----------------------------------------

Auron's eyes flipped open, quickly he brought both hands to his head. The dizzy, and nauseous feeling from the disorienting dream led him to not try standing right away. 

The impression of falling back into his own body after seeing that kingdom, and dragon looking man fighting a horde of bug people, was not something he ever wanted to experience again. If that was his imagination, maybe he should leave dungeon diving to someone else, and go off to write plays. 

While the visions or whatever were odd, and the out of body experience uncomfortable, he still considered them a welcome change from his never-ending nightmares. 

There was just so much information to process. The whole scene felt too real to be a dream. 

Auron winced as he felt a fierce heat coming from his hand. The brass ring on his finger warmed to the point it was red hot. Before he could even move to slip the ring off, he noticed it already began to cool and left it on. 

Staring at the item with apprehension, he tapped it. Sliding it slightly down his finger, he realized there was no terrible burn or melted skin as he half expected. Auron noted that the ceiling was moving as he laid on his back. Somewhere in the hollow crag that held his mind, he knew that ceilings did not move, but he was too groggy from whatever had knocked him out. 

Groaning from falling asleep on a stone floor, Auron felt a slight tugging sensation on his cowl hood. Slowly tilting his head up so he could see backward, he noticed he was being dragged along the floor. Judging by how the walls were plastered with holes, he was now back in the boss room. 

Looking upside down, he saw a reptile the size of a small dog was slowly pulling him, its rounded teeth latched on to his hood.

 Alarmed, he kicked his legs out and threw himself away from the creature. Despite the loud protesting of his muscles, Auron forced himself to stand. 

Raising to his full height, Auron summoned his goblin dagger and made his best attempt at a defensive stance. Despite all of his effort, he could not stop his hands from shaking. He was utterly exhausted, and even holding up his small blade took a tremendous amount of his low energy reserves. 

Auron desperately searched for Zander, while keeping his eyes on the monster. 

The adrenaline from being so close to an unknown creature put his brain into overdrive. The rush of chemicals to his brain shed some of the cloudy exhaustion ruling his mind. 

Not seeing his little familiar anywhere, Auron stared daggers at the potential reason for Zander's absence. 

Furious that his friend could be hurt, his sight turned red with emotion. A tunnel vision took over as he began to charge Thrust slash.

"What did you do to my partner," Auron growled out toward the monster. 

The creature opened its mouth in what appears to be a grin. Auron could not make out through the haze over his mind why that grin looked familiar.

Placing his empty hand behind him, Auron pointed his blade at the offending being.

 Summoning a storm to his palm, sacrificing 25% of his mana bar, he was thrown through the air toward the creature. 

Calling four whirlwinds to its feet, the creature swiftly dodged, and let out a peal of familiar wheezing laughter. 

"Zander?!" Auron shouted. He forced himself to blink several times in quick succession as if his eyes were the problem. 

Unable to end his attack, he flies past and hits the ground coming to a slow stop after rolling a few times in the gravel. Scrambling to his feet, he puffed a small rock out of his nose. 

This led to another round of wheezing laughter. Auron now had no doubt this was his familiar. 

"How are you so big?" Auron shouted while he brushed lose rock and dirt off himself, unable to hide a massive grin forming on his face. 

[Of course, it is me, you fool. The mana concentration that knocked you out in that lower dungeon did wonder for me. As you can see, the size of my body has increased, and so has the amount of mana I can access.] Zander's message was followed by more wheezing laughter. 

[Now let's get back to it. Your wind magic needs a bit of work, and with my mana pool nearly doubled, I can actually show you a few things.] Zander said, punctuating his words with slices of wind.

Auron, smiling at the challenge, barely managed to get to his feet to dodge the walls of sharp wind thrown by his familiar. 

"Give me a moment to catch my breath!" Auron yelled over, but Zander did not relent. 

[We can talk later. That pathetic attempt at an attack only showed me I needed to do this sooner. My mind had been so clouded by foreign magic.] Zander spoke over their link. 

Auron could tell he meant well.

 [I am a horrible teacher. There is no denying that. I think I will be able to part with some of my battle sense with you if it's during a fight. So let's get to it you skeleton rogue.] Zander ended his message by gathering a collection of small fingertip sized rocks, and showering Auron with them. 

With a grin splitting his face, the man sprinted toward one of the mounds of gravel created by his fight with the earlier boss.

Auron had to put his arms up to block the tiny stones, but for once, a battle would be for fun, not ending in death. As tired as his body was, he would push through. 

Speeding over in pursuit, Zander rode the wind as if he was as light as a leaf. With a slight spin, he whipped up a whirlwind and sent it toward Auron. 

As the whirlwind thrummed forward, it sucked up another round of tiny stones from the ground. 

The gravel added to the attack as they pelted Auron. 

This time Zander was a bit more severe with the speed of his wind. 

[Lesson one, you need to learn to use your environment.] Zander chided playfully.

Rubbing a spot where a rock hit, sure to form a bruise, Auron rolled his eyes. Reaching the mound of small rocks and using it to block Zander's view, Auron activated Stealth, noting it came easier likely due to entering the purple dungeon despite the trip being short. 

