Alan was a little sad when it was finally time for him to return back to his zone. Between completing the quest, working on his alchemy, and training with his new weapon, he had ended up spending almost two weeks in the dungeon. Most of that time he had gotten to spend with Cassidy, Thadrick, and other people. It was a slice of normalcy that he had desperately needed.

  Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. He had taken the last dose of the potion a couple of days ago, and he needed to get started on growing the next batch of ingredients. If he waited too long, he may never be able to regrow his hand. Looking down at his stump he could see the knobby bone at the end of his wrist now. The next batch would probably start regrowing his actual hand.

  Before stepping out he did a quick inventory check. He had gotten the necklace back from Cassidy just that morning. Both she and Alan had forgotten about it, until Thadrick asked if she was keeping it. All of his alchemical supplies were inside the necklace, so that would have been a problem. There was the cauldron, the stirring rod, two racks of empty vials, some more ingredients for healing potions, and all of the other ingredients he would need for making the regrowth potion.

  Then his eyes went to his belt. He had purchased a special sheath for his spewn. Drawing it with his only remaining hand, he held it up to marvel at again. It was a beautiful patterned grey color, not shiny like chrome, more of a matte silver. The first forty-five centimeters were basically a rod seven centimeters across. The bottom had been textured to make sure he could grip it, even if he got bloody.

  The remaining twenty inches were a strange sight. Imagine an egg on the end, but with a sharp edge running around it. Or maybe picture a spear blade with an elongated ball in the center. However you imagined it, the reality was that, held a certain way, he could use it to slice like a knife, but by shifting his grip it could instead function as a mace. This would allow him to engage enemies in a variety of ways with one weapon.

  He had been involved in the forging process, so he was very familiar with what went into it. A lot of mana, first of all. In addition to giving Helge more fire enchanted stones, he had also poured his own mana into the metal as she worked it. It was harder than it sounds, and only possible because he was there for the whole process and was able to study the changing aura of the metals as she worked them. Once the titanium and fire steel had been folded together into the desired composite material, the entire energy matrix had dramatically shifted. It would have been far too complicated for him to read at that point, even with his relatively high aura reading skill.

  Because he had already invested a lot of his own energy into the metals, he was able to watch as the pathways twisted and entwined to create new formations. Once Helge began shaping the metal he soon was forced to simply watch. The hammering dramatically changed the aura once again and even with all of his advantages he couldn’t sense it anymore. It had been locked into place by her working and now he had to just see what would happen like everyone else.

  He had made some other contributions, though. The biggest was that when Cassidy had heard they were adding mana-enhanced stones to the mix, she mentioned her biggest find in the looted necklace. It had been clear to him from his quick perusal that the drow he had taken it from was rich. In addition to the pile of coins there was the swanky clothes and the fancy food. What Cassidy had found was worth more than all of the rest combined, easily.

  Alan didn’t know all of the different levels, or grades, or whatever they called them, but he knew they basically followed the rainbow. The entry level was white, which wasn’t on the rainbow, but Tamee just told him to deal with it when he pointed that out. After white, it went from red to orange, then yellow, and so on. Each color, other than white, had two levels. The highest he knew of so far was his Mentor, Dracon, who was Emerald and hoping to earn Jade.

  In addition, he knew that each was based on an actual stone that had great significance in the Network. That was why his quartz stones were so valuable. The reason this was important, is that Cassidy had found a yellow-green stone in Oshae’s collection. Alan was able to identify it as Sphene, which was apparently a type of gemstone, but he had never heard of it before. Since he already knew of the two green grades, this must be a yellow grade stone, and it was already full of mana.

  When he learned later on that the sick bastard had been twisting the dungeon to perform some kind of corruption ritual, he realized this must have been part of it. He ended up helping Helge to grind it up and incorporate it into the alloy of his spewn. It might have been more useful as something socketed into the weapon later, but no one around here could endow sockets in weapons. Even if they could, no one was a high enough level to work an enchantment into a yellow stone.

  In fact, just grinding up the stone was an issue. Helge explained that if you released energy that was a higher grade than the environment around it, it would quickly disperse. Yellow was so much higher than the ambient white mana in the dungeon, that it would have only retained its high potency for maybe a minute. Not long enough to bind it into the metal. He was forced to rely on his knowledge of magic circles, and he created a drawing around the forging area that was able to contain the mana until Helge was able to fold the crystal powder into the mix of metals.

