Darren panicked. His first instinct was to pull back, but the damn toad was twice his weight, and its tongue, well, it had to have some sort of magical effect because it wouldn’t loosen its sticky grip. When he found himself losing the tug of war, he slammed his staff into the rubbery pink flesh, hoping to knock it loose, but only managed to get it caught in the sticky slime coating its surface. “Son of a bitch!” Darren yelled, a note of hysteria tinging his voice. He bunched his legs and, with everything he could muster, leaped backward. He was awarded for his efforts; the tongue ripped free from his armored vest, but he also lost his grip on the staff.
Darren scrambled backward, his hands scraping over the damp, stony cavern floor, his feet scrabbling for purchase as the toad struggled with the eight-foot length of hardwood it had inadvertently pulled into its maw. Suddenly, motes of blue Energy showered Darren as Edeya flitted over his head, streaking toward the monstrous amphibian, spear out like a lance.
She drove it straight into the soft, cream-colored flesh under the monster’s mouth, punching the frost-coated, silvery blade all the way through until it poked out the back of its neck, up near the base of its skull. Frosty rime spread from the devastating puncture wound, and the toad flopped onto its belly, legs splayed, red and yellow fluids gushing from its burbling lips.
Darren was on his feet in an instant, pumping his fist, “Nice one!”
“Good job keeping it busy, Dare!” Edeya laughed, jerking her spear free. She scanned the cavern, ensuring nothing else would jump out at them. Then her eyes lit up, and she said, “Are you ready?”
“For?” Darren looked around, trying to see what was coming.
She pointed to the first cluster of frogmen she’d fought, and he saw tiny orbs of golden Energy gathering in the air above them. “Your first Energy infusion!”
“Ah!” Of course, he’d heard tales of the System awarding battle victors some of the Energy from their defeated foes. He looked back to Edeya, and sure enough, there were now a few fat blobs of Energy drifting up from the dead toad. They gathered in two clumps, one a bit larger than the other, and as he watched, they streaked toward them, one directly to Edeya and one to him. The other motes of Energy around the cavern had done something similar, so both adventurers were struck by several thin streams of Energy at once.
“Holy cow!” Darren said, inadvertently using one of his father’s favorite exclamations as the Energy poured into him. It wasn’t like anything he’d ever felt—shudders and chills wracked his body as he tried to wrap his mind around the physical euphoria that almost felt orgasmic. He swore he saw stars and flashes of rainbow light, and when it ended, there was a message before his eyes—faintly transparent white letters on an opaque gray background:
***Congratulations! You have achieved level 2 base human. You have 5 attribute points to allocate.***
“It’s true,” he breathed, finally experiencing what so many of his colleagues back in First Landing had tried to explain to him. He looked at Edeya and saw her smiling at him, her big gold-flecked blue eyes bright in her lean, angular face. She looked vibrant and alive, far more than he’d ever seen her. “Did you level, too?”
“Nope, but I reckon I’m close. You’re two now?”
“Yes.” Darren leaned over, bracing his hands on his knees, still feeling woozy from the burst of Energy. A few seconds later, he saw the butt of his staff thump into the stone before him and looked up to see Edeya grinning as she offered him his weapon.
“Gonna allocate your points?”
Darren smiled and took the staff, standing up to lean on it instead of his knees. “I guess I should. Lesh says I should focus on will and vitality.”
Edeya nodded, rubbing her chin. “I agree, especially after knowing Victor. I bet you wouldn’t guess his main attribute.”
“Uh, strength?” He said it as though only an idiot would think otherwise.
“Wrong—will.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. But he cheats; somehow, he can use his spirit magic to add some of his will to his physical attributes. So, in a way, you’re right.” She thumped him on the shoulder. “How’d your master tell you to do it?”
Darren sighed and chuckled. “I know you’re trying to get a rise out of me. Lesh isn’t my ‘master.’ Anyway, he said to put five into vitality at level two, then five into will at level three, and alternate like that until ten. He thinks it will result in me getting some Class options that will complement my affinities at level ten.”
Edeya frowned. “He wants you to try to become some kind of spell flinger? No, no, I suppose not. He’d have you take intelligence and some dexterity, too. Lesh is a strange one, but he knows a lot. I guess do what he says.”
Darren shrugged. “I suppose it’d be foolish not to take advice from someone with so much experience.”
“Still, even if you wanted to be some kind of lightning master, you’re going to need dexterity too—weaving complicated spell patterns isn’t easy. I guess at level ten, depending on what kind of Class you get, you can cross that bridge.”
“Yep.” Darren had already made up his mind that he’d follow Lesh’s advice. So, as Edeya surveyed the cavern, he opened his status sheet and added all five of his new points into vitality. Back in Sojourn, when he’d imagined this moment, he’d wondered what it would be like to boost his vitality by five full points, nearly doubling his starting amount. He was a little disappointed by the reality. Thanks to the Energy infusion, he already felt fantastic, so he hardly noticed anything more—some general well-being, maybe, but it was impossible to tell if it was all in his head. Nevertheless, he looked at his status sheet with pride:
Status
Name:
Darren Whitehorse
Race:
Human - Base 1
Class:
-
Level:
2
Core:
Wildarc Class - Base 1
Energy Affinity:
Lightning 8, Chaos 7.4, Unattuned 6.1
Energy:
97/97
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Strength:
6
Vitality:
12
Dexterity:
5
Agility:
5
Intelligence:
9
Will:
3
Points Available:
0
Titles & Feats:
-
Skills:
System Language Integration
Not Upgradeable
Wildarc Cultivation Drill
Basic
Spells:
Arclight Wisp
Basic
“All done?” Edeya asked, and Darren realized she was staring at him again.
