So, the elves were coming. Not just some of them, but all of them. That seer must be pretty damn incredible to have that much sway over an entire race of people. The thought of an army of Zelphars looking to ruin my day was really not appealing.
Normally it was me that everyone turned to for safety and heroics when something of this scale happened. So, it was really refreshing to experience Yui, Miko, and Richard arrive early to help me escape from a large threat. Having people that you could rely on was a new but good feeling for me. That being said, it did feel weird being in a position where I was not the most powerful being around. That most of the adventuring population could threaten or cause me harm.
On the other hand, it felt nice to be the little guy for once, with little guy problems. Collecting interesting spells and explore the tower. On the other, other hand, I had the strength of the little guy. Needing to rely on guilds, friends, and heroes, that were not me, for safety. I was stronger than anyone my level sure, but I was still cannon fodder to anyone that visited the higher floors of the tower.
Math was never my strong suit but thinking about it now, I only had a bit over 300 stat points. If the average class earnt 3 stats per level and started with an average of 7 in each stat… Then I was only as strong as someone around level 85. That was not including the bonuses earned through training. Add spells and experience with magic on top of that, and it was much more realistic that my strength was around that of an adventurer in the 70s.
And if I were to look at someone that was focused on a particular stat like dexterity, then I would be hard pressed to keep with someone above level 50. I was confident that I could overcome a large margin of that strength gap from my mastery of physical combat and battle experience. However, I had to remind myself that I was not the invincible god slaying hero I once was. I couldn’t truly relax until I reached higher levels.
One thing was for sure though. I would become an adventurer without peer. Not needing to worry about my health, stamina, strength, or speed allowed me to completely focus on what my class needed to excel, mana and mana regeneration.
That being said, my strength and dexterity were very close to reaching 100. It would be a shame to leave them so close to that threshold. Not to mention the added power it would give my shadow… I could practically hear it screaming to increase them. Fine, once I reach 40 in my casting stats, I’ll raise dexterity and strength to 100. I remembered reaching that threshold as a hero. It was a turning point and changed my fighting style completely. When you could move close to the speed of sound and punch through solid stone boulders, you start to fight against the realm of physics just as much as against your foe.
For now, I just needed to stay out of the grasp of some evil elves and continue to enjoy my journey. Two gorgeous looking women, a dwarf that had quickly become my closest friend, and a man of literature that could shoot laser beams from his fingers, were now part of that journey.
After my self-reflection I realized I had been staring at the jiggling backside of Miko, one of those gorgeous women I mentioned earlier, and tank of the group, for a while now. This particular woman was a half human half beastkin who’s backside featured a tail that swayed back and forth in rhythm of her swaying...
Snapping myself out of my thoughts, I turned my head to look at my party. To my left was Yui, who still kept a hold on my wrist for some reason. She was also glaring at me. Crap, did she misunderstand my gaze?
To my right was Burin, who I met on first floor and was quickly becoming my closest friend. His gaze was focused forwards in the direction of our run.
Just behind me was Richard, the light bender and healer of our group. He was sweating and breathing heavily, doing his best to keep pace with the rest of us. Despite his lack of stamina, he was an adept spell caster.
“We are here.” Miko called out from the front.
A large coliseum, the colour of sandstone, stood before us. Many carvings and statues of elves posing heroically or in battle decorated the structure. A large portcullis was open before us that had a tunnel leading to the open battle ground of the arena. Miko slowed to a jog, and the rest of us matched her pace as we moved through the tunnel and onto the arena floor. Mac did not follow us into the arena but instead went and found a seat in the spectator’s stand to watch our challenge.
In the centre of the area stood a pedestal that contained a stone orb on top. Yui walked over to the orb but before laying her hand on it, she turned to the group.
“Before we begin, I need to know a few things.” Looking to me, she asked. “What level are you now?”
“Level nine.” I responded.
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “Nine… Already? Do you have combat spells now?”
I reached up to scratch my bearded chin. “Uh well I can summon weapons, armour, food, bandages, bags, and walls. I can also summon mana marbles and a shadowy copy of myself that copies my abilities.”
Yui stood there in silence, likely thinking how best to make use of my abilities.
“Oh, I can also do this!” I pointed my finger towards the pedestal and made it sparkle.
Miko giggled from the side.
“You don’t even have a fireball spell? H-how did you reach level nine so fast?”
Ouch, that was low. It’s not my fault I couldn’t throw magical balls of fire around, despite how much I wanted to.