  Not only had the latent fire energy in the metal received a huge boost, but it meant that the weapon had great potential for future growth. It would be able to handle mana infusions of much greater power than otherwise. Returning his thoughts to the present, he took a few practice swings with it before putting it away. He still preferred the sharp edges and enjoyed the feeling of the bulging blade slicing through the air.

  The necklace had also included a couple of other surprises, but those were for later. In addition to this wonderful weapon he had been gifted, the loot he had found in the necklace, and the time he had gotten to spend with others, he had also received a reward from the dungeon for completing the quest. He called it up once again, just to remind himself of what his lost hand had won him.

  Quest Completed: Find the lost villagers

  [You found almost all of the missing villagers and not only that, you brought them home. Reward: Scholar talent stone, Seeker Soul Mending talent stone, and 100 dungeon points.]

  Secret Bonus Quest Completed: Return them home

  [For every villager you managed to find and bring home you received a bonus. Reward: 1800 dungeon points.]

  Alan had actually been dumbstruck by the number of dungeon points. Cassidy called his name three times before he could bring himself to answer. It had more than doubled his total. And that was just the bonus! The scholar stone had netted him the talent Fast Learner, which he hoped was self-explanatory. The Soul Mending stone had ended up helping him out when dealing with Cassidy. It was most likely the reason his instincts were able to figure out how to repair some of the damage she had suffered.

  From the moment he was aware of her, it was clear she was going through something. Not only was her aura not at full strength, but he could see how her emotions towards him were in conflict. Whatever feelings she might have had for him, he was now also linked in her mind to the trauma she had suffered.

  Alan was self aware enough to realize some of the reason he had such strong feelings for her. Whatever was going on with his soul, and he still didn’t really understand that, he had felt an immediate attraction back in the first tier. And why wouldn’t he, she was gorgeous and her body had generous curves. Even though he hadn’t been able to get to know Cassidy, his brain had become fixated on her. Partly that was due to circumstances, her literally being the only other person he had come in contact with at the time. The other part was whatever bond his soul had formed.

  Then, when she had been so suddenly removed, she became like a piece of food stuck in his teeth. His brain kept tonguing her memory, trying to dislodge her. All it ended up doing was causing his initial infatuation to become a fixation. When it turned out that she clearly had become fixated on him as well, it was all the permission his heart needed to flip out. This was probably not the healthiest foundation of a relationship.

  Luckily he was so messed up when he first regained consciousness that he couldn’t do anything about his feelings. After he had been knocked out in the fight, his aura had been left severely depleted. The earlier boosting had apparently done more than just damaged his pathways, it had also taken a loan out on his energy, and once he was out of the fight, his aura had come calling with massive interest.

  He had been mostly recovered by the time he felt the regrowth potion messing with his body and pathways. It took him a little bit to realize what was happening, and then a little longer to figure out that he could help the process along by using his healing spell.

  Anyway, because he was still kind of out of it when he came around, he wasn’t in a position to deal with his feelings until he also was aware of how messed up Cassidy was. After using the talent stones he had earned, he had understood better what was wrong with her. At least the more physical aspects, not necessarily what she was feeling. The issue was related to her soul. It had built a cage around itself to try and shelter it from any more harm. That cage worked both ways, however, and it also was causing her diminished aura.

  In time it might sort itself out, or it could become a permanent defect, crippling any future growth. Using his own soul’s connection to her, even if her soul was unable to properly connect back any more, he was able to bathe that cage in a corrosive energy. It was only a small amount, but it was like water wearing away at the bank of a river. Given enough time it would cause the cage to break. Unfortunately, the week they had together wasn’t really enough, but the process had been started and hopefully she could do the rest on her own. Her aura was already much improved.

  The fast learner talent had also come in handy for improving his alchemy skill. Cassidy had figured he would need at least a skill of ten, or better yet fifteen, to have a chance of cooking the potion himself. With the new scholar talent his level had improved quickly, even with him also spending time helping Helge to forge, and also training with his new weapon. He now took the chance to look over his improvements again. Tamee had suggested he focus on the gains he had made to keep from dwelling on what he had lost.

