Mark racked his brains. He needed to think about the upsides and downsides of his next decision.

Necromancer was a class that held dominion over magic and souls. Body Restoration Artist focused more on the body, especially on his own. It sounded like the best choice to help his mother heal, but made him more of a jack-of-all-trades.

Mark knew he wasn't the best at melee. The class would improve his form, shoring up his weaknesses, while Necromancer would amplify his current strengths in magic. He wasn't sure which he preferred.

Were there any alternatives to spell-based healing? There should be. Healing potions existed. Mark's thoughts turned to the one being who could help him in this endeavor: the Pacified Goblin.

But to open his portal here, he had to confirm his teammates' condition.

The room was still burning. Smoke rushed through the gaps in the destroyed mausoleum, but the violent magical tearing caused by the exploding mana cores had dissipated. Mark checked Samara and Elise again to make sure they were still unconscious. Then he worked with his skeleton mage's ghoul to drag the skeleton paladin out of the building, and moved it inside his pocket plane. He would experiment with it later.

Somehow, tucked underneath the body, the skeleton paladin's mace was still intact. It had lain over the weapon, preventing most of the explosion from affecting it. Instead, only a few long cracks extended over the exterior of the mace. Its core went undamaged.

[Bone Mace (Rare)] - A durable weapon made of condensed humanoid bones. Enchanted with three different magical effects.

Mark set it to the side for later. He rushed to his Pacified Goblin's bubbling pot and cast Identify on the mixture.

[Extract of Vim (Common)] - A concoction brewed with natural, flourishing ingredients. Aids in physical recovery. Effect is slow but long-lasting.

It actually made something useful. Mark stared at the goblin for a moment in shock, then gave it a thumbs-up. A passing thought had him Identify the creature. He blinked at what he saw.

Pacified Goblin - Level 1

It gained a level! When he had Identified it the first time, there was no level indicator. Something had changed. But this was good news. The goblin might also be able to help him save his mother.

Mark gave it some more magical meat as a reward. Then he made his decision: Necromancer. Comfort welled up inside as he basked in the knowledge granted by the system.

Immediately, the system prompted him again before he could examine what happened.

Class Skill Gained: Aura of Undeath (Uncommon) - A passive skill available to all necromancers. Controls the power of necromantic energies and infuses them in the area around you. Benefits undead beings and necromantic spells as long as they remain in the aura. Can be turned off at will.

Choose a new skill.

Revenant Soul (Rare) - A passive developed through commanding more intelligent forms of undead. Increases the amount of natural intelligence present in the beings you raise. Unlocks their growth potential after a certain point. A precursor to greater skills.

"What does this mean," Mark muttered. More intelligence? That was obviously a great choice to have. His skeleton mage was already able to prevent itself from dying, make helpful decisions on its own in combat, and had even returned to rescue him from the skeleton paladin. What if every minion could do that? And growth potential made him think of them gaining levels, one of the core deficiencies he had.

Death Nova (Rare) - An spell that binds necromantic forces to your being, holding them in place until eruption. Drains life from all entities in the area.

This spell was one of the area of effect attack spells he needed. But did it have as much potential as Revenant Soul? Mark didn't think so.

Mend Corpse (Rare) - A spell which quickly and efficiently repairs the body. Only works on corpses.

Unlike Repair Corpse, Mend Corpse did not use up the body as material for its healing. This was huge. If Revenant Soul hadn't appeared, Mark would pick it within a heartbeat. It would give him immediate access to the Skeleton Paladin, who was too damaged for him to reanimate.

But the soul was esoteric. Mark didn't even know how to begin studying it, other than any more ghosts he found. Comparably, he had a lot more corpses to experiment on. Though having the chance to permanently keep the Skeleton Paladin was a nice touch, he believed he would eventually learn the skill himself.

Congratulations! You have reached Level 26. +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, +3 Free Stat Points

"Well, that confirms it," he said. Two levels in one fight. That was the most he'd ever gotten, and he had a feeling he would be able to level up again soon after. The Skeleton Paladin had to be considered a Rare boss.