She must have saw the hurt in my eyes as she pushed forwards. “Never mind, I am sure you can do a lot with what you have.” Turning to Burin she continued. “And what about you, Burin was it? What level are you and what can you do?”
Standing up straight, Burin looked to me from the side of his eye and said, “I be level eight and I can manipulate and work with water. I’m able to forge water into almost anything I can think of.”
“Okay…”
“Mostly I just beat stuff with me hammer and throw ice around.”
Yui looked between me and the dwarf. “I have a lot of questions, but that can wait until later. Miko and I will take the front line while you two fight from the back, use range abilities if you can, and protect Richard from anything that gets through us. Richard, I want you to conserve your mana and focus mainly on healing.”
Richard was still catching his breath and responded by flashing her a thumbs up.
“Once I press the orb, we put our backs against the wall over there.” She indicated a section of the arena wall to our left.
“Oh, I almost forgot. I don’t know how you did it, but you are both now within range of the rest of us.” Yui pulled out two rings and placed one into my hand and the other into Burin’s. The rings looked to be made from jade with gold wire running through the middle in runic patterns.
She flashed her hand, showing off a similar looking ring on her own finger. “These will last us until we reach level 40 and provide a decent bonus to earned experience.”
Burin gave me a grin we took off our current party ring and slipped on the new one.
Returning his grin, I asked, “When did you reach level eight?”
He gave a chuckle. “When you soloed that arena. Turns out I was fortunate enough to be within party range.”
“Ah, you leech!” I cried out in mock anger. “I thought it was strange that I only gained two levels after eight hours of fighting.”
“Fighting? I think ye mean eight hours of sleeping. I did not see ye do much fighting that night.”
His chucking soon turned into laugher, and I couldn’t help but join him.
“Enough.” Yui interrupted. “We are starting.” She slapped her hand on the stone orb and started moving towards the wall. “Let’s move!”
The team moved to the edge of the arena with Miko moving to stand in front of us. Heavy armour appeared on her body along with a large shield in one hand and a heavy looking mace in the other.
“I have been looking forward to this.” Slamming her weapon against her shield, she added, “We can finally move past this damned floor!”
The first combatants to spawn were a handful of elves in robes wielding small daggers. They moved as a group towards us.
[Elven Apprentice]
Health: 480 / 100%
Class: Warrior
Level: 5
Race: Elf
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
+1 to Identify Spell rank.
“Save your mana.” Yui said as she moved next to Miko. “These are no threat to us.”
True to her word, she and Miko took out the first group of elves with a few swings of their weapons.
Seeing how competent they were, made me feel like there was not much to do. Honestly, It was a nice feeling. I only wished I had a chair to relax in while they battled.
A horrible thought suddenly came over me. Now that I was thinking about it, there seemed to be a terrifying trend in the spells gained from leveling. First it was mana, food, water. Then it was clothing, bags and bandages. Now it was a shelter and temporary walls. Oh gods… I think I knew what my next spell was going to be.
I let out a pained cry and leaned down, placing my hands on my knees.
“Reigner!” Richard called out from next to me. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
Why was I tormented like this? Was this place actually a monkey paw’s version of hell? My greatest wish was to have access to magic, but all my spells have been things I never would have picked for myself…
Clutching my chest with my left hand, I started breathing deeply, I could feel my heart racing. “It finally makes sense.” I muttered.
“What are ye doing, fool Reigner. What’s got ye all freaked out?”
I have been trying, really trying to see the upside of all my spells. I really have, and so far I have enjoyed what I can do with magic, but…
I turned to face Burin. “You don’t understand. I should have the fireball spell, but instead it was twisted. My dream was to have magic, but it’s all twisted!” I let out a sob. “I don’t want summon furniture for reaching level ten!”
“What’s going on back there? Is he okay?” Miko called as she and Yui were fighting the next handful of elves.
Richard placed a hand on my shoulder. “Relax. Just breath… It’s okay. Your class is undocumented. No one can say for certain what spell you will receive at ten.”
“It’s bloody furniture! I know it is!”
“Even if that was the case. You won’t only receive a spell. Level ten is a defining moment for every class. You will receive a new talent along with a powerful skill or spell. I don’t see summoning furniture as your class defining spell.”
“Reigner is under a spell!” Yui yelled out from the front.
“No. He is just an idiot.” Burin replied.
“No. Look there!” Yui pointed to behind a third group of dagger wielding elves where a robed elf was chanting. “It must be a unique to arrive in the first wave.”
“Ohh lucky!” Miko yelled out joyfully.