  Alan Taylor

  Race: Human [W]

  Class:

  Fighter (100%) Quartz

  Guardian (100%) Quartz

  Healer (100%) Quartz

  Hunter (98%) Quartz

  Mage (100%) Quartz

  Rogue (100%) Quartz

  Scholar (93%) Quartz

  Seeker (94%) Quartz

  Health: 242 (24/hour)

  Stamina: 222 (44/minute)

  Mana: 204 (20/minute)

  Dungeon Points: 3055

  Stats:

  Strength: 20

  Dexterity: 20

  Perception: 17

  Focus: 18

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Intelligence: 19

  Wisdom: 21

  Constitution: 19

  Spirit: 14

  Skills:

  Alchemy: 15, Archery: 7, Aura Reading: 110, Blocking: 11, Blunt Weapons: 45, Cooking: 7, Daggers: 80, Dodging: 40, Farming: 1, First Aid: 25, Forging: 2, Harvesting: 10, Herbology: 14, Identify: 26, Mana Drawing: 54, Mana Enhancement: 26, Mana Handling: 98, Mining: 3, Running: 32, Sneak: 15, Swords: 21, Tracking: 26, Two Weapon Fighting: 61, Unarmed Combat: 19

  Titles: [Apprentice], [Gladiator], [Top Recruit]

  Talents:

  Fighter: Fury, Parry, Slash

  Guardian: Hammer Blow, Taunt

  Healer: Cure, Mend

  Hunter: 6th Sense, Charm Animal

  Mage: Air Bender, Dark Spreader, Earth Mover, Fire Starter, Light Spinner, Water Weaver

  Rogue: Quick Hands, Stealth

  Scholar: Fast Learner, Understanding

  Seeker: Sensitivity, Soul Mending

  Spells: Cone of Steam (Uncommon), Conjure Water (Epic), Fire Bolt (Rare), Gust (common), Light Bolt (Uncommon), Light (common), Minor Healing (common), Prismatic Orb (Rare), Stone Spear (Uncommon)

  The amount of growth was hard to believe. Seeker was no longer his lowest class, and only three had yet to reach one hundred percent. His mentor had asked him to wait to upgrade any of his classes, but he wasn’t sure he could hold back if all of his classes had maxed out. He even had another opal class stone that they found in the small pile of loot inside Oshae’s necklace. In addition to being a great item itself, it had been chock full of wonders. It was easily the single best piece of loot he had ever gotten.

  The stone he found was actually an upgrade for his healer class, it was for a class called Medicine Man. It was a rare version that required an Alchemy and First Aid skill of ten in addition to the talent Cure. It surprised him at first that such a monster would be a healer, but then thinking back on some of the wonderful, amazing, and not-at-all terrible people that he had to work with in the hospital, it made a little more sense.

  Even if he did decide to upgrade a class soon, it would have to wait until after he fixed his hand. Cassidy had been light on the details, and Tamee wouldn’t share them either, but he knew that upgrading would heavily involve his pathways. He didn’t want to mess with those any more than necessary until his hand was back. Technically those pathways were still there, but he wasn’t sure what the effect might be since they weren’t anchored to his body at the moment.

  Thinking of his missing hand, which he did a lot for some reason, he thought back to his attempts to forge. After he was no longer able to infuse the metal that Helge was working on, he had been left with a lot of time before it was finished. One of her assistants had taken him to a nearby forge and given him a chance to practice. He was able to handle the heavy hammer, but there was a skill to it that he just didn’t have.

  By the time the real blacksmith had finished making his spewn, he and the assistant had managed to mangle together a functional axe head. It had involved a lot of misstrikes from Alan, followed by the assistant reshaping it and having him go again. It resulted in him actually gaining the forge skill, barely, and a piece of iron that you could recognize as an axe blade.

  To be clear, this was a chopping-up-wood kind of axe, not a slicing-through-armor real weapon type of axe. Also, some of the lines were a little wobbly, but the sharp edge had been done correctly at least, and it had been sharpened on their grinding stone. The assistant had even placed it in a wooden handle for him. He was proud of that stone axe he had made, but this was a clearly superior item, even if you couldn’t have sold it in a shop. Alan wasn’t sure what was more embarrassing, Cassidy’s faint praise, or Helge’s deep belly laugh. He had made sure to put it in his ring before Thadrick saw it too. He might think it was great, but compared to a real blacksmith's work it was a child's drawing on the fridge.

  With a sigh, he looked back away from the dungeon exit and towards the mining town. Thadrick had already been a friend before they rescued all of those people, but since then, they had grown far closer. It was a little awkward since Thadrick was currently at least partially under the control of the dungeon, but it felt like their bond was real. Cassidy, on the other hand, was awkward for a whole different reason.

  She had been freed from the dungeon’s influence, he wasn’t quite sure how that worked and no one was willing to tell him, so at least he knew her feelings were her own. Unfortunately, she was still conflicted. Alan had used the word fixated to describe his feelings toward her before, but it was also the perfect term to describe her feelings.

  She had spent almost every second since he had been injured by his side. Sometimes it was to work with him, or to talk, but other times she stood to the side and just watched. It was an unsettling feeling that hadn’t helped him sort out his own emotions. He knew he was attracted to her, that was obvious, but did he have deeper feelings than that?

