Chapter 16 - Two Down, Two to Go!

Nate sat still on the grass among the trees, comfortable in his new robe. Looking over his Stats it didn’t take him long to decide where to invest them. His Intellect was going up quite fast and he would break sixty by the time he was level 20. With that in mind he would rather focus on some of the things he felt were holding him back.

His Magic Control and Channelling Speed were key to his dynamic use of runes. Bringing those Stats up was a priority, especially with his robe shoring up his weakness in his Magic Power, which he was assuming would affect how powerful the creations from his runes were. Focusing, he spent seven of his stats on Magic Control, another three on Mana Reserve and the last ten on Channelling Speed. Bringing up his character sheet he had a quick look over it.

Everything was coming along nicely in regards to his Stats. It seemed that bonuses from items were noted in brackets. That was easy enough for him to keep track of. Nate was finally starting to feel strong. Like he had a fighting chance in this new world. The battle with the lobster had been frightening but also exhilarating and success left him feeling ready to take on the world.

The main misgiving he had so far was around his Skill growth. He was flying up through his Class levels, largely he suspected by initially being clearly underleveled for this Dungeon. But that should start slowing soon, meanwhile his Skills all lagged significantly behind. Just one more thing to raise with Frick he supposed.

Speaking of the little devil, the blue goblin chose that moment to climb out of the Lobster’s maw, covered from ears to toes in blue-green blood. The Familiar triumphantly held a small orb in his hand. The orb was roughly the size of a golf ball and looked like solid blue glass. Nate wasn’t sure why but its appearance made him think of the ocean. Or he supposed, the lake behind Frick. It reminded him of water.

“That the Orb you were yelling about, Frick?” Nate asked.

“You better believe it, boss man. This should fetch you some good will. Or maybe if we’re lucky we can trade it for something better. Have you Identified it yet?” Frick responded.

Nate frowned. Even with his heightened Intellect he kept forgetting about that Skill, and it hadn’t occurred to him that the first thing he should do was Identify the orb. Activating his skill, he saw the blue text flash in front of his vision and his eyes widened.

Skill Orb (Uncommon)
Contains the Skill - Enhanced Water Magic (Uncommon)

Identification – Runic Level 5 > 6

Walk your Path. Reach your Goal. Become One with Mana.

“That sounds impressive, Frick. Is it really only Uncommon?” Nate asked.

“Eh, it's so-so boss man. Like, it would give Water Magic a little extra oomph. But the percentage bonus is probably pretty low since it’s Uncommon. Still, worth keeping for trade,” Frick shrugged as he finished.

“Going to assume that I shouldn’t use it then?” Nate smirked as he needled Frick.

“Yeah sure boss man. You should totally absorb the Skill Orb that contains a Skill for Enhancing Water Magic. It’ll be soooo good for you, what with your plethora of Water Spells and your focus in Water Magic. It’s a match made in the Heavens,” Frick drawled sarcastically.

“Point taken. You seemed pretty confident it would leave an Orb. Is that normal?”

“Nah boss.  But the chance goes up once a creature is over level 20. And again when they’re over level 40. With that big brain of yours do you think you can tell me why?” Frick grinned, showing little pointy teeth.

Nate thought about it for barely a second. It was easy to see the parallel between the chances and those particular levels.

“It’s the Class Core, right? The chances go up with each new Class Core unlocked?” Nate posited tentatively.

“Spot on boss man. This here is a bonafide, solidified, Class Core. Not sure why they don’t always get left behind, but when they do, a little bit of what was integral to the Class Core remains with it. In this case, some Skill enhancing Water Magic. Which makes me think this was its Secondary Class Core. It’s Primary one should’ve been an animal specific type since that’s what all animals start with. You know, like “Lurking Lobster” or “Big Crustacean” or something like that. Must’ve managed to get itself a Water Mage Class as its Secondary.

“Anyway, this time we got lucky because it’s a Skill. Usually it's just some of the stored Essence of the Core and will boost a Stat a few points. Still totally worth it. But not as good as a Skill,” Frick rambled, eyes locked on the little blue orb.

As the Familiar finished his diatribe it tossed the Skill Orb to Nate, who deftly caught it.

“These things right to go into a spatial storage?” Nate asked. Fricks only response was a nod as the little blue goblin climbed back towards the Lobster’s mouth.

“I’ll get some food for you now, boss man. You should relax. Fix up your robe with those runes and I will carve some sweet, tender, maybe slightly charcoaled, lobster meat.”

Nate laughed a little and set to work, trying to ignore the squelching noises and muttering as Frick carved out bits of lobster meat. Starting to draw on his mana he found it was easier to control his mana with his Mana Control stat at twenty five. That didn’t stop the process from being time consuming and laborious to force the mana into the exact shape of his Mighty Fire rune. He couldn’t have said exactly but he was pretty sure it took him less than an hour to form the rune purely out of mana and as he finished he felt the rune settle into a star on the left arm of his robe.

Sensing his Mana Reserve he could feel there was still plenty left and activated his Runic Replication Skill, using his own robe as the template, he copied the Barrier rune on his chest down onto the final storage slot near his waist. Now his robe was full, each of the white stars inlaid with the golden threads representing a rune. The doubling up on the Barrier rune was a plan he had to see if he could overlay two Barriers, trying to increase his defence.

So far enemy projectiles had been the most dangerous thing he had encountered in this Dungeon. Between the earthen projectiles, the Construct bosses fire beam and the Lobsters water cutter, his Barriers, despite being able to accept a significant amount of mana due to the Epic grade of the material, hadn’t been able to hold up well. Nate was sure part of that had been due to his low Magic Power, but with the Stat raised and now the possibility of double layering his shielding, he was hoping that would resolve the issue for the rest of the Dungeon. Because it was time to finish up here, as far as he was concerned.

Nate felt he was getting strong enough to fight more directly. He still intended to be careful of course, but this Challenge had been against a Level 30. A Level 30, and he’d still triumphed. The previous Construct boss had only been Level 20. With his upgraded stats, his new equipment and his three runes he was confident he could destroy a small army of Constructs. By this time tomorrow Nate was hoping he’d finally be out of this Dungeon and on his way back to civilization.

He pulled his legs up to his chest, eminently comfortable in his new robe, and wrapped his arms around his shins. Nate had enjoyed growing in power, but even with Frick, he still felt a little alone. Frick had been helpful and amusing, lightening the mood. But it was hard for Nate to get close to anyone quickly, let alone a Spirit that seemed to have vastly different priorities to him. Nate was hopeful that given enough time that might change, but for now their partnership was fresh and he felt the distance between them. If you’d asked him back on Earth he would’ve told you that he didn’t need that many people to not feel lonely, but it was clear that not many still meant he needed at least one. The feeling of loneliness and being disconnected had been getting worse and while he wasn’t prone to anxiety attacks he had had them before, after his parents died. He knew the signs that he was deteriorating here in this Dungeon. He needed to get out sooner rather than later, before he had a breakdown.

Shaking himself out of his morose thoughts Nate picked himself up and walked over to the remains of the Lobster, noting how his left shoe was starting to rip. Stopping by the corpse he reached down to pick up some of the meat that Frick had cut free. Taking a bite he found the flavours rich and succulent, marred by the charcoal from the roasting. Still, it was better than his charcoaled boar meat.

“Frick, if I put the extra meat into the spatial storage will it keep it fresh?” Nate asked.

Fricks voice echoed out from inside the Lobster, “Should do boss man. I’m sure you’ll be able to tell even if it doesn’t. So unless you're strapped for room in there, load ‘er up.”

The logic was sound so Nate started moving what ended up being a few kilos of lobster meat into his spatial storage, piling it all in one corner of the space, as far from his gold as he could manage. He didn’t know if smells could spread within the storage space but he wasn’t keen to have lobster smelling gold.

With that finished Frick climbed out of Lobster's corpse and came over to float next him, handing over the pocket knife.

“What’s next boss man?” Frick asked.

“I think I will have a drink of water, then head back up to where the fire pit is and have a sleep. It’s been a long day and tomorrow I want to try and finish up this Dungeon and get out of here,” Nate responded.

