

Then a lightning bolt blasted right through my heart.

Consciousness crashed back in and I convulsed. Torrents of energy kept pouring into me, like a beam of pure fire piercing the icy cold of the wights.

They screamed inside of my body. They were all there. Every last one had dived in to feast. They had sucked me almost totally dry, but now they convulsed with me. The fires that thawed my body and set my heart racing tore them asunder.

I gasped in a breath that tasted like burned hair, but didn’t care. I was breathing again!

My eyes started working. I found that I was lying across the altar, the point at the top of the huge crystal piercing just a hair’s breadth into my chest. That connection opened a conduit for the crystal to pump all its energy into me. The tide of power felt like living lightning tearing through my insides.

With it came awareness too. I felt how the crystal had fueled and empowered the wights.

Not any more.

My Intelligence check must have worked because I now controlled the crystal and it was instead empowering me. The wights were still connected to it, but their energy was being sucked away, back into the crystal, then cycled back into me.

At the same time, they were still trying to drain me dry. All of us made a ghastly closed circuit, feeding on each other. Life and mana drained from me into the wights, then got sucked from the wights into the crystal, then pushed from the crystal back into me.

I continued to convulse under the onslaught. I had no control over my muscles as energy roared between us. I wanted to scream from lingering pain, laugh with pure joy from the life-giving energy, and cackle with mad laughter at the insane situation.

Would we end up stuck like that forever in an endless cycle of life and death? I would have rather died quickly.

Slowly, the balance of power shifted and I realized the energy transfer wasn’t pure. The wights were stealing my life and mana, the very essence of my life.

That energy got sucked into the crystal, but was already twisted by their parasitic intent. The crystal shoved the energy back into me, mostly pure but still slightly tainted. It refilled my mana and health and another new pool, like a roiling toxic dump that fed on anything foreign.

Including wights.

The ghosts slowly weakened under the corrupted version of their own power that filled me to bursting. I cringed at the feeling of that sinister energy bonded to my soul, but did not resist it. It was the only thing allowing me to gain the advantage.

Seconds later, the energy flows hit some kind of tipping point and the wights started shrinking. Their convulsing through my soul intensified and tore at my innards. I screamed again, but then they all disintegrated.

Wights got sucked into the crystal in a writhing torrent of shredded ethereal forms. The crystal darkened to gray, and the energy flowing into me slowed as the crystal seemed to get bogged down processing all the wights.

I regained control of my body and flung myself off. I collapsed to the stone floor, gasping and panting, mind reeling. The solid stone felt reassuring. The air smelled cleaner, and the cavern fell silent, but for a soft thrumming from the crystal.

“Ow,” I complained as I climbed to my feet, but it was more a delayed reaction.

I actually felt surprisingly good, and when I checked my stats, I couldn’t believe it. My health and mana were topped off. Even more amazing, I had gained 4 entire levels!

“How?” I mumbled, still dazed from my mostly-dead experience.

I scanned my messages and that helped. I had missed quite a few.

“Intelligence check successful. You have taken control over the energy crystal. You may drain its energy to refill your pools of health and mana, or to add extra uses to non-permanent spells. Would you like to replenish life and mana?”

I whistled softly as I read the story of my near-death experience.

“Health and mana restoration initiated.”

I leaned against the side of the altar, staring at that message. My blind directive had been interpreted correctly. If Eva had waited for a coherent response, I’d be dead. That was way too close.

“For surviving the concurrent death strikes of 21 Essence Wights. You have earned a Platinum Houdini loot box.”

“Congatulations, Lucas, you have created a unique synergy between Energy Ward, Essence Wights, and their power generator crystal, triggering a Soul Harvest energy vortex. Loot box upgraded to an epic emerald Einstein loot box.”

“So that’s what happened,” I breathed. I’d triggered Energy Ward out of sheer desperation. It looked like that had been the key that saved me.

“For consuming 21 Essence Wights through your dominance of the Soul Harvest energy vortex, loot box upgraded again to a legendary Diamond Overlord loot box.”

Double upgrade! Nearly dying sucked, but living through it was shaping up to be a giant payday. Maybe I really could do this.

“You have defeated 21 Essence Wights between levels 9 and 11. Bonus experience gained for defeating ethereal enemies. Bonus experience gained for defeating all the Essence Wights at the same time using a unique strategy.”