The ability only caused a small tick down on his mana bar.

As the mana flowed out of him and into his surroundings, he held it for a second. Zander came around the blockade, and he looked around puzzled as if he could not see Auron. 

Using the momentary confusion the ability caused, Auron dashed closer to his opponent while focusing wind magic on his hand.

Zander recovered slowly from the Stealth, and the wind magic he had been firing off being halted gave Auron time to enact his plan. Auron thinks to himself as he channels his mana as excitement ran through him. He would try his favorite move in some games. A double jump. 

He shot three wind blasts one after the other. Aiming the first at his feet lifted him off the surface. The second blast he activated mid-air, placing him even higher, close to the ceiling far off the ground. 

Aiming to avoid the usual sources of Zander's wind magic, the tail, and mouth, He placed his hand toward the ceiling just as gravity began to retake him.

Auron twirled mid-air to face the ground. He activated the last blast using up most of his remaining mana. 

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

As he rocketed back down toward the ground, he stowed his blade back into his ring. 

Auron opted for a less-lethal option of a punch. Balling up his fist, he could taste victory when Zander's back started to glow green. 

In this instance, green did not mean go. A gust of wind formed from his familiars back, sending Auron careening toward the ceiling. 

After leaving a man-shaped indent in the hard rock, Auron fell back toward the ground. 

Before impact, Zander channeled his magic to catch the man with a bed of wind. Blessedly this gust contained healing properties. 

Slowly trotting over to Auron, he places his front feet on the man's chest. 

[Lesson two, Nothing determines the origin point of magic. You can focus it on your hands if you need to. I prefer to use my tail or mouth because they are ideal for my imagery, but do not limit yourself unnecessarily.] Zander sent this and made his best impression of a smile. 

Auron could not help but laugh at the goofy face made by a salamanders attempt to smile. 

"Okay, okay. You win this time. Any other tips?" Auron said while chuckling. 

[Hmm. I suppose that maneuver you pulled with your stealth skill and the wind blasts was something resembling a competent attack. I do have a few questions though. Why did you release the stealth magic, and how many of those wind blasts can you use?] Zander said while squinting his eyes in deep thought. 

Auron could tell he was just being nice. That attack had very little chance of actually working. He needed to improve his Stealth somehow. 

After stifling another chuckle at his familiar's expressions, Auron pushes him off and sits up. 

"Well, for the stealth skill, it deactivates when I move, and I have three of the wind blasts per day, but they seem to refresh if I sleep for any amount of time," Auron says rubbing the back of his head where he hit the ceiling.

 "Oh, it's also the same for the healing wind spell I got when we bonded. My wind thrust and healing gale are only limited by my mana." He said, pushing himself up to stand and stretch. 

[Well, as I said before, we need to level you up. At a certain point, those skills will not be limited. As for your Stealth, you need to keep using it. How about you activate it as we walk out of the dungeon.] Zander sends the mental message as he jumps up and wraps himself around Auron's shoulders.

Auron heaved slightly forward from the weight. Looking Over into Zander's eyes, he sighed as he began to walk forward. 

"You know your legs are plenty big enough to keep up with me, right?" He said sarcastically. 

"I don't think having a green salamander scarf goes that great with my dark color scheme," Auron says, noticing Zander had shut his eyes. 

"Wait, don't sleep just yet. Why are you saying we are walking out of the dungeon. Let's keep going down. I bet that purple dungeon has some cool treasure, and now that you are bigger, you can stay around longer right?" Auron poked Zander's head as he attempted to keep him awake. 

[You can not handle the mana concentration of a higher level dungeon. Like I already said, we have to level you up.] Zander seemed slightly cranky, but Auron knew by now it was all an act. 

"Fine, I can accept that, but why wouldn't we stay here and just let more monsters spawn?" Auron asked, his persistence caused Zander to open one eye.

[Are you scared of the monsters in the swamp up there?] Zander asked

"What... No way. I can take those things." Auron swiped his dagger in an attempt to be menacing, but he dropped it, and almost fell over. 

[Sure, big guy. We can take those overgrown bark lizards. Just trust me.]

"Alright. I trust you." Auron said the words, but with his exhausted body, he was not feeling very confident.

Continuing toward the doors that lead out, Auron is tripped by a rumble that rolls through the dungeon. Before he can say anything, Zander flipped one eye open again. 

[That is just the dungeon resetting. Do not worry.] He said as he closed his eye again.

Auron watched in amazement as the crack in the ceiling fully repaired itself, and the mounds of rocks began to flatten back out. Turing his walk into a jog, he hustled out of the way of moving stones. 

Making his way through the floors, Auron reflected on his few battles. As he did so, he repeatedly activated Stealth. Every time his ability was deactivated by his movement. His muscles and bones felt an ache so deep he had to stop several times to stretch them out, and take breaks.

He felt stronger than he did before entering this dungeon, but deep down, he knew it was not enough to take on that pack of gators waiting for him at the top. His magic was too limited, and although he felt slightly more coordinated, faster, and more durable, he was still as thin as a rail. 

His only option was to get this stealth skill to work while moving. Unless Zander wanted to blow them all away, but that would not be great if it meant he had to rest in the tattoo after. 

Taking on this world without his partner was not something Auron wanted to do. 

After around thirty attempted activations of Stealth, Auron began to feel a dull headache, and his next activation did not do anything. Auron kept the counts in his head, knowing the ability's cost per minute, but he was disappointed it charged the full price if only activated for a second. 

As he reached the crystal clear stream that housed his favorite food, Auron slipped off Zander and his clothes to jump in. After a quick scrub and a slimy meal, Auron stored a bundle of Algae in his ring. He cursed not having some way to carry water, but maybe healing magic would allow him to drink from any source. Giardia is dammed in the face of his magical healing. 

With Zander's reassurance to watch over them both, Auron took a short nap to replenish his limited magical skills, and refresh his mind. By this time in the there upward hike, his exhaustion was sending chills down his skin. He knew he needed the rest. 

After cleaning his gear and resting again for a brief while, he restarted his climb to the surface, with his MP recharged he started activating Stealth along the way. Five to ten activations later, just as he reached the cave entrance, a sharp noise resounded.*Bing* 

Stealth (Amateur) upgraded to >>> Stealth (Adept) you now can hide from beings that are a higher level than you, as long as they do not have a counter ability. With your increase in usage of the ability, you have learned how to activate while in movement. If moving the skill, mana usage is increased considerably.  

As Auron read, he realized that Zander only pretended to be tricked by the ability in their play fight. Zan was a higher level than him, so the Stealth must not have worked. 

Intrigued by the Amateur and Adept classifications next to the ability, he thought of his others.

He pulled up his screen. Sure enough, each of his skills now had the words (Amateur) next to them except for Stealth now being (Adept). Auron was not positive about why the change occurred, but he smiled as he looked at the red gemstone in his hand.

Keeping his smile, he activated Stealth and watched as the purple mist swirled out of him. Taking his first step, he was overjoyed to see that the skill remained active, the fog moving with him while seeping into his surroundings caused any attention turned his way to be veered away. 

Peaking his head out of what was once the entrance to the cave, Auron cursed his inattention to his surroundings. What was once an island was now a gigantic hole. What looked like claw marks wounded the earth and dug deep into the entrance to the dungeon. "Zander, are you seeing this," Auron said, shocked. His familiar was just as wide-eyed on his shoulders. 

[Whatever cracked the ceiling during your first fight with the boss must have done this. We need to get out of here now.] Zander spoke frantically over their link. His voice seemed to be confused.  

"What if it was trying to help me, though?" Auron asks. 

[That may be so, but I am no match for whatever did all of this.] Zander motions with his head at the crater. [Let's go.] His words not a suggestion.

Auron slowly walks up to the small lip of clay-like sand. All that remained from the former island is a few paces of the beach, barely enough to hold back the caustic water surrounding it, but still higher than the water level. 

As terrifying as the damage done to the land was Auron could not help but enjoy the sunlight. 

In the full light of midday, he can see a border of mountain ranges in every direction. The closest range was where he saw the sunrise the last time he was on the surface. Lowering his eyes from the horizon, he could see only swampland in that direction. 

After sending a mental warning to Zander, and activating Stealth Auron pulled green mana to his hand and shot a wind blast down toward his feet, though he had used three in their fight his limited abilities recharged at the slightest nap.

Twirling slightly, Auron was able to see the surrounding landscape. The sight took his breath away. The swampland was a small portion of the land surrounding them. Though it stretched for a few miles in every direction, a lush rain forest met its edge and continued further than he could see. A domineering range of mountains could bee seen in every direction. Behind them, they were close enough to see that the peaks were well into the clouds out of sight. 

His mental communication was improving, but Zander was still somewhat surprised by them shooting upward. As their short flight upward began to end, he lit up with the color of his mana and caught them both in a pillow of wind. Safely now on the ground, Zander shot Auron a look.

Ignoring the look, Auron closed his eyes, holding everything he saw. "Okay, Zander, toward where the sun rises behind us is just more swampland until that mountain range. The mountains seem to form a natural barrier around this entire area. Way off in the distance, I saw something resembling a jungle. If we head toward there, we can climb a tree and just travel toward whatever signs of civilization we can find," The words raced out of his mouth, he was forming a plan as he mentally created a map. *Bing*

   Cartography skill (Amateur) granted through your connection with Red mana. You are able to detail landscape and form a trustworthy map. This map can show where you have been and let you know the direction you are facing. Physical maps can be assimilated and combined to your own.  

"Yes!" Auron yipped after checking their surroundings, and seeing the Gators were nowhere to be seen. Looking down at Zander, he was feeling very positive about their plan. "Okay, buddy, now we just have to figure out how to get over this stretch of swampland. Any ideas?"

Zander just smiled wide with his flat rounded teeth and whipped down his tail. Auron knew he wasn't going to like the answer.