“I’m stronger now,” Zalan determined as the stats faded from his forearm. “And wiser?”

“Wisdom has nothing to do with your wisdom,” Gorb replied.

“Right,” Zalan said, confused.

“Correct, you are still a fool!” Fran said, smiling as she looked over the dead Giant Gargoyle with mirth.

“What is it, then?” Zalan asked.

“We will explain on the way home,” Gorb said, approaching to the wall of rocks to climb over.

Gorb jumped impossibly high, assisted greatly by a burst of wind he let out as he leapt up. He stumbled on loose stones as climbed the rest of the way up the pile of rocks. He looked back down to Zalan.

“Come on,” Gorb called to Zalan and Fran, his arm reaching out.

Zalan walked up to the pile and placed his hands to start climbing, but Gorb shook his head.

“Jump up, I will assist you,” Gorb promised.

Zalan looked at Gorb nervously, afraid he would be insulted once they realized how little he could jump, especially with the slight injury to his feet. He hopped a tiny bit, but ascended multiple feet to his surprise. The momentum stopped just shy of Gorb’s hand and Zalan had to climb up a few stones to be helped to the top.

“You can make anyone jump as high as you want?” Zalan asked once he was situated at the top of the pile. The idea sounded about as cool to him as flight.

“Excuse me a moment,” Gorb said apologetically to Zalan, then turned to his sister. “Fran! We are leaving!”

“Was it not a glorious battle?” Fran called up. She was glowing with pride.

“Yes, very good, now let us go,” Gorb said, waving his hand patiently.

Fran turned away from her brother and looked upon the Giant Gargoyle once more, breathing in the air deeply. Zalan gave Gorb a look of concern. Gorb wiped a hand over his face, looking utterly embarrassed.

“Fran,” Gorb pleaded.

“Just a moment!” Fran said and hopped up on the dead Giant Gargoyle.

Zalan looked on, disturbed, until he realized that Fran was looking for something. He suddenly remembered that Rep had mentioned that monsters occasionally have Artifacts with them and they should be searched when defeated. He assumed it was just Roaches, but realized it could probably be any monster. He didn’t know what kinds of things they ate.

“It is too dark to scavenge. Let us go,” Gorb requested.

“Another moment!” Fran said, increasing the size of the flame imbued on her sword to get a better view. “I knew there was something!” She knelt down and picked something up from the open wound of the giant, storing it in her pocket. Then, she continued to search through the chest cavity.

“Two Artifacts, Fran?” Gorb chided. “You know there will not be more than one.”

“What about the little ones,” Fran hopped off the Giant Gargoyle and began to roll over Sickly Gargoyles with her foot.

“Fran, you yourself said we should move quickly to heal Zalan,” Gorb said, growing impatient.

“Fine, fine,” Fran turned away from the creature and rushed to the rock pile. With Gorb’s assistance, she was at the top in seconds. She took one last look at the scene, raising her firelit sword to ensure she could take it all in while Gorb and Zalan assisted one another on their way down the other side of the rock pile. Once they reached the ground, it became difficult to see in the night and they looked up at Fran who had yet to move.

“Fran!” Gorb said sharply.

“Yes, fine,” Fran grunted and jumped off the top. Zalan gasped, thinking she was insane until Gorb caught her with a pocket of air to cushion the fall. She put out her sword and held a flame in front of her and led the way.

“A good fight,” Fran said, the energy of the battle still within her, slow to dissipate. “Zalan even gained a Level!”

“Yeah, what does that mean for me?” Zalan asked.

“See for yourself,” Fran pointed to a rock on the side of the road. Zalan quickly interpreted that to mean she wanted him to summon another Sickly Gargoyle from its rock shell.

“I am not fighting anything right now,” Zalan immediately refused.

“No, this is just a rock, I assure you. Release your Elemental Power and see the difference of one Level,” Fran pointed.

Zalan looked at her skeptically until Gorb nodded in corroboration. Zalan raised a hand and quickly let out a burst of lightning and struck the rock. Zalan gasped in fascination, the lightning was twice the size it was before. Where it seemed like a silly string before it now seemed like a rope. It even left a dark mark at the edge of the rock, indicating it wasn’t just bigger, but more powerful as well.

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“Very nice!” Fran said.

“Whoa, is every Level increase like this?” Zalan asked, looking at his hand in disbelief.

“They say that the change from Level One to Level Two is the one that you feel the most. I agree from my own experience. The other increases are still worthwhile, but it may seem underwhelming in comparison,” Gorb said as they once again made their way to Oriton.

“And what about my Wisdom? What is that, exactly?” Zalan asked.

“It is the amount of control you have over your Elemental Power. It does not necessarily mean power. For example, when you have three Wisdom, then you will have the ability to manipulate your power after letting it out, twisting it in the air rather than always firing straight,” Fran said, raising and lowering her flame for effect.

Zalan didn’t even realize he had always been shooting straight forward until then. Dream world or not, the idea of twisting lightning at his enemies was immediately very cool to him.

“And my aim will get better with that?” Zalan asked.