Mark Winters - Level 26 (F)

Class: Necromancer (Uncommon)

Stats: 6 Free Points

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 5

Endurance: 11

Vitality: 14

Intelligence: 52

Wisdom: 22

Mark's brows furrowed. Why did the letter F appear beside his level? Was it his class upgrade?

Mark turned to the Rare Bone Mace and thought to cast Repair Corpse on it. The spell succeeded: most of the cracks went away. Then he cast it a few more times. The skeletal mace eventually became unmarred.

It had a good heft to it. But what were its effects?

But Mark now realized losing a minion was easier than ever considering the things he had to deal with now. Explosions, overpowered brutes, and Rare bosses. Only the skeleton paladin could safely wield this weapon.

So he kept the mace hung on his side and returned back into the mausoleum. With the most important treasure out of the way, he continued to comb the room for more. But in the explosion, most of the items were lost. He hadn't had the time to take them away. And the rubble buried many others.

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While he roamed around, Samara woke up. She crawled towards her bag which had fallen far away. Mark noticed this and went to help her, picking up her supplies and giving it back. She then took out another herbal concoction and drank it.

"Thank you," she said. "I won't take that mace from you."

"Thanks. How are you holding up?" he asked.

Samara looked over her body, then coughed. "Badly. My energy will recover, but that skill doesn't only cost stamina. It takes a huge toll on my body as well."

"Thanks for being willing to reveal your trump card," he said.

"Just so you know, I didn't do it for the loot," she whispered. "So you don't have to give me anything." She looked a little ashamed at her actions.

"It's not a problem," Mark said. "Elise takes the necklace. But you can have the loot you need." He took out the small items he had managed to pocket before the paladin entered the mausoleum. One more mana core was inside, along with magical gems and satchels of preservation containing all kinds of herbs. He gave her the satchels.

"Thank you." Samara coughed again. "I need to rest for a while longer. I can barely move, so no shooting or running."

Mark started to search around the exterior of the mausoleum, leaving the ghoul behind to guard them. Their need to rest gave him the time to slow down his search and guarantee nothing was hidden in each section of the wall.

Right as he discovered a hidden spot between small holes in the stone, his skeleton mage returned, its slight grin looking more alive than before. Two more ghouls followed behind as its guardians.

"Hello," he said. "How are you doing?"

The skeleton mage looked back at him without a word. But its eyes seemed a lot happier. He didn't know if it was because of Revenant Soul, but it looked more emotional.

"Thank you for doing a great job," he complimented. Perhaps it too could learn how to crack illusions. He ordered the mage to try its best. It took a much longer time, enough for Elise to walk out of the mausoleum, but it managed to do so.

"Hello Elise," he said. "Thank you for helping. We couldn't have done it without you."

She yawned. "Hey. I still have a headache. Just wanted to see what you were doing."

"Keep the necklace," he said. "It's your reward."

"Okay. Thank you." Elise returned to the mausoleum and curled up into a ball.

Mark found three more illusory spots in the exterior of the mausoleum and had his skeleton mage crack them all. With only simple verbal commands and pointing, the undead mage remembered what he said, and got to work. That allowed him to return to the gravestones and reanimate some new undead: two ghouls and a skeleton general.

"Good job," he complimented again once the skeleton mage returned. Although nothing had visibly changed, it was indeed a lot smarter now. He looked at the items it had retrieved.

Other than junk, there was another mana core and a small Rare dagger called Lifedrinker. It bore a crimson red glow, which looked ominous. Mark had his minions show it to Samara, who immediately shook her head.

"It wants my blood," she said. "I can feel it. Why don't you keep it for now?"

Too bad the description was so barebones. Perhaps it stole life from both its wielder and its prey. For now, Mark handed it off to a ghoul, who managed to clutch the weapon in its hands instead of dropping it. A huge improvement.

To pass the time, Mark began a practice session of spells and tried to see what his mace could do. He discovered nothing even when striking anything he could get his hands on. There was something still wrong with it.

After another few hours, both Samara and Elise slowly trailed out the mausoleum. Then they all left the cavern together.

"So how are things?" Mark asked. The two of them looked fine, but they walked much slower than usual.

"I reached level 25," Samara said with a smile. It was the first time he had seen her make such an expression. "Picked Ranger. What about you?"

"Necromancer. It was a real shame I couldn't reanimate that paladin, though."

Elise frowned. "Why was it so strong?" she asked. "It doesn't make sense. How was anyone supposed to win that fight normally?"

"A Mage-Thief could probably skip the fight entirely," Mark said. "They just have to be able to sneak around and dispel the illusions. If they're good enough, they can probably disarm the rest of the undead and blast the paladin while it's still sleeping in its coffin. We didn't see a holy shield when it was asleep, did we?"

"But that's not fair," Elise muttered.

"Life's not fair," Samara said. "And it seems this new world isn't either. But we made it through."

Mark nodded. "We just have to persevere. I think we'll be able to succeed if we keep on going." He then tried to calm her fears. "I don't think just any Mage-Thief could accomplish that even if they tried. There were a ton of factors in that mausoleum which could prevent them from winning so easily."

"True," Samara said. "But killing that woman might still be harder than we thought."

Mark started to think. "How many levels did you get, Elise?"

"Well, I'm level 19 now," she said. "It was a huge bonus. I got about four levels from that fight." Her eyes lit up. "And my magic manipulation skill upgraded," she exclaimed.

"And I got two levels from 24 to 26, but Samara didn't. I think the system might distribute experience differently depending on some unknown factors," he said. "There also shouldn't be too many enemies like this who are easy to kill. I don't think we need to worry about her gaining huge surges in power."

Samara nodded. "I guess. But we didn't gain much from that fight except for our levels," she said. "The loot we acquired...it's good, but doesn't seem like it'd make too much of a difference." Then she stole a glance at the bone mace hanging at Mark's side. "Unless your new weapon proves otherwise."

Mark looked at the mace in his hands. During the long rest they had, a necromantic aura began to bleed through it, growing over time. It seemed holy energy was able to suppress the true form of this artifact - or perhaps even destroy it, if the skeleton paladin wasn't there as its protector.

"Maybe," he said. "I don't think it's actually easy to get this weapon. The skeleton paladin protected it with its body during the explosion, so I think it also protected it from the holy damage."

"That's interesting," Elise said. "I wonder why?"

"Don't know. But I can wager that if a Mage-Thief used the three javelins to kill it in its sleep, this mace would've also been destroyed in the blast. Fighting the paladin like we did gave us a chance for this drop."

"What's it do, though? I can't see any system descriptions. Just question marks."

"There's a way to level up that power," Mark said. "It's called Identify. Reveals more things the higher it goes. For me, both the amulet and the javelins were Uncommon," he said. "But the mace is Rare. So's the dagger, actually."

Their brows shot up in surprise. "Wait, upgraded Identify? That's possible?"

"Yes. You need to practice controlling your magic first, to have full control over the process instead of letting the system do all the work. That gets you the Common version. Then, practice gives the Uncommon upgrade."

Elise nodded vigorously in understanding. "If only we could get our hands on some of the stuff she has."

"Do you think the Rare artifacts you have right now are enough?" Samara said.

"Probably not. But we know that there are differences even between items of the same quality level," Mark said. "The amulet and the javelins were certainly on entirely different levels of power."

They headed away from the cavern and continued deeper into the mines. Now that Mark and Samara were at least level 25, they received zero experience from slaying the common monster. So they had Elise do it instead. With two powerful guardians watching her every move, she was able to reach Level 20 very quickly.

"What skill should I pick?" she asked. "I have an upgrade to my Fire Arrow spell, a Fireball spell, and a Light Orb spell."

Samara shook her head. "Better to choose for yourself. Do what you feel is right."

"Okay," Elise trailed off. "I think I'm going to go for the light spell," she said, laughing nervously. "Support you guys and all that."

Mark watched her shudder while she tried to digest the new information flooding into her mind. A few seconds later, she returned back to the waking world.

An awkward silence fell as they continued walking ahead. Elise practiced her new light spell, illuminating their surroundings every couple of paces before she forced herself to break the silence. "Do you think we should have a team leader?" she timidly asked.