“Burin, can you take it down from range?” Yui asked while cutting down multiple elves with her blade.
“Aye, leave it to me.”
Even though I was aware of what was happening around me, I just did not seem to care, none of it mattered. After all, I couldn’t even learn a simple fireball spell.
After reaching level ten I might as well give in to what the universe was telling me and open a café or restaurant. My spells were perfect for it after all. Everything would be made from my own mana, the restaurant, the furniture, the food and drink. I could even use summoned bags as takeaway containers and my shadow would be the server.
Might as well pick up the cooking profession and level that up. Fuck it, I could probably find a place with a nice field in the back and start farming too. Teek could come by and give me some pointers. Maybe collect some farm animals and train them to defend the fields.
A fist landed against my chin, tilting my head slightly.
“Wake up Reigner, ye damned fool!” Burin yelled directly into my ear. “We killed the mind mage. Stop being so dramatic!”
New skill, resistance (mental), gained.
Turning my head, I looked into the eyes of my short but stout friend. Richard’s words finally registered in my mind, and I felt a tear well up and drip down my face. “I don’t need to open a restaurant with a farm behind.”
“He is still out of it.” Burin slapped me across the face a second time. He pulled his hand to his chest and cradled it with his other. “By the deeps, your face is harder than granite.”
I reached out and placed a hand on my friend’s shoulder. “I’m okay now. Thank you, Burin.” I straightened myself and turned to Richard. “Thank you for your words. I was a bit lost there.”
He nodded towards me while keeping an eye on the front line. “You will need to build some mental resistance. While not common, the higher floor’s mind mages can be very scary to encounter alone.”
Yui had just dispatched the last of the first wave and turned to face us. “Good work, Burin. You good on mana?”
“Aye, don’t worry. Still have plenty in the keg.”
Mac could be seen up in the spectators stand watching us. He was munching on something with one hand and held a mug of drink in the other.
“Just like him to be drinking at every opportunity.” Commented Burin. “Ye would think the man would need a break after last night.”
“I don’t remember anything after that first drink. What happened?”
Burin scrunched his face for a moment. “I remember playing cards… and something to do with spell books… But that’s all I can remember.”
Miko came over and wrapped me and Burin in a hug. “I missed you guys!”
Burin let out a chuckle and patted her back. “Missed you too.”
“How’s Torva? I wanted to find you, but father wouldn’t let me out of his sight for a full three days after we got back to the guild hall.”
He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “She is alive. Her sister is looking after her now.”
Yui looked me over, a worried expression on her face. She did not say anything to me directly and soon turned back to prepare for the next wave. “Wave two is starting. Back into positions.”
This time instead of dagger wielding elves, what spawned were a group sword and spear wielding elves that wore light leather armour. There was also an elf holding a bow at the back of the approaching group.
Yui was quick to let out battle orders. “Reigner, Burin, you two focus on the ones at the back.”
Before summoning a spearbolt, I focused on the ground near us and summoned a campstone. It now provided 45 mana every minute. Together with my own mana regeneration of 43, I did not need to worry too much about running out of mana any time soon. That being said, I kept my attacks to a minimum and did not feel any pressure from the oncoming elves.
Wave two was cleared without difficulty. I think the only people in the group that were under level ten were myself and Burin. Time seemed to stretch on as we faced each wave, the monotonous drawn out combat slowing my perception of time to a crawl. More casters started appearing on the third wave and I let Burin do most of the work, only occasionally launching a spearbolt here and there.
Keeping myself to more of a support role, I wanted everyone else to have the opportunity to build on their battle experience, stamina management, and teamwork. I started getting sleepy and thought there might have been another caster focusing on me, but soon realized that I was just bored. In my boredom I looked around the stadium and noticed we had a few more observers. In the spectator stands sat three elves and a black furred beastkin. The same beastkin that has been pestering me over the past few days.
There was not much we could do now we were in the middle of the challenge, so I did not bother mentioning them to the group. They were unable to interfere with the battle anyway, the worst they could do was glare. Mac was still sitting in the stands too, and I doubted they would do anything to earn the ire of the Tower Knight.
As the waves slowly progressed, more and more elves appeared in the spectator stands. What started off as just three elves soon turned into an ever increasing crowd of spectators. The others noticed them around the fifth wave, when they started sitting at the edge of the arena boundaries.
“Keep watching, ye hair obsessed tree lovers.” Burin growled as he swung down his hammer into the face of a nearby elf. “Watch what we are going to do to ye once we are done with this challenge.”