“Ha!” Fran chuckled in amusement. “No, you cannot rely solely on gaining Levels in order to have better abilities. Some things still require skill, like imbuing a weapon or aiming. It may assist you to be able to change the direction of an attack, but your Elemental Power is emitted much faster than I have seen any other power emitted before. Fire has time to be turned. Lightning is almost immediate. You may not have much time to twist the lightning in midair.”

“Oh, I get it,” Zalan nodded to himself, then twisted his head in thought. “So, how come we don’t just fight Roaches all day until we gain a Level? Or a lot of Levels. I mean, I hate seeing them, but they were way easier to kill. I was getting around three Experience per kill.”

“That rate of Experience gain drops rapidly as soon as you gain a level,” Gorb said. “What gave you three experience per kill before might only give you one experience per three killed at Level 2. At my level, I think it would take about a thousand Roaches to gain a single point of Experience.”

“A thousand just for one point at Level Four?” Zalan balked.

“It could be that he has to kill even more than a thousand. Or perhaps, it would be a worthless endeavor for him to continue killing them,” Fran said. “If you continue to kill the same creature too long, you do not gain Experience.”

“None at all?” Zalan asked.

“None. But you have to kill an absurd amount. Think about it. When you are a child, a first step is important in learning how to take your next step. You need to take a lot of steps and gain the experience of what it means to walk normally. But once you are an adult, there is no experience to be gained. You simply know how to walk,” Fran explained.

“I guess that makes sense. Will they always be able to do damage to you, even if you are a higher Level?” Zalan asked.

“Always. Just like no matter how good you are at walking, you are still prone to tripping,” Fran said, continuing the analogy.

“And how come my Experience is just at Five right now? Shouldn’t it have gone higher after killing something like a Giant Gargoyle?” Zalan asked as the question came to mind.

“Normally, yes. But when you gain a Level, the Experience you gain from those you kill in the blast are reduced drastically. If you had killed the Giant Gargoyle without assistance, you could have easily gained another Level.”

“Hang on…” Gorb said suddenly. “Who told you I am Level Four, Zalan?”

Zalan’s eyes went wide, retracing the conversation he just had with them and realizing his mistake.

“I almost did not notice!” Fran smirked. “Who was it, Zalan?”

Zalan wished he could disappear, constantly finding himself in an embarrassing corner whenever talking to the siblings.

“It certainly was not Rep,” Gorb shook his head to himself. “He would never.”

“I did not take Yelsa for the sharing type,” Fran giggled to herself. “What a gossip! Did she tell you my level as well, Zalan?”

“Uhh…”

“She did!” Fran pointed instantly. “It is written all over your face!”

“Sorry,” Zalan said. “I asked her for her Level without knowing it was rude to ask.”

Fran and Gorb exchanged a glance. They both seemed bemused.

“You asked what Level Yelsa was?” Gorb asked, interested.

“Yeah,” Zalan nodded shamefully.

“And she told you it was rude?” Gorb asked.

“Yeah,” Zalan said, slowly realizing that they weren’t shaming him.

“It is not rude to ask someone’s current Level,” Gorb said.

“It’s… not?” Zalan felt like he would never keep up with the etiquette of this dream world.

“Not at all. It is important information to know about someone, especially when you are traveling together. Can you trust them in a fight? Will their Elemental Power be able to sustain you if you are low on supplies? Questions like that are answered very efficiently by knowing someone’s Level. It is not rude to ask to be prepared,” Fran said.

“What is rude is to tell someone else’s Level without their consent,” Gorb said.

“Oh, I get it,” Zalan nodded to himself. “Oh!” he said louder.

He came to the quick conclusion that Yelsa shared Gorb and Fran’s Level without their consent. Gorb looked mildly annoyed, but Fran was fuming with a sinister smile on her face.

“We have much to discuss when we get home,” Fran said severely. Zalan almost recoiled at the look on her face.

“What about that thing you found on the Giant Gargoyle? What was it? An Artifact?” Zalan asked quickly, trying to prevent her from riling herself up further and extending her ire to him.

“Hmm?” she lost her train of thought and reached into her pocket. “Oh, this? It certainly looks like an Artifact.”

She tossed it in the air and caught it causing Gorb to flinch enough to make Zalan nervous. It was a small Artifact and looked like a golden onion that could be opened from the top with enough force.

“What does it do?” Zalan asked.

“Not a clue. That is more Rep’s expertise,” she smiled.

“Which is why we should be careful with it,” Gorb said pointedly.

“I am!” Fran said in annoyance, tossing it in the air again as if to prove her point. Both Zalan and Gorb flinched this time as she caught it.

“Maybe I can hold onto it?” Zalan asked innocently.

“Sure,” Fran shrugged, tossing it ahead of him.

Zalan yelped and dove forward to catch it. His finger grazed it, still too far, and Gorb made a sound as he summoned wind to direct it into Zalan’s open hand before he fell to the floor. The young men looked at one another, a relieved smile on each of their faces. Fran laughed at the display and continued leading the way with her flamelight.