  He would like to say yes, there was a level of comfort between them while they worked that he hadn’t felt with other women. However, how much of that was simply his other brain encouraging him on, and how much was his desperation to work with anyone. It would be nice if he could be as sure as the blacksmith, Helge. She loved Bodvar and wasn’t ashamed to show it. She also loves her work, he thought as he massaged the phantom pain in his neck.

  It was time for him to get back to work as well. Maybe his feelings would sort themselves out now that she wouldn’t always be there, watching over him. He could have possibly asked Thadrick for advice, he seemed to know his way around people, but they hadn’t had any time alone since he woke up.

  “As much as I enjoyed being here, Tamee, I’m excited to see how my farm is doing. I’m almost out of fruit snacks.”

  “I don’t know how you are so hungry all the time. You eat more than anyone I’ve ever met.”

  It was nice hearing her voice again, too. They had occasionally spoken while he was in the dungeon, but it was awkward since he was the only one that could hear her. It had also seemed weird to talk to another woman while Cassidy was staring at him.

  Stepping out onto the plains of tier two, he was greeted by a cloudy night. There were occasional gaps in the cover, allowing him to glimpse the firmament. He was thrown off for a moment, because he thought it should have been daytime. By his reckoning he had been gone just around two days, and it should be early afternoon.

  Alan started out at a brisk pace, as he ran back to his house. He wanted to get the plants in his necklace in the ground, so that he could get his hand back as soon as possible. Also, there should be another day before the dungeon obelisk boss respawned, but if his time calculations were off a little, he wanted to make sure he had time to get everything set up first.

  It was not very bright, with only occasional shafts of moonlight breaking through the clouds, but his perception was good enough that he had no trouble running through the relatively smooth terrain. He knew from experience in the dark mine shafts that he still couldn’t see in the dark, but if there was at least some light, he would have no trouble.

  He was only about ten minutes from his house when he ran into an issue. There were small shapes moving through the long grass. He couldn’t exactly see them, but he could see the sixty centimeter tall stalks moving around. There was a slight breeze in the valley, but these were too localized and in varying directions to be from a natural phenomenon.

  He also caught the occasional shape of something sticking up. It appeared as if there was something, or more likely several somethings, that were slightly shorter than the grass moving at a fast pace. He reached for his spewn and crouched down, hoping whatever it was hadn’t seen him already.

  As he surveyed the area to make sure there were no other threats, he saw another patch of grass moving. This one was more subtle and was shifting in a constant manner. If the first group was an energetic pack of children splashing around playing marco polo, this was a sleek predator, slicing through the water to eliminate its prey.

  The two disturbances had almost met when something must have spooked the larger group. With a weird set of chirps and squeaks, there were suddenly five paths exploding from the original mess. Whatever had been hunting them made a beeline for one of them, and when they met there was a brief struggle and then that predator was off again.

  Alan would have been content to sit and watch as this drama played out, but one of those fleeing things was making its way right at him. When it was about five meters away, he was finally able to make out what it was.

  Beast: Verdant Lizard (common) level 2, threat: minimal.

  No wonder he hadn’t been able to see it earlier. It looked like a large iguana, somewhere around two and a half meters in length, but its back was covered in some form of grass instead of spines. It was moving quickly, easily faster than a pre-Network human could run, but Alan was ready and he was eager to try out his new weapon in real combat.

  He only had a second to decide his strategy, but he figured with something so low to the ground that he would rely on the mace aspect of the weapon. Between its skull and spine, there were lots of bones ready to be pulverized and easy to access. He adjusted his grip slightly and prepared to receive its attack.

  It surged suddenly and Alan’s hand shot out, whipping the egg-shaped end around to make contact with its head. It wasn’t until he had already committed that he realized it was trying to get past him, and not actually attacking him.

  His spewn was not a particularly heavy weapon. It was hard to decide its absolute weight since his strength had changed so dramatically, but it was much heavier than his gladius, but it was not in the same class as his thonking club. However, that was a feature and not a bug.

  Pound for pound the average dwarf is stronger than a human, and that is saying something since dwarves tend to be denser than humans as well. This meant that even non-fighter dwarves could still impart a significant force when striking with a lighter weapon. There was a limit to how much they could accelerate it, which meant it wouldn’t be as effective as a heavier weapon. However, it was light enough that it could also be wielded more like a knife or spear. It was an elegant trade off so that dwarves could make use of a dexterity based class in addition to their common constