***

Three hours passed in constant combat with the terrifying monsters that came in unending waves.

My body was aching and I had dried blood caking my armor and skin.

I had little time to check my Stat screen, but by now I was sure I should have Leveled several times.

At first, it hadn't been difficult to put each creature down quickly, as they were mostly high Beginner or low Novice and individually weak, but their numbers proved increasingly more challenging as they found ways around our defense.

It hadn’t taken long to learn their attack patterns and with the trap still diverting a decent amount of them, it became much easier it was to kill them without getting too overwhelmed by their numbers.

Taking a moment in the midst of the carnage I turned to see Fras effortlessly carve his glowing sword through two of the Beginner Numliques before blasting a torrent of flame at the few directly behind them.

Swinging on one of the creatures I collected the momentum from my dash, plunging my fist directly into its chest cavity.

I pulled my filth-ridden hand out, turning to another set who were trying to take advantage of their kin’s distraction.

How many is that? I asked Mel, creating some distance from the two decapitated corpses I left falling into the mud.

“For you? Just under one hundred,” Mel answered, casually sitting with a book open on her lap in the middle of the battlefield. “Altogether, my best estimate would be around five hundred, not including the ones in the trap.”

“Based on the number of creatures we saw earlier, you’re about a fifth done, barring any others hidden away.”

I nodded in understanding.

“How is everybody doing?” I asked through the chat.

“Mana’s running low,” Fras answered, taking another large arching swing at a small group that was trying to gang up on him. “Stamina too.”

“I’ve been hit a few times,” Kira said. “My arm is dislocated, and I’m pretty sure a few of my toes are broken.”

“How long on your next potion cooldown?”

“Thirteen minutes.”

“Aye, about the same for me,” Isamaar added.

“Trennel?”

“I’m still good, but the corpses are almost high enough to create a bridge across the pit, so I’ll need to come out shortly.”

“Join us now. We’ll teleport away long enough to recuperate, and come back fresh.”

Trennel popped into existence directly outside of the wall of ice next to Isamaar, helping the man dispatch a few pairs that were looking to flank the Dwarf.

“Where to?” He asked.

“The outskirts of the oasis,” I answered. “We’ll gain some distance over open ground but I would like to stay close.”

“I need everyone to get closer and grab ahold of one another.”

Beginning the fighting retreat, we all converged on Trennel’s position, taking out as many of the creatures as we could along the way.

Kira was the last to make it as we joined arms.

Trennel released a spell from his Core, enveloping us in a dim blue Mana before the world heaved and the wet ground beneath us turned to loose sand.

Our surroundings blurred and shifted to the dusty brown of the desert landscape.

“Are we safe?” Fras asked, stumbling forward on the change in terrain.

“Reasonably,” Trennel said. “We’re a few miles north. That should buy us about half an hour.”

“Everyone, take some time. As soon as your cooldowns are up, replenish your resources. Trennel, can you get us back to the rear of the temple before they get here?” I asked.

“It has to be somewhere I’ve been before, so if you want to get that close, I will have to bring us to the entrance again.”

“Alright, I would like to have one more try at the creatures and take out as many as possible before scaling the outside of the pyramid. We can climb the outside to reach the roof, and bypass the majority of the creatures that are left.”

“We should finish them off,” Kira said with a fierce look on her face.

“At this rate that will take too long,” Isamaar said. “It would be smarter to finish the objective of the floor.”

“We can’t just leave them at our backs.” Kira insisted.

“This isn’t a normal dungeon floor, they won’t be able to follow us further in.”

“Will they still be on this floor once we leave?” I asked.

“The Mana that they are comprised of will still be prevalent in the Dugeon, even if not in the same forms,” Trennel explained. “They may be diverted to another floor or continue to inhabit this floor. It is unpredictable.”

“Scenario floors are more likely to recycle the Mana to a deeper floor once the objective is complete,” Isamaar added.

Turning to look Kira in the eye I said, “I get that you want to wipe them all out, but if we clear the entire Dungeon it has the same effect, does it not?”

“I guess,” she said weakly, avoiding my gaze.

“Alright, we just need to finish the floor and move on. With the change in the monster's demeanor, it’s safe to assume the queen has taken the Relics and is probably in possession of them. I still want to take this opportunity to take out as many as possible before leaving, however. It’s a waste of Experience to dismiss such a treasure trove. After we recuperate, we will find her together and complete our mission. Everyone on the same page?”

After a round of muttered agreements, I sat in a meditative position but kept my consciousness out of the Library, still too wary of my intruder to attempt another delve with others around whom I could potentially hurt.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Frasl pulled a parasail out of his dimensional storage, stabbed it into the ground, and then laid down a small blanket on the sand before falling into it face first, his armor puffing into black smoke, replaced by his tailored suit.

Deciding instead to check any progress I had made, I pulled up my Stat screen.

Name: Cassieus Hinari

Level: 38

Affinity: Karmic

Class: N/A

Armor Rating: 20,099

Health: 12,586/19,970

Health Regen: 19.81/sec (1% Vitality -0.16/sec Soul Damage)

Mana: 13,260/48,890

Mana Regen: 489.9/sec

Stamina: 1,401/19,920

Stamina Regen: 205/sec

Stats

Strength:1988

Vitality:1997

Endurance:2051

Toughness:1992

Agility:2007

Dexterity:2005

Perception:2002

Wisdom:1999

Intelligence:4889

Willpower:1996

Luck:5164

This doesn’t make any sense. These are my stats from before I entered the Dungeon. I know that I should have Leveled by now.

