Elsewhere

The group quickly picked up the meager loot the boss left and headed into the portal back to the dungeon ready room. A single reward chest awaited them, and they all looked at each other. Normally, you would expect the looks to be over who gets to open the chest. In this case, it was quite the opposite.

Duke spoke first, “Baslin, why don’t you open the chest. You haven’t opened one yet.” Grat and Elaine quickly nodded in agreement. Baslin seemed confused.

“It’s almost like it is some sort of practical joke that I am not in on. What is amiss?” Baslin responded.

“Please open the chest. Please, please, please.” The disembodied voice of the dungeon, Sam implored. Baslin moved over to the chest and opened it. He harumphed and removed the two objects from within the chest.

“A picture frame and a gem. OK. I guess that is good since the level was not particularly difficult for us.” Baslin turned around showing everyone what he had found. The chest evaporated behind him. He took a moment to cast an Identify Spell on the two items.

*** You have found the Wonder Window. This enchanted frame will capture and hold one image for as long as the frame contains Mana. It can store up to 100 Mana and depletes it at a rate of one Mana per day. It can be recharged. The image can be changed as often as desired. ***

*** You have found a Gem of Verdantite. This enchanted gem accelerates the growth of all plants in its area by a factor of two when activated. This gem has 6 charges remaining. It can be recharged. ***

Baslin read the descriptions and handed the items to Elaine and Grat with a smile. “It seems that since you two did all the work on this last level, the rewards seem targeted towards you.”

Grat smiled as he read the gem’s description. “That’s a pretty good item for me. It’s not overly powerful but” He paused to affix the gem to the end of his staff in a spot that was not readily evident but seemed crafted for the gem. “This will fill this slot perfectly.”

“Didn’t you get that staff from the dungeon on this level last time?” Duke asked.

“I did, and they fit together perfectly as you can see. Almost as if they were meant to go together.” Grat responded but paused in confusion as both Duke and Baslin IDENTIFIED the staff.

***You have found the Verdant Staff. This is part of a set known as the Verdant Regalia. This staff accelerates the growth of all plants in a 10-meter radius by a factor of 10 when activated. The staff can do this 10 times daily without needing to be recharged. It will recharge itself with exposure to moonlight for an hour per charge. It can also be recharged directly. Combine the Verdant Staff with additional pieces of the Regalia to produce enhanced benefits. ***

“Set items! That’s sick!” Duke declared.

“Indeed. Sick.” Baslin replied, trying Duke’s latest idiom on for size. He found that he didn’t like it. “Causing plant growth is not sick, Duke. It is wonderous, bountiful, abundant, prolific even, but not sick.”

“Whatever, dude. Just a figure of speech. Not a big deal.” Duke groused.

“That is a great boon for you, my love.” Elaine finally looked up from the picture frame and showed it to Grat. It was an image of the two of them, both young. Grat not looking much different than he did now, but Elaine looking just as young. To say she was a natural beauty would be an understatement. Grat nearly dropped the staff when he saw the picture. Duke just whistled.

He clammed up when Elaine looked towards him in curiosity. “Nope. Nothing I say is going to keep me from getting in trouble. You two are a gorgeous couple.”

She started to say something, but Duke cut her off. “Hey, y’all I’m a bit tired. I’m going to call it a night and get some sleep. See you all in the morning, OK?”

“Um, sure, Duke. Get some rest.” Grat responded. Elaine just peered at Duke’s retreating back, her thoughts unknowable.

“That sounds like a great idea.” Baslin quickly retreated to his own room, leaving the couple alone. They headed off to their own room gazing at the image of the two of them together.

Duke closed the door behind him and sat on the bed with his back to the wall. Seeing Elaine so young in the picture and Grat young now was jarring. He worried that he had inadvertently sentenced the man to watch his love die of old age years before he got old himself. He knew that he had taken at least 30 years of aging away from Grat which was a great thing. But now, Grat was in his 20s and his wife was in her 50s. It hit him hard, and he didn’t know how to deal with it. He tried bargaining.

“Hey system dudes! Can you hear me? I hope you can. I know it was an awful lot to do what I did for Grat, to bring him some 30 years back of youth. I know there was a price to be paid there and I gladly paid it. What would it take to do the same for Elaine? Can you tell me? Can you, will you, actually help me?” It was a longshot but Duke decided he had to at least try. He stretched out and went to sleep.

He did have notifications when he awoke.

*** For completing the second level of the Lake Front Dungeon, you receive 10,000 experience. For defeating a Giant Red Dwarf Golem, you receive 1,300 experience. You are now level 5. You have 32 Characteristic points to spend.

You have advanced Abilities and Skills by a minor degree. Do you wish to see details (Y/N) ***

Duke indicated no and looked at his next notice anxiously noting that there was no indication of the typical conversational tone in the first message.

*** We have received your request. One of us was touched. Really. That one doesn’t say much though. More of a silent partner in your development. I am more, shall we say, involved. I denied your request outright but the other one decided to give you a chance to earn the boon you asked for.

When you run through the fifth and final level of this dungeon, it will be against its maximum level. If you can defeat the level boss without any aid whatsoever from your companions, we will grant you this boon. You may not speak of this bargain or in any other way communicate it. Should you do so, not only will the boon not be granted, you will suffer a significant penalty. ***

Duke left the room soon after that message and went to join the others in the common area. Strangely, none of the others seemed to be up and about. He was both excited and concerned by the deal he just forced himself into. True, he requested help, but he didn’t agree to the terms – they were just dictated to him. That rankled him. He left the common area for the training zone to burn off some steam.

He decided to try something he had no idea whether it would work or not but was stoked to try. He activated REMOTE CASTING, CLARIVOYANCE, and LIGHT all at once. He was trying to hit a target behind an obstacle that he could not see around. The first seven times he tried it, he failed miserably. But on the eighth attempt it worked – he discovered that he had to order the spells perfectly with CLARIVOYANCE first, followed by REMOTE CASTING, and finally LIGHT. As he thought about it, the order made sense. See your target, aim for your target, strike your target. H smiled and practiced the combination for two hours with various spells in place of LIGHT as his time went on.

“That is a clever application of magic. I’m impressed by your continued growth, Duke.” Baslin had come out to join him. For how long he had been watching, Duke was unclear. Not that it mattered to Duke, he wasn’t hiding his magic Abilities from the Archmage.

“Thanks. It was something that I thought of from my past life.” Duke paused, chuckling to himself.

“Something funny?” Baslin asked.

“Yeah. Back home we used to refer to something you did while working a former job as something you did in your past life. It was a vague nod to some religious beliefs in reincarnation and people being able to see things that happened in their ‘past lives’. I don’t think anyone really believed any of it but after all I’ve seen on this world, I just don’t know. Anyway, I was amused that I really do have a past life now.”

“Indeed, you do. But we should keep that between the four. Well, five of us with Gefolich also knowing. You don’t want anyone taking advantage of that knowledge. I am unsure how they could, but although I may be one of the most learned wizards on Teldin, I am very far from being the most wily. So what was this from your past life that inspired you?”

“I was a fighter pilot. I know that means nothing to you but let me try and explain. Imagine a construct that could fly extremely fast and was armed with a bunch of long-range weapons. And by long-range, I am talking over one hundred kilometers in the upper range. I also had bombs I could drop on targets from kilometers above. We also had technology that allowed us to see through things like clouds and, in some cases, buildings. We had tech that could see something from orbit and feed the information to a pilot quite a distance away. And with that targeting info, I could strike a target so far away they would never know what hit them. Death from above we often called it. No warning, just an earth-shattering explosion.”

Baslin looked shaken. “And this was your life?”

“Yes, but most of my career was spent just being an active threat, not actually having to act. Until the end. This last year, things had gone to shit. Fighting broke out on several fronts, and I was in the shit more often than I care to remember.” Duke got a far-off, haunted look as he recounted.

“This may sound like a strange or possibly offensive question. It is not intended to be. Were you any good at it?” Baslin asked, trying to soften his tone.

Duke laughed. “Yeah. I was one of the best and have the triple-aces to prove it. And then I got too arrogant and wound up here. Still, I’m certain I saved Coltrane, and he was able to get away, so it was worth it. It was my fault that we got so far in over our heads anyway.”

Baslin noted Duke’s mood shift downward and tried to turn it around. “So, what you are trying to do with your abilities is to duplicate that capability? To be able to strike from afar?”

“Exactly. If I can strike a foe without them being able to engage me, I’ve won.” Duke did perk up a bit at that.

“Not very sportsman like, is it?” Baslin asked.

“Should it be? Why should I let someone close on me with a sword so they can run me through when I can eliminate their threat before they even begin their charge?”

“You finally are grasping the true advantages of Magic. Maybe you’ll stop punching things now? Or trying to swing a pointy hunk of metal at them?” Baslin added sarcastically.

“Ouch. That hits a bit close to home. But you are partially right. I am expanding my magical capabilities, but I absolutely do not want to limit myself. For most people, their Class defines a lot of who they are. For me, it’s a moot point. I have no Class and I will be the one to define who I am. But yeah, swinging swords just doesn’t seem to be my thing.”

“It most definitely isn’t.” A new voice joined them. Grat smiled as he and Elaine stepped up to the chatting pair. “Then again, I’m not nearly as good with this staff as I should be either. All of this leads to the big question – do we stay and train for a bit or venture on to the third dungeon level?”

“The third level is similar to the first level.” Duke started. “Instead of ferrets, it’s prairie dogs. But this time, they have magical sonic attacks, and the boss is…was hard to deal with. I think the four of us could handle it pretty easily. The thing to really think about is that the fourth level is going to be set at the maximum difficulty. Spending the full week we have here training up is probably smart. And spending the week after this next floor training is going to be needed too. I want to run to the end, but I want all of us to make it to the end.”

“Did you say magic sonic attacks?” Baslin asked.

“Yeah, they knocked me on my ass repeatedly. Won’t be as powerful this run-through but yeah.” Duke acknowledged.

“Silence spell.” Baslin smiled as he spoke. “Learn it. Practice it. Put it into your combo.” Baslin chuckled.

Duke smiled and accepted the spellbook that had just been created from a torn page of Baslin’s spellbook. They all proceeded to practice for the next week, making small, but steady gains in Skills, Spells, and Abilities. There was no substitute for actual combat experience but there were still gains earned across the group before they left for the third dungeon level.