Ethan sat by the magical fire, sipping his tea. The combined party, waiting outside of the dungeons, seemed reluctant to delve inside. Each member seemed to tell themselves they needed just a few more moments of sunlight. A couple more breaths of fresh air. One last sip of tea, even though they’d brewed their third pot. But excuses wore thin before Twist could prepare another pot.

The parties stood up, saying farewell to each other. Time wouldn’t pass as quickly out here. Both sides promised to wait for the other until they were done. To secure the camp once they emerged and provide support if needed. Radiant and Pit seemed confident in their abilities. Ethan didn’t need to dig within himself to find that resolve. It rested deep in his chest, thumping with excitement to the beat of his heart.

“See ya in a few days,” Radiant said, waving as he and Pit traversed their portal.

“Better get going,” Targe said. “Stay here, Tulip. Be good. Alright?”

Ethan felt a sensation like water dumped over his head. He stepped through the portal, feeling the familiar sensation of teleportation, then appeared in a darkened hall. A system message popped up, signaling their arrival.

[Targe’s Party] has entered the [Orc Dungeon]!

Time is moving at 1/32 rate within the dungeon.

Defeat the [Dungeon Boss] or touch the portal to retreat.

All rewards will be forfeit if you retreat.

Good luck!

The group took stock before they proceeded forward. A chill blew from the interior rooms, washing over Ethan like a frozen wave. The dungeon was themed like a mine, wooden beams holding the walls up. There was even a track on the ground for a mine cart, although it was rusted and destroyed in sections. The entrance room was welcoming enough. Rotting crates and piles of rocks scattered the area.

“Bit cold,” Ethan said, looking around for anything useful. As always, everything within the crates was rotten beyond use.

Like the last dungeon, there were three ways the group could go. Twist edged down one, sneaking out of sight and returning swiftly. Ethan could feel the smile on the Rogue’s face.

“Normal orcs.”

“Thank the gods,” Targe said, heaving a sigh. “I was thinking we were cursed. Rank 1?”

“Yes.”

“Bless our good luck.” Targe clapped a hand on Ethan’s back. “We can do a normal dungeon for once.”

Ethan sat down on the ground, going through his pack. He checked his things, making sure he had plenty of watered wine and backup water. Targe carried their reserve water, but the group wouldn’t go into rationing mode on the first day within the dungeon. They had a full day of feasting supplies, then it was down to dried meats and fruits. The Caller thought about seasonal items provided by the region, and he realized he didn’t know what time of year it was. He didn’t know what climate they were in, either.

“Hey, what month is it?” Ethan asked, reorganizing his pack.

“May,” Targe said.

Ethan narrowed his eyes at the fighter. “May? How can you have a ‘May’? What are the other months?”

Targe listed off the other months. The months Ethan knew from Earth. Which made no sense. Not just that there were twelve of them, but that they had the same names. Not slightly different names. They didn’t follow the fantasy theme, and that rubbed him the wrong way. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized something.

“Wait, say the word again,” Ethan said, staring at Targe’s mouth.

“May. Want me to say it again? May. May… Helt-drant,” Targe said, drawing the last word out.

“Hah!” Ethan shouted, pointing a finger at the Fighter. “I knew it.”

“You knew what?” Twist asked.

“I spoke English on Earth. When Luca brought me here, he did some weird system shenanigans to me. What language are we speaking?”

“Slonan,” Twist said. “Not my native tongue.”

“I’m happy you’re just realizing this now,” Targe said with a nod. “Never thought to ask about it before.”

“So, we’re getting into the summer months?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah. Doesn’t get too hot in Wexenhal. Shaping up to be a pleasant season. Better than the ones from my childhood.”

“Are we clearing the entire dungeon?” Twist asked, seemingly uninterested in the conversation.

“Yeah, I think so,” Targe said. “Should be enough to push us to level 10. Maybe not Ethan.”

“I must bathe in the boss’ blood,” Twist said. “Assuming my [Blood Mage Subcore] gets to 10.”

“Right. I’ll add ‘bathing in blood’ to our list of things to do,” Targe said.

“Please, do.”

Targe had fortunately recovered his spear from the downed orcs outside the dungeon. The single-handed spear seemed like a suitable weapon to poke at enemies behind a broad shield. The Fighter smacked it against his shield, gaining the attention of Ethan and Twist.

“So, let’s go over a few things.” Targe cleared his throat. “We’re doing well as a team so far. Twist’s plan to take a damage-over-time class changes our tactics. Slightly, but enough. I want us to share our core abilities so we can understand each other more.”

Twist shrugged. “Sounds good.”

“You can build a [Fighter’s Core] in two different ways. Tank and damage. I’m a tank,” Targe said. “I have 3 abilities. [Chage] does what it says on the prompt. I charge in with my shield. [Bulwark] makes me take less damage when I block with my shield. [Dig In] doubles that last effect if I’m standing still.”

Ethan had expected Targe to explain the entire system-generated block of info for the abilities. He appreciated the shortened version.

“[Blade Flurry], [Keen Strikes], [Momentum],” Twist said.

Targe let out a sight. “[Blade Flurry] is a cooldown attack speed ability. [Keen Strikes] lets him hit vital points on monsters. [Momentum] increases his move speed after landing a hit.”

“What about your subcore, Targe?” Ethan asked, knowing that Twist’s subcore was new. He wouldn’t have any interesting abilities.

“All geared to making me better with different weapons. I get [Strength] bonuses for using different weapons in combat. That’s why I have the spear. Your turn.”

Ethan had to open his interface to see all the abilities he had. He explained his 2 abilities on his [Caller’s Core], [Rapid Summon] and [Caller’s Resilience]. But that wasn’t all. He was building Lucantele and Telbarantis differently, and each of them had their own abilities. While both had [Pact Upgrade 1], they behaved differently. Tel had [Bulwark], and Luca had [Claw], [Barrier of Hope], and [Persistent Light of Hope].

Then Ethan had to explain something that neither of the other party members had.

“You don’t have class-specific gear?” the Caller asked.

“Nope,” Targe said. “Just generic crap.”

Ethan had to explain the [Caller’s Steadying Stance] on his gloves. Both [Spur] and [Caller’s Mana Regen] on his staff. Then the [Caller’s Sprint] ability on his shoes. Then he had to go back again, because he forgot to explain the passive abilities on his gear. His robe reduced perpetuation cost, while his staff gave him the ability to regen half mana in combat.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Common rank classes don’t get fancy stuff. Not until way later,” Targe explained.

“Not usually, anyway,” Twist said. “You got lucky with quests.”

But there was a problem with having too much crap. Ethan hadn’t really tested his [Caller’s Steading Gloves], yet. He flexed his fingers, feeling the supple things on his hands as he fell into thought. The Caller didn’t want to think about the comfortable pants he forgot to mention. While they did a great job of preserving his modesty, he hadn’t seen the effect happen. If it stole any health from monsters, it would have been minimal.

“More reason to get you guys some evolved cores,” Ethan said, nodding. “Then the gear will flow.”

“I have this fancy earring, anyway,” Targe said, flicking the onyx gem embedded in his ear.

“Well, now that I feel like a jerk… think we can start the dungeon?” Ethan asked.

Targe offered the Caller a concerned look. “Not trying to make you feel bad. One-on-one, me and you? You’d be dead in seconds.”

Twist raised his hand. “Same here.”

“Rare doesn’t mean good,” Targe explained. “Your [Caller’s Core] is proof of that.”

“I take offense to that.”

“No, listen. Some classes start off relatively weak. If you had a bunch of spirits to summon, you’d fit any role. And you’d do it damn well. You only have two, and you’re filling an extremely special role.”

Ethan didn’t know whether to be offended by that. He wasn’t offended very easily, either. It took a lot to get under his skin. So he thought about it. What Targe was saying was that he didn’t impact the fight with damage. He was a sub-par healer, even if he’d kept up so far. What he added to the fight was invaluable, though. A disposable spirit that could distract monsters. In Telbarantis’ case, several monsters at the same time. He had a pocket tank, and a pocket healer.

“I get what you’re saying. I’m not a damage dealer, a healer, or a tank. The spirits and I are all of those things and something else. A risk-free distraction.”

“Risk-free distraction,” Targe said, closing his eyes and letting out a steady breath. “Damn, that’s a good way to put it.”

“This is all too heavy,” Ethan said, rising to his feet. “I never thought about which person had the better core, or what that meant. Just thought we made a good team.”

“This is not a standard team composition,” Twist said.

“But it works. Now that we’re not fighting some nonsense corrupted monsters, we’ll see how well it really works,” Targe said, gesturing to the western passage. “Let’s make it a tradition to take the west first. Work all the way to the boss, then do the same for the middle and the east.”

“I like that,” Ethan said.

He gravitated to the western side. Something about clearing the leftmost side of the dungeon first resonated with him. The east seemed fine, but the center seemed treacherous. Ethan realized his aversion to the center was because of the corrupted dungeon. Because of the ambush from the rule-breaking monsters there. But here, everything was on the table. The group moved down the western passage, leaving their packs in the first room.

The first room on that side seemed tame. Three orcs was all it offered. A mix of weapons with an unfavorable layout. But they’d faced more Rank 1 orcs in the fields outside the dungeon. Targe could have skipped the strategizing session. Hell, Luca by himself could have given the orcs a thrashing. Instead, like a good adventurer, he proposed a strategy for their attack.

Instead of going in blind, they’d assume the orcs were stronger than normal. They’d also assume there were more dungeon tricks within the room.

“Buffs, pull with Luca, then swap for Tel,” Targe said. “Maim the orcs, then we’ll finish them off. Quick and clean.”

Ethan opened his mouth to mention non-humanoid monsters, but stopped. They wouldn’t need to worry about those. Not yet. They’d figure out how good Tel was at sending animal-like monsters to the ground later. He cast [Summon Lucantele], ordering the Symbol to use [Barrier of Hope] and [Persistent Light of Hope] on Targe before charging in.

The three orcs shouted their cries, then charged down the passageway. Their bare feet slapped against the wet stone ground, echoing off the walls. Targe was waiting with his shield at the ready, spear poised to stab. Twist hid around the corner, daggers ready to flash out. Ethan dismissed Luca and began casting [Summon Telbarantis], the room filling with a faint blue light. When the spirit burst forth from his circle, he snapped wildly at the air.

The first orc slammed against Targe’s shield, gaining a spear to his gut for the effort. Twist descended on their flanks. Tel refused to listen to Ethan’s commands.

“Come on,” Ethan said, gesturing to the monsters. “Get them.”

Then the spirit slapped him in the back, sending him pitching forward from the force of the strike. It did no damage, but he felt the wind of motion behind him as he tumbled. Telbarantis’ jaws wrapped around the midsection of another orc. One holding a single rusted dagger and wearing a mask and hood.

“Stealther!” Ethan shouted, rising to his feet to dust himself off. “Tel spotted him.”

“Damn!” Targe shouted back, buckling under the force of three blows at once.

Ethan slammed the end of his staff into the ground, activating the [Spur] ability. The bell echoed throughout the room. Tel grew to the size of a real gator, and got to work on the orc rogue. The caller issued commands, making sure the spirit didn’t go for the kill. He maimed the monster, tossing it aside to slam against the far wall. Then he was upon the group assailing Targe, snapping jaws crippled their limbs. His thick tail sent them tumbling to the ground with single strikes.

Twist and Targe moved in to finish the monsters off. Telbarantis shrunk to his normal summoned size moments later. The group was left heaving breaths and shaking their heads.

“So much for the strategy,” Twist said.

“I’m adding stealth classes to the list of things to watch out for,” Targe said.

Ethan dismissed the spirit, curing everyone’s wounds as they looted the monsters. Rank 1 [Monster Cores] were more valuable than their Rank 0 versions. They also dropped more money, making it far more profitable to spend the charges on their bracelets.

“Mind if I swap to my [Evoker’s Subcore]?” Ethan asked. “I want to see what I can get for the level 5 skill.”

“Yeah. Works for me,” Targe said, kicking the side of the dead orc rogue.

Ethan found his pack in the room and swapped his [Healer’s Subcore] for his [Evoker’s Subcore]. The [Echo] ability wasn’t great, but the core was epic quality. The description said it was a support mage style subcore, which meant the level 5 ability would have been nice. That’s what the caller told himself. An internal justification for the rare subcore.

“Let’s hit the first room in the middle,” Ethan said. “Should be enough experience from the Rank 1 orcs to get me to level 5.”

“Good idea,” Twist said, gesturing to his own chest. “My subcore needs more experience, too.”

The group took a moment for Ethan’s mana to regenerate. As a [Mana Regen] specialist, that didn’t take long. The first room of the center path had the same layout as on the west. When Luca moved in, knowing what to look for this time, he sent word there was likely a stealther. When the Caller brought out Tel, after the pull, the spirit thrashed around until it found the rogue.

Prepared for the sneak attack, the party made short work of this group. It was only the panic of an additional orc that sent them off-balance last time. When the group stopped to rest, Ethan scrolled through the list of Evoker abilities. The fight had been enough to send it from level 3 to level 5, earning him a new skill.

The skills for Evoker were weird. [Echo] was strange enough, but there was a list of abilities that did similar things. From duplicating effects on party members, to nullifying magic attacks, they were extremely specialized pieces of kit. The Caller was left to consider a few, but something spoke to him. [Duplicate Effect] was vague in its description. Ethan read it off to his friends.

[Duplicate Effect]

Evoker Ability

Cooldown

5 minutes

Description:

Creates a weaker version of any effect. Effects that are channeled have their sustained mana costs halved. Effects with an infinite duration are limited to their base mana cost in seconds.

“What even is this ability?” Ethan asked.

He stared at it for a long time, trying to find a use for the thing. Something lingered in the back of his mind.

“What if this worked on my summons?” he asked.

“Surely not,” Targe said. “Read the description again.”

Ethan read it aloud again. The effect it duplicated was weaker, that was easy enough to understand. Channeled spells had half mana cost, and infinite effects were given a duration. The ability could have been amazing, or decent. But the other options for the subcore didn’t fit well with his build. The party had nothing to offer, so he selected it.

“Done. Screw it,” Ethan said, casting [Summon Lucantele]. “Even if it sucks, the cooldown is 5 minutes.”

Luca sprung from his circle on the ground, looking up at Ethan and tilting his head.

“Presto, chango,” Ethan said, activating the [Duplicate Effect] ability and focusing on Luca. The spirit shimmered for a moment, then a smaller version of the spirit appeared beside it. “Hah! We need to take a 30 minute break, but check this out.”

Ethan activated the [Echo] ability, focusing on himself. Another version of Luca sprung from nowhere. Three silver squirrels stared up at him, all tilting their heads. They looked at the copies of themselves and growled.

“Is this useful? Maybe,” Targe said. “Is this cool? Oh, you bet it is.”

“Tea?” Twist asked.

The two copies of Luca faded, leaving only the original. Ethan agreed to tea and the party sat down in the first room. The Caller had neglected to test if the copy of Luca could use abilities, but he had to wonder how useful that was. With a base perpetuation cost of 14, summoning another copy would consume 22 mana every 5 seconds. Adding another would be 30 mana. His combat regen was only 7.5, making the ability a draining thing.

“Limited use,” Targe said, sipping his tea. “But damn we need to test it. Even if you just bring another copy of Tel out for 15 seconds.”

“This gives us burn potential,” Twist said with a nod.

The delve had started as an ordinary run. Something to test themselves against a fair dungeon. Now Ethan looked forward to his new ability. He looked forward to specializing Luca into healing so he could stop using his [Healer’s Subcore] for good.