“I agree, this doesn’t line up with the Experience you should have earned,” Mel said, equally confused.

“I’m not seeing any increase in my Stats, is anyone else having that problem?”

“That’s normal,” Isamaar said. “You won’t gain any levels inside the Dungeon until you complete the floor.”

“Why?” I asked, somewhat annoyed.

“It’s to prevent microleveling,” Trennel explained. “Where you fight a few monsters then leave to level up, then repeat the process. I remember one of the books I read saying something about it dealing with Level disparity and it being the Dungeon protecting itself.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I said. “How does the Dungfeon prevent us from leveling?”

“The system most likely,” Mel whispered in my ear. “But they probably wouldn’t know that.”

“Nobody really knows,” Isamaar answered. “But then again, nobody really knows how Dungeons do anything.”

“There are some Expert tier researchers at the College of Winora who study Dungeons and Lei lines but their papers aren’t accessible to anyone as low on the ladder as us, let alone the public,” Trennel said.

“College of Winora?” Fras asked. “What, like the academy you attend?”

“No. Primrose is an academy for postgraduates of the mandatory academies we attended after receiving our Cores. After that, you can join a research college like the one in Winora where you can work on teams for different projects. They are more meant as a knowledge collective than a learning establishment.”

“Fancy,” fras mocked.

“Yes it is,” Trennel replied sincerely.

Fras rolled his eyes, then turned away, going back to his respite of relaxation.

It makes more sense why Osiph is having me do all this training before attending school, having missed my mandatory classes. Why would he have not enrolled me in another primary academy though?

“My guess is that that would have required a record of your Core and when it was received, which doesn’t play into the identity that he crafted for you. There would be no official record and that would bring too much attention to you,” Mel said. “Having missed that, you will be playing catch up to the other students on basic principles, even if you will likely be the most capable in a combat scenario. Having access to me and the Library will help close the gap but it will still take time and effort on your part to gain the experience and knowledge necessary to stand on the same level intellectually.”

I thought back to how excited I had been when I was given my supply list at my Ascendancy ceremony. I had been waiting for it for so long and had pictured entering the school grounds numerous times. About my teachers, and my friends. What classes I would be taking and the spells I would learn.

I sighed deeply.

The thought of that brought down my mood considerably, but I tried not to let it show on my face.

There’s nothing I can do about it now.

Frustrated, I pulled out a canteen and took a few sips of water, pouring some of it down my back. The water sent a refreshing chill down my spine as it was absorbed by my undershirt.

***

"I think I need to sleep for a month," Fras complained, flopping down into the sand. He hadn't even bothered to put down a blanket this time.

"I agree with the giant," Isamaar said, pulling a chunk of viscera off of his pauldron and flinging it to the ground in disgust.

I checked the time, seeing that it had taken another three and a half hours on the second wave of creatures before we had run out of steam to continue fighting and had been forced to teleport away once more.

“I think we made a reasonable dent in their numbers. Though we would need to do that at least two more times to thin them out enough to comfortably go in through the entrance again,” I said, downing another Health potion.

“Our time is almost up here isn’t it?” Trennel asked. “I assume we won’t have time to make it to the next floor.”

“Probably not. I need to get back soon and we have no idea what the next floor will entail.”

“Do we have time to try for another wave?” Isamaar asked.

I looked over at Kira who was washing the grime off of her staff while the wounds on her arms and legs slowly closed up.

“I would feel better if we just head straight up. I don’t know how long it will take to deal with the queen or to get the Relics from her,” I said, using the water from my canteen to wash my own hands after taking a quick drink.

“Fine with me,” Fras chimed in through a mouthful of sand. “The sooner I can get back to my inn the better.

“Just as well. I could use a proper bath,” Isamaar agreed.

“Kira?” I said.

“It’s fine,” she replied, not looking up. “We’re going to clear the Dungeon one way or another, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then, it’s fine. Let’s just hurry up and finish it so we can get out of here.” Her voice was tight and she withheld her gaze from the others, focusing on her staff.

I stared at her for a moment before turning to the temple's rear face, towering over the trees that surrounded its perimeter.

“She’s sour today isn’t she?” Mel said with a grin, pacing around the young woman.

She’s here to protect her people, not to gain Levels. She’s clearly upset that we won’t wipe out every last grunt.

“Then why don’t you?”

Because I am here to gain Levels. Saving the surrounding area is just a side effect. I’m not going to waste time on killing every last one of the creatures in the Dungeon when it will eat into the time I have set aside for my studies.

“That’s kind of callous isn’t it?”

I thought you didn’t care about people?

“I don’t, but I’m worried about what will happen to you when you stop caring about them too. I’m not going to be able to take the place of your conscience.”

I do care. I don’t want anyone to get hurt, but I told them I would help, and that’s what I’m doing. Osiph made my schedule with efficiency and speed in mind. If I ignore it and it ruins my chances to bring my family back, I will never forgive myself.

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, I just thought it would be good for you to talk through it. To keep some perspective. Kira has more invested in the area, so of course she wants to protect it. It’s her friends and family in danger. Maybe something worth keeping in mind, Yeah?” Mel squatted down near Kira’s face. “Don’t be too hard on her for wanting to keep her family safe.”

And you said you wouldn't make a good conscience. I teased.

Calling out the rest of the team to prepare to head toward the temple, I took another quick drink before tossing my empty canteen into my ring.

Sobering myself, I stared out into the distance, in the direction of our destination.

It’s time to go see the queen.