The next day we made our way South following the border of the swamp and the deadlands where Naran and I had been yesterday. We kept going, processing the spotted twisting vine monsters as crafting crystals.

It was about midday when the curve the swamp swung hard to the West, only partway through the zone. We kept following the curve, since it was still going a bit South and then we ran into a lake, covered with green pond scum.

It might not be a lake, but the boundaries of the Systemic Land were probably void, not water. I poked the water with my small finger. It was like swamp water but without the trees.

“I think we found our terrain feature, circle it and find the dungeon?” Naran asked what I was thinking. I let out a sigh as I observed the swamp that began to either side of the vast expanse of green water.

“Left or right?” I asked, since I had no preference either way.

“Right,” Naran said. That meant counterclockwise around the lake. Fethee and Heba retreated a small distance along the path we had just transversed while Naran and I set out into swamp land once more.

This time there were red leaf beasts. They launched leaves which burst into flames on impact with anything. As a level 2 monster they weren’t hard to kill just annoying.

We kept the lake in sight as we circled it. I was in the lead once again. I really hated swamps. About an hour into the trip I looked across the lake and let out a sigh.

“See that?” I stopped and pointed across the lake. There was a structure built at the end of a small peninsula, that looked more like an island, since everything was scum water. There were trees leading up to the structure on the far side of the lake.

“Go back around?” Naran asked.

“Yes, since we don’t know how far South this goes and I am not crossing an open expanse of water that I can’t see through,” I replied. At least there were no monsters as we ran back the way we had come. I didn’t blame Naran for his poor choice in direction either, it was all up to chance.

We cleared our way along the East side of scum lake to reach the peninsula and close in on the building. It reminded me of a Greek temple. The building was large, circular, and had columns around the outside. Let me see if I remembered my columns from high school.

Doric were dumb looking columns. Ionic were shaped like the letter ‘I’. Corinthian were fancy columns. I would have to say these were ionic columns. The tops and bottoms had curls to them, making them look like the letter ‘I’.

The temple had stairs surrounding it going upwards from the pond scum, like a tower, only human sized. There were no walls either, just columns. We climbed up the stairs slowly. Naran took the lead. We reached the top and saw three large leaf beasts with bright red veins running through their leaves. They had the shape of a lion if I had to put an animal to them. About the size of a horse compared to the level 2 monster’s size of a large dog.

Naran turned to look at me and I pointed at myself, and he nodded. I rushed in. Acid Shot x15.

The monsters spun towards us, but they were already dying. Their eyes were glowing bright yellow. They took a couple of steps and then collapsed. A few seconds later they turned to dust. A bit longer than other level 3 monsters, maybe some kind of regeneration ability. I wasn’t about to let them test it on me.

A skill crystal appeared. There was nothing else. I went over and poked the crystal. The first skill was Burning Leaf. Another way to say fireball, but it would have a bit of persistence when it landed. The other skill was Life Sight.

I let Naran poke the crystal to check the skills. “Interested?” I asked him.

“No. Kind of interesting, a rare Perception type skill,” Naran said.

“It is tempting, but I doubt it works on certain types of monsters or it works on them at all,” I replied.

“You want something better then,” Naran said.

“Not like I have a spare skill slot, but yes,” I replied. I poked the skill crystal again and considered what the second upgrade for Air Burst should be. The options were trajectory, shape, and size.

I had gone with size for Acid Shot. While a stronger or bigger Air Burst might push me further or a bit faster, it was the safe choice. Shape probably meant I could alter the shape of Air Burst somehow, which might allow me to curve slightly while using it. Trajectory was confusing, since the air came out and pushed me in whatever direction I wanted once I used the skill.

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I picked size, bigger was always better. While it would be nice to check the other upgrade options, I couldn’t do that at the detriment of the skill itself.

“Air Burst.” I used the skill and it had more push to it. It was a minor improvement at best, but still an improvement. I walked back over to Naran and looked about the temple. Nothing on the ceiling. No writing and no clues.

“Spot anything?” I asked.

“No, you?” I shook my head at that question.

“We can rest here and check South tomorrow, maybe Southeast as well. Or we can head back now,” I said, since it was getting dark and this was the only place not underwater nearby.

“Southeast, tomorrow, it will be rough for Fethee, but he can handle the spotted twisting vine monsters, one at a time. It will be a hassle for him, but he isn’t helpless,” Naran said.

“Really?” I asked.

“Don’t look down at a 200 Body stat when dealing with a level 2 monster. It is more than enough to win a fight. He will just have to hack away a lot and pay attention,” Naran said.

“Alright,” I replied and plopped down on the stone tiled floor of the temple and pulled off my soggy boots.

“Those are going to be a pain to get on later,” Naran said.

“I know, but we are going to be here a while, I would like my feet to dry and legs,” I said as I pulled off my shin guards and pants. “What?” I asked him, since he seemed like he wanted to say something.

“Nothing,” Naran said and pulled off his boots and pants as well. We had underwear and it wasn’t like we hadn’t changed in front of each other before. My guess he was surprised by how quickly I had nested. We sat in the temple looking out over scum lake as the light source slowly set across the horizon in front of us.

“Southeast, to scout two more zones, we can really start filling in the map of the Systemic Lands at this rate,” I said.

“But we aren’t crossing a level 3 zone, are we?” Naran asked.

“No swamp and then frostlands, we need that combination. Even then, I really don’t even want to peek at a level 4 zone. Who knows what that might trigger?” I answered.

“Well you know that is where Ruth and the Ritualist most likely escaped,” Naran replied.

“I know, we have discussed it enough. But fighting in the swamp is a nightmare. I don’t even want to think about the mistlands with their near zero visibility and mental effects. Also, the stonelands, with huge rocks, perfect for an ambush, hard to move across, and one slip away from death,” I explained my thoughts about the bad types of terrain.

“The map from the city could help. Expand our knowledge in a box outwards,” Naran said and I nodded at that.

“Yes, but it will take a lot of purchases to get to that point. Once we have checked the zones around Heaven, there aren’t many options for a linked level 2 zone,” I explained while thinking on the map and our planned route.

“Surprised you are going for the dungeons, I figured you wanted to hold off on them,” Naran said.

“They are easy enough. Enough Acid Shot and any level 3 monster will go down under the wave I send at them. I don’t want to come back to these places if I can help it. I really hate swamps,” I replied.

“No argument from me. The upgrade didn’t look like it did much?” Naran asked.

“I chose size, just more push behind the skill. Not going to risk picking something that isn’t useful. Some other idiot can figure things out,” I replied.

“It makes me wonder about the upgrades and how they work for all the skills, since it appears the upgrade options are the same regardless of the skill or level,” Naran pointed out.

“Something, something, energy, nothing to do with the name of the upgrade is my guess,” I replied.

“Nothing more than that?” Naran asked.

“I have guesses, but nothing worthwhile. One also has to remember that the list of upgrades repeats after number five. With minor effect coming up twice, but with four options, that means there really are seventeen unique options. But what I really want to know is stacking up some of the upgrades. Power makes sense, since it is just more power or size.”

“But when you really get into it, the big three, silent, gestureless, and cost all give me a headache in trying to figure them out and what exactly would happen if they were purchased twice. Well maybe not cost, but then why have it for upgrade number then, when the next upgrade would take the skill to another level?” I asked, finishing my minor rant on the complex and opaque issue.

“Possibly they are carried through to the next skill?” Naran offered.

“Maybe. That would mean level 2 skills upgraded would be superior to found level 3 skills. Depends on what if anything is kept, and I don’t think upgrades will carry over,” I replied.

“Since it would be a new skill,” Naran said.

“At least that is what the mental download indicated. But the resulting skill is based off my current skill, so I would receive something similar to Acid Shot. It doesn’t matter that much regardless. There aren’t enough level 2 skills to pick and choose from. And we are going through the level 3 skills, but Air Burst isn’t getting replaced,” I replied.

“Aqua Sphere?” Naran asked.

“Maybe. I would prefer a more one directional shield that was much stronger. A one use shield, similar to the golems, panel ejection, something for attack and defense,” I replied.

“That would be the best. One thing we haven’t faced is a mix yet,” Naran said. I gave him a questioning look. “A mix of level 4 monsters. The golems came close, with a couple of different attacks, but nothing that different.”

“I think that will be at a later level or dungeon only. I guess the priority would be to take down the easiest ones first and then move on from there. It comes down to numbers and ability. I mean next time you fight a level 4 with your massive sword, it should be much easier,” I said.

“I hope so. I can do critical damage to one level 4 monster at least. Killing it is another matter,” Naran said. That was true enough. Level 4 monsters didn’t like to go down easily.