Richard sent a healing ball of light to hover over Miko. “Uh, Burin. I don’t think we can take on an army of Elves right now.”
“Bah, tis hardly an army.”
“Last I checked, the arena could hold around thirty thousand people.”
I launched another spearbolt at a random target. “Wonder what level that would bring us to.”
Yui grunted as she countered an attack. “There are diminishing returns when fighting a faction.” She moved to the other side of Miko and slashed down a spear user. “By the time we killed ten of them, if we could even get through that much, we would be earning less than a percent of the normal experience.”
Miko slammed her shield against an elf and slammed her mace into the side of another. “I didn’t know that.”
“It’s true.” Richard confirmed. “That’s why most guild wars are actually small rotating skirmishes. Interesting story, a beastkin guild wanted the resources from a manastone mine and challenged the controlling dwarven guild for ownership. They couldn’t understand how the dwarven guild were gaining levels so quickly while they were earning next to nothing during the battle. Turns out that constantly rotating groups in the small tunnels allowed them to maximize their experience gains while letting groups wait out the penalty. It has always been a tactic of the dwarves and is one of the reasons they have seem to have endless stamina.”
“Aye, that and we are practically breastfed dwarven mead.” Burin added. “Nothing like a steady intake of mead to train a dwarf’s stamina.”
Richard nodded as he sent a beam of light through a bowman. “Right. Anyway, since then it quickly become the standard tactic to rotate teams during a battle against another guild of climbers. The last thing you want is to give the enemy large amounts of experience while not receiving any yourself.”
“I was told.” Said Yui from in front. “That is why we don’t have many adventurer hunters.”
“That’s right. The time it takes to recover from the experience penalty increases with the number of people someone kills. Also, if it’s in the tower, the penalty also applies to all experienced earned while in the tower.”
I glanced up into the crowd of hostile spectators. “If that is true, why are there so many of them?”
“They may be thousands, but we are only a group of five.” Explained Richard. “They don’t have to worry about the penalty. In fact, it works in their favour. If we are forced to kill a number of them, the experience penalty would greatly hinder our growth, which would then make higher floors increasingly more difficult.”
“We might end up trapped before we even reach floor ten.” Said Miko.
Even if I could not reach the tenth level. I was confident that I could carry the team to the tenth floor if required. “That won’t be a problem.”
Burin backed up my words. “Aye, ye might not think so from his spell list, but Reigner is really strong.”
“Too bad he is so lazy today!” Growled Miko. “He has sure been slow in his spear throwing.”
“Don’t call what I do weapon throwing. It’s called a spearbolt. And there is a reason I’m letting you guys do most of the work.”
“Yeah, laziness.” Miko retorted.
“No. This floor is designed to test your stamina and mana management along with your teamwork. If I were to do all the work, you wouldn’t learn anything.”
“That’s all well and good, but this is hardly the best time for that with an army of elves watching us.”
“Actually.” Richard cut in. “Technically this is the best time for it, as no one outside the arena floor can interfere with the challenge.”
“Shut up! You are so annoying!” Replied Miko as she bashed down one of the few remaining elves.
Yui ended the last remaining elf of the wave and flicked her blade to remove any blood before sheathing it. “I’m glad you have enough breath to talk so much. We are going to need it if we have any chance of getting away from them.” She indicated the packed spectator stand around us with a nod of her chin.
Richard cast a spell that engulfed Yui in light for a moment. “We could always take the mazer hole. Each arena has one in the exit tunnel. They won’t be able to enter the arena floor as long as we are inside here. That gives us plenty of time to move through the mazer hole before they would even realize where we went.”
A worried look overcame Yui. “I don’t know. Mazer holes can lead to somewhere really dangerous.”
Burin let out a laugh. “Hah, lucky for you, that you happen to have a couple of mazer hole survivors and experts of wilderness survival.”
I looked down to the dwarf.
Chuckling, he continued. “Food won’t be an issue with our very own portable tavern… AHHG!”
My hand, out of reflex or just pure subconscious will, moved from my side to slap Burin across the head. He yelled out as his body spun a full rotation before falling onto the ground.
Shame and anger filled me. Not for hitting my friend, but for remembering the horror of what my next and last spell for an unknown number of levels could be. I stepped over to Burin and leaned over him. Glaring downwards, I yelled, “I am not a walking talking restaurant!” For added measure I included. “And I am not a bloody farmer!”
+1 to Resistance (Mental) skill rank.
“Damnit” Miko called out. “The next wave is here! Kill that mage!”