“Sounds like a plan boss man. I’ll keep an eye out while you sleep. Ain’t no boar or nothing else going to get past Frick, the sentry goblin!” Frick grinned, needle sharp teeth showing, and Nate wasn’t sure but he thought maybe the Spirit had made his eyes just that bit bigger to sell the little act.

Nate sniggered and picked himself up, heading over to the lake to have that drink of water, before trudging back through the forest and up the path to his fire pit. Encountering no boars, or any other animals for that matter, he settled down on the grass and pulled out his hoodie. Bunching it up he put it behind his head and settled in to sleep, his last thoughts of what he might find once he escaped this Dungeon.

Waking came easily and Nate sat up quickly. Frick floated above him, watching the forest and lake. The valley was quiet, placid even, with no sounds of squealing boars or even wind in the trees. He stretched, feeling the most rested he had since leaving Earth. Reaching into his spatial storage he pulled out a piece of lobster meat to nibble on as he took in the view.

Frick took that moment to flip over so he was upside down and gave Nate two thumbs up before speaking, “All good here boss man. Nothing tried to nibble on your meat sack while you were out. Think the boars are all staying away from the lake for now as well. Probably don’t realise the Lobster is dead yet. Though give it another few hours when the meat starts to rot and I am sure they will smell it. So, are we marching on? Time to get this Dungeon done you said? I am soooo keen. The rewards are going to push your level higher, which means a bigger Mana Reserve, which means, you guessed it, more mana for dear old starving Frick!”

Nate rolled his eyes at Fricks antics and stood up, storing his hoodie. Even if Frick was being a little melodramatic, they were both keen to get out of this Dungeon. Nate so he could find civilization, Frick because it would force Nate to grow.

“You’re not wrong Frick. Let's get out of here,” Nate responded.

With one last glance at the valley he turned around, marching for the temple. Time for the second Challenge. Just this challenge and one more, he thought. Then I can escape this Dungeon and find some people. Just two to go he kept reminding himself as he trudged on. It didn’t take long to walk down the corridor. With his heightened Perception Nate was less concerned about traps and was less cautious in the hallway.

Arriving back in the antechamber he found nothing had changed. There were still the three remaining roman style plinths, the fourth broken apart and lying on the floor over the remains of the Earthen Runeworker. The door of the first mosaic remained open and Nate focused on his spatial storage, extracting the mosaic piece he’d pulled from the Earthen Runeworker. Making his way to the second mosaic, the one that showed the people kneeling in worship, he took a moment to really take the artwork in.

The people in the art were all in various kneeling positions, arms outstretched towards the temple. Upon the temple steps was one of the people, marked with an elaborate headdress that Nate thought was meant to represent feathers. Next to him was a multi piece white gem, and it was this piece that Nate held a part of. The middle of the gem. Finally on the other side of the gem was clearly a Construct. The Construct was decorated with the same feathered headdress.

Nate was sure it meant something but until he had more evidence he could only guess. Maybe their God had inhabited the Construct or something of the like. If so, the last mosaic made it look like their God was full of wrath. Either way, he supposed he’d find out how the story of the mosaics ended quite soon. Carefully placing the white stone into the missing slot on the mosaic it fused into place and Nate heard a loud click.

Preparing himself he activated the Barrier runes in his robe, overlaying them and drawing on his own Mana Reserve for once. He needed to see how it handled using his own mana pool as he wasn’t sure he would always have mana gems to rely on. Focusing his Intents he made the first Barrier a large rectangular flat plane that formed a metre in front of him. With his remaining Intents for it he reinforced the Barrier, trying to make it more absorbent, hopefully so he wouldn’t get tossed around. The second Barrier he curved around his sides about a metre away from his arms which ended up taking two of his Intents, then spent an Intent to make it appear half a metre in front of him. The final Intent went to absorption like the first.

With his heightened Intellect it was getting easier to split his focus and he figured he could handle controlling one more rune. Three runes at a time meant he could swap between his left or right arm depending on whether he wanted to use fire or earth against his enemies, while maintaining both of his barrier runes. With everything sorted it was time to see the form of this Challenge and Nate, using his barriers, pushed against the mosaic door, opening into a large room filled with more of the bulbous Constructs, which all began turning to face him.

As Frick started hooting and hollering Nate muttered to himself, “Well fuck.”