“Yep!” He looked around, wrinkling his nose at all the bloody, slumped figures of dead frogmen. “No treasure?” He’d heard things about dungeons. Shouldn’t there be a chest or something?
Edeya shrugged. “Not that I could see, but maybe this dungeon doesn’t award special chests, or maybe it does, but only after we find a boss or something.”
“What did your book say?”
“There are definitely reports of special awards and System-generated loot. I just don’t know where exactly. This dungeon changes its layout and monsters regularly.”
Darren nodded, scanning the periphery of the cavern. “I don’t see an exit . . .”
“Lucky for us, I have a water affinity. I can feel the extent of these little pools with my Core sight. I think that one near the wall over there is a passage.”
“Core sight? Oh, like your inner eye? What you see your Energy with?”
“Yes. C’mon!” She fluttered her wings and sort of hop-glided toward the pool she’d mentioned. Darren trudged after her. She was already slipping into the water when he caught up. “Ugh! It’s cold!” She visibly shivered.
“We’re really getting in there? What if more frogs . . .”
“It’s just a short swim under this cavern wall. I’ll go first and try to spy out any trouble.” She must have noticed his perplexed expression because she added, “It’s not deep! You can walk on the bottom and just duck when you slip under here.” She splashed the water near the wall, and Darren saw a curtain of mossy growth sway with the current. “Put your staff in your storage pouch.”
Darren nodded and did so, then sat at the edge of the pool, sliding into the water, clothes and all, just as Edeya had done. Meanwhile, with a ripple of the chilly water, she ducked into the passage and disappeared. His light still hovered above, illuminating the scene, but Darren keenly felt her absence. The water wasn’t cold enough to take his breath away, but it wasn’t comfortable, so he hurried toward the wall, hoping to follow Edeya and quickly be out of it. He’d just gotten there and was lifting the curtain of slimy growth to peer into the darkness when she came back into view, her nose and eyes barely above the water.
“It’s clear, come on.” She winked, then turned and went back into the darkness. Darren followed, relieved to feel the smooth, unobstructed nature of the stone under his feet. After a few steps into the narrow, watery tunnel, the ceiling dipped, and he had to hold his breath for a few steps, but then his light revealed the water lapping above him, and he poked his head up into another cavern, this one much smaller.
Edeya sat on the edge, watching him as he approached. “Good job, Dare!” Her pleasant enthusiasm brought a smile to his lips, and he nodded, pulling his long, damp hair back from his face and wringing it with his hands as he stood up in the shallower end of the pool.
“Should we put on dry clothes?”
“You’re wearing the clothes you bought in Sojourn, right?”
“Yeah . . .” He, Edeya, and Lam had gone shopping in preparation for the dungeon dive.
“They’ll dry on their own.
“Oh! I knew they’d self-repair and clean; I guess it makes sense they’d dry faster.”
“Yep.” She turned and pointed toward a waterlogged door in the little cavern, revealed by the glow of his floating light. “Look—a door. Want to take a minute for a snack before we continue?”
Darren hopped out of the pool beside her, noted some nice flat stones between the pool and the door, and shrugged. “Yeah. This seems a good spot.”
Edeya nodded and picked one of the natural benches to sit on. As Darren sat beside her, he rethought that assessment; the stones were worn smooth in the center like they’d been used for just that purpose many, many times. “You think the frogmen used these as seats?”
“Maybe. It’s a dungeon, so there’s no telling what’s natural and what the System designed. I have no idea how all that works. Does the System take things from the worlds it governs and place them into its dungeons? Does it just create copies of things it has seen? I wish I knew.”
Darren nodded and fished a sandwich out of his storage pouch. “Yeah. I wish the System would speak to us. I have so many questions.” Edeya nodded, chewing on a piece of bright yellow fruit. She looked vibrant and full of eager excitement. Darren couldn’t help blurting, “You look fantastic. I can’t believe you’re the same person that we guided to Sojourn . . .” He trailed off, realizing he might be treading on a sensitive topic.
“Don’t worry, Dare. I don’t really remember that whole ordeal. When I first woke up, I could remember little flashes of it, almost like how you remember a nightmare. Now, though, it’s like looking into thick fog—I know something’s there, but I can’t remember what it is for the life of me.”
“You don’t remember what that . . . um, Death Caster, right?”
Edeya nodded and sank her teeth into the fruit with a loud crunch. “Right, Death Caster,” she mumbled around her large bite.
“You don’t remember what she did?”
She chewed and swallowed and said, “I remember her wrapping me up in her creepy mist, and then . . .” Edeya closed her eyes, and her brows furrowed, but she shook her head. “And then it’s all fog.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay. I know I never knew you before, but I heard plenty from Lam.”
Edeya’s eyes twinkled. “She spoke about me?”
“Oh yes! I could tell she was desperate to see you recover. Um, are you two related?”
“What?” Edeya almost choked on her bite.
“Oh, um, well, you’re both Ghelli, right? And I saw how worried she was; I just sort of assumed she was . . .”
“We’re not related!” Edeya laughed. “She loves me, though.” As her cheeks flushed, the picture cleared up in Darren’s mind.
“Ah, I’m an idiot.” He chuckled and chewed his food for a moment, then added, “I should have realized.”
“We’re not, like, sexual or anything. She’s told me how much she loves me, and I definitely love her too, but we’re just . . . close for now. I’m younger than she is, and, yeah, we just want to be close.” Edeya shrugged and grinned at him. “Ghelli are different about that sort of thing, Dare. We share spiritual connections a little more tangibly than some other species. Lam was suffering so much when I first met her! She didn’t really know it, but when I got hurt, and Victor left me with her, she started caring for me, and through that, we built a connection.” She held her hand over her heart. “In here,” she moved her fingers to her forehead, “and here. She realized how empty her life had become—she’d separated herself from the people she once loved, and, Dare, Ghelli don’t do well alone.”
“Oh? Why was she alone?” Darren felt his neck heat up and winced. “Am I overstepping with that?”
Edeya laughed. “The old Lam might have beaten you up for asking, but I think she’d happily share her story with you. It’s her story, but I’ll just tell you the abbreviated version. Anyway, it’s not complicated: She wanted to adventure, and her family didn’t want her to leave home. She ran away, joined the Legion, and then spent her time pursuing wealth and power. When she met me, I was, well, I was sort of a slave, and she was in charge of me.”
“What?” Darren’s mouth fell open. “She was a slave master?”
“Not . . . exactly. She worked for the mine as a mercenary, leading crews of diggers deeper and deeper, but while the miners worked, she was exploring, looking for artifacts and monsters to kill. So, I guess the diggers, like me and Victor, would have been down there with or without her. Oh,” Edeya laughed, shaking her head, “I’m being silly—she knew working for the mine was wrong. She’s sorry for it now. If it matters to you, she helped Victor and his friend Thayla escape, and then she took me under her wing and left the mine’s employ.”
“So, she was out for herself down there? Using the mining company as a means to explore and gain wealth?” Darren shrugged. “Sometimes, we have to work within a corrupt system. I know all too well how one compromise can lead to another and another.” He sighed and took the last bite of his sandwich, chewing as he thought. After a while, when Edeya was done eating and sat there sipping from her water flask, he said, “I’m glad you both found someone who makes you a better person. I mean, I’m assuming Lam’s good for you in some way, yeah?”
“Oh yes, Dare!” Edeya laughed. “She inspires me! You don’t know what a strong person she is—impossibly brave, loyal to a fault, and Roots protect the fool who harms someone she loves!” She laughed, clearly savoring a private memory. Darren brushed the crumbs off his surprisingly dry pants, then summoned his water bottle and took a long drink. While he was screwing the cap on, Edeya said, “Ready to find our next encounter?”
Darren stood, summoned his quarterstaff, and said, “Yep. Let’s get another level!”
“That’s the spirit!” Suddenly, Edeya’s spear was in her hands, and she turned to the door.
When Darren saw her spear start to frost over with ice, he asked, “Do you think I’ll learn any spells before I gain my Class at level ten?”
“Hmm?” Edeya paused and turned back to him. “Yeah, I bet you will. Honestly, I bet I could teach you the spell that lets me put ice Energy into my spear now that you’re level two with a little more Energy. I bet we could alter it to make it simpler. Part of the pattern turns my water affinity to ice; if we took that out and you used your lightning-attuned Energy instead of water . . .” She shrugged. “I bet it could work.”
“Really? I can learn spells from patterns?”
“Yes! When you learned your light spell, we taught you how to channel Energy into the air through your pathways. Once the System saw you do it, you gained the spell, right? Now, you can see the pattern in your pathway when you cast the spell.”
“Right . . .” Darren nodded, squinting his eyes, trying to guess where she was going.
“So, if I drew you the pattern for my Frost Touch spell, you could build it in your pathways with lightning Energy from your Core. That would, in essence, cast the spell. The System would recognize what you did, and you’d gain the spell knowledge. At least, that’s how I’ve learned a couple of spells. Most of the ones I learned came from levels in a particular Class, though.”
“Is it a complicated pattern? Would it be hard?”
“There’s no way I could write out one of my tier-two spells, not until I boost my dexterity and intelligence from some levels, but Frost Touch is pretty darn simple.” Edeya frowned and looked at the closed door. “Want to try it? It shouldn’t take too much time.”
“I have some paper!” Darren said, mentally digging through his pouch.
Edeya laughed and proceeded to drag one of the heavier stones in the room in front of the door. “Let’s make sure we’re not interrupted. I think this will be worthwhile; the dungeon will go faster if you’re doing some lightning damage!”