Now 4 levels was starting to sound a bit low. I knew that every level required more and more experience, but that was 21 monsters at the same time, all stronger than me.

“Does experience gained get reduced for defeating more of the same types of monsters?”

Cyrus answered immediately. “Amazing show, Lucas! That one will make it onto the daily highlights reel, I guarantee it!”

“What is that?”

“Something you’ll learn about eventually, and yes, you are absolutely correct. Defeating all 21 Essence Wights at the same time earned you some great rewards, especially since they’re ethereal beings. They were close to your level, and experience gains do drop as you defeat more of the exact same enemies, but the bonuses were enough to win you all those levels.”

“Still, that’s 21 monsters.”

“What are you complaining about? You survived, they didn’t, and you shot right up past the all-important level 10. It’s time to celebrate!”

“I suppose.” I glanced at the last of my messages. The next one made me gape.

“You may use the remaining charge of the energy crystal to add uses to any non-permanent spell.”

“Oh, yeah,” I cried, selecting the option and focusing on Energy Ward.

The crystal had returned to its regular bright blue. Now it faded out entirely. I didn’t care.

“Five more uses of Energy Ward!” I laughed.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I’d been using the life-saving spell way too often and had been down to a single remaining use. Losing that spell might have easily cost me my life. Now with 5 additional uses, I felt more confident of my chances. Hopefully I could find my team quickly. Together, we’d be a lot stronger and hopefully safer.

“Would you like to loot the Essence Wights?” Eva asked.

There was no sign of the fallen wights, but if she would still let me loot them, I was happy to let her. “Yes.”

I got a bucketload of mana crystals. I now had two grids in my inventory allocated to them. The tier-0 pile showed a total of 52, while I had a new slot labeled “Tier-1 mana crystals”. It showed a total of 20.

“So, what’s the conversion from tier-0 to tier-1 mana crystals?”

“10 to 1. Your inventory automatically converts them when you hit 100,” Cyrus answered. “Tier-1 mana crystals work the same, but use caution if you decide to try absorbing one. That much power flooding your system could make your head explode.”

“Thanks for the warning.” Blowing up my own head would be a stupid way to kill myself.

I got a bunch of random loot including 6 more torches and 1 uncommon hunting knife, which I was thrilled to see. Not as thrilled as the next item.

“Epic Soulrend Short Sword. Weapon. Deals direct spiritual damage to souls. Chance of catastrophic damage to undead, spiritual beings, or magical constructs. This is an ethereal blade. Does not interact with the physical world.”

“This is incredible!” I laughed as I hefted the weapon.

It was just a pommel, actually. The handle was made of a twisting silvery metal that fit my hand as if crafted to it. A slender cross-guard was covered in intricate runes, and it weighed next to nothing.

As soon as I focused on it, a ghostly, double-edged blade extended from the pommel. It shimmered just like the Essence Wights.

“So what does it mean that this does only spiritual damage?” I asked as I experimentally swung the weapon. It made no sound as it effortlessly sliced the air. I loved it more every second and hummed some light saber sounds as I swung the glowing blade.

“It means any living being will be cut at a fundamental level,” Cyrus explained. “It slices apart the spirit. Those wounds are far more difficult to heal, assuming your enemy survives.”

I whistled. Soulrend. Perfect name for a truly epic weapon.

“Be aware that ethereal weapons degrade over time,” Cyrus added. “At epic grade, your sword will last longer than most.”

“Is there a way to refresh it or repair it?”

“Indeed there is, but only by a qualified blacksmith ghost. Know any annoying blacksmiths?”

Cyrus laughed loudly at his own joke. I chuckled, but the thought of meeting any kind of ghost again made me feel queasy.

“So people could choose crafting classes when we get to that point?”

Cyrus sighed. “They could.”

“You sound disappointed.” That was weird. We would need support personnel, wouldn’t we?

“It’s nothing,” Cyrus said, his good humor returning. “You have a shiny new sword to play with. That’s a marvelous find for so early in the game.”

It sure was. I extracted my new hunting knife from my inventory too. It was a single-edged, heavy knife, shaped a lot like a bowie. I practiced a few sword and knife forms to familiarize myself with the balance. They would work beautifully together.

I returned the two weapons to my inventory, feeling like a man starting a brand new life. With better weapons and more charges to my Energy Ward aura, my chances of survival had just quadrupled.

That wasn’t even the end of my loot. This dungeon dive was proving more profitable than I’d hoped in my wildest dreams. I got 3 articles of clothing. My smile couldn’t get wider.

“Uncommon leather jacket. Provides a minor defensive boost against slashing and clawed attacks.”

It settled onto my shoulders with a reassuring weight that reminded me of my favorite motorcycle jacket. This one was made of thick but supple black leather with buckles up the front.

My new boots made my smile widen even more. The moccasins had felt like a godsend, so the boots were like a miracle. They rose to mid-calf and included an enhancement to boost my speed and endurance by 10%. It reminded me of my favorite enchanted boots from Diablo II.

Did that mean the game drew loot from my memories? It was an interesting idea to keep in mind. The next loot items came in the form of two scrolls.

“Scroll of Smolder’s Grips. Summons a pair of uncommon gloves that offer resistance to blunt and piercing damage, plus a 5 point boost to Dexterity when equipped.”

When I clicked the prompt to read the scroll, a pair of supple brown leather gloves appeared in the air. I took them and slipped them on. Perfect fit.

“Smolder’s Grips?” I asked as I scanned the rest of my new loot. I got 4 more bottles of Laundry Day cleansing potions and a second scroll. It was grayed out and not available for use yet.

That was new. The description read, “Upgrade scroll of Oberon’s Advantage. Will upgrade the utility spell Navigation by 2 tiers, unlocking greater range, better detail, and add-on features like marking waypoints, route planning, and notes.”

Magical GPS. Made my next choice of utility spell an easy one.

In answer to my question, Cyrus said, “The name seemed appropriate, given your team.”

“What team am I on?”

“Again you try to ruin the surprise. Wouldn’t it be a better use of your time to choose your third utility spell and your first permanent spell?”

“Right!”

Before I opened the menus, I turned back to the altar, grasped the huge crystal with both hands, and heaved. This time it easily pulled free of the metal framework. I stumbled back, nearly plopping onto my back side.

“You have acquired 1 rare quality energy storage crystal. Depleted.”

“Is there a way to charge this up again?” Having an extra battery to boost my health and mana or add charges to my temporary spells would be game-altering.

“Unfortunately, no. Usually you could recharge it using mana crystals, but the energy vortex created between you and the wights corrupted the core of this one.”

My heart sank. “There’s no way to cleanse it?”

“Not by any means you are likely to encounter, but you have already proven you like to walk a unique path, so who knows?”

I dumped it into my inventory. I’d keep my eyes open for a way to restore it.

I then clicked on my loot boxes menu. The diamond Overlord loot box popped into the air in front of me, refracting the dim light into thousands of glittering points. It was beautiful. On Earth, a diamond that big could have bought England.

I willed it to open. The diamond flared with dazzling rainbows of light as a fanfare of trumpets blared across the cavern. The diamond outer shell vanished, leaving several items behind, including a bunch of scrolls.

“Upgrade Linguasight Identify utility spell to add identification of energy signatures.”

“Upgrade Harvest temporary spell to increase chances of successful harvest by another 20%.

“Add plus 5 to magical resistance.”

“Upgrade Energy Ward to now deflect spiritual attacks.”

“Sweet!” I laughed as I read them and savored the pulses of warmth flowing through my mind as the upgrades activated.

The next scroll was actually 3 scrolls bound together in a fancy gold ribbon with a note on the outside that read, “Enjoy this pack of 3 one-time use offensive spells. Includes:

Frostfire Nova. Spell. Elemental. A wave of freezing flames that immoblize while burning anything caught in its path. Mana Cost: Moderate.

Titan Strike. Spell. Pure force. Unleash an invisible wall of force. Adjust the size of the wall up to 5 yards square. Force dispersed evenly throughout the entire wall. Mana cost: Moderate

Corrosive Cloud. Spell. Toxic. Exactly what it sounds like. Mana Cost: Moderate.”

Finally, some great offensive spells. They filled in a huge gap in my current skill set. Too bad I only got 1 use out of each one. I added them all to my hotlist.

“You’re progressing fast, Lucas,” Cyrus commented, his tone more thoughtful than normal, which made me uneasy. “I think you’re going to draw a lot of attention from important people.”

“Is that a good or bad thing?”

“It could go either way. It’ll be fun to watch.”

That wasn’t entirely comforting, but I needed to move on. So I opened my Utility Spells menu and selected Navigation as my third utility spell. I was still very tempted by the other options, but my quest was to find my team. People were dying and time was passing too fast. As soon as the rush of new information soaked into my mind, I read my new scroll and got the upgrade.

Cyrus said, “Excellent choice. Navigation has two main viewing options. Full screen and mini-map.”

They worked pretty much like they sounded. The full screen blocked my entire vision, but offered far more detail. I could zoom in and out, and with the upgrade I could add waypoints, mark routes, or add comments. The map only showed areas I had already explored, but as I explored more, it would prove more and more useful.

The mini-map option would shrink to one side of my vision. I could move it around in my HUD, and it would show my current location, with an area of about 50 yards all around me.

I showed up on the map as a golden star. Cyrus explained that hostile monsters or enemies would show up as red dots, teammates as white ones, and other players not on my team as yellow. I could customize colors and icons later, as needed.

“Will the map show other people and my team before I find them?” I asked hopefully. That might save me a ton of time.

“When you get within range of your mini map, it will populate all active dots real-time.”

That gave me a pretty large scannable area. That would help me avoid just walking past my team in the forest.

“Do monsters respawn in dungeons?” I asked, tempted to mark the dungeon on my map for some loot farming later.

“Not before you need to climb to Stage 2.”

Right. Focus. A ton had happened in the first 3 hours. I had advanced a ton, but still felt like I was falling behind. So with eager anticipation, I opened my Permanent Spells menu.

Eva said, “You have reached level 10 and unlocked one permanent spell slot. You may select any currently available non-permanent spell. Note. Choose carefully. Once a spell is made permanent, it cannot be changed for a different spell.”

In addition to my 2 starter spells, now I had 3 new offensive spells to consider. They were tempting, but Energy Ward had already saved my life more than once. It was the obvious choice, although now I had 6 uses remaining.

I only had 2 current uses available for Harvest and it had not worked when I tried it. Still, I saw endless potential in it, especially with the new upgrade I’d just gotten to the success percentage. With Harvest, I could add new and unique spells to my list after defeating every monster. Would it be worth losing that potential flexibility to lock in 1 powerful offensive spell?

“Cyrus, I never got an option to try Harvest on the wights.”

“You could have before you looted them. Your sword draws from the power of the wights, so when you accepted it, you lost the chance to Harvest it as a spell.”

“I could have used that information a few minutes ago.”

“And yet, look at the rare prizes you received!”

True. I couldn’t be happier with my loot. So after another minute spent agonizing over my choices, I finally went with my gut and selected Harvest as my first permanent spell.

“Congratulations, Lucas. You have made the unique spell Harvest your first permanent spell,” Eva said.

Hoping I had made the right choice, I picked up my still-burning torches and dumped one back into my inventory. It was about half used. With the other casting warm light around me, I turned to head for the exit. As I did so, I got another of those weird sensations, just like I had with the altar.

Identify had sensed more energy from behind me. I spun, heart racing as my sword dropped into my hand. The ethereal blade stretched out from the pommel and I crouched, ready to fight for my life.

Nothing attacked. The cavern remained empty.

Frowning, I walked a slow circuit around the back side of the cavern. I had not explored it in detail and suddenly I wondered if I was overlooking something important.

“Ah, Lucas, the exit is the other way,” Cyrus reminded me.

“In a minute.”

I completed half a circuit of the cavern before I sensed something again. The feeling led me to a flat spot in the back wall, hidden behind a craggy fold in the stone. I moved cautiously, looking for monsters or more loot boxes.

Identify tingled again and I noticed a narrow rectangle of air just in front of the wall warping slightly in the light of my torch. The light seemed to get sucked into that warped space.

It was slowly twisting and ripping apart. Through the crack, I caught sight of glowing light and maybe a hint of a wall. Some kind of hidden room?

“I am obliged to recommend you turn and leave that intriguing rent in space behind,” Cyrus said in a weird bored monotone.

That made me more curious and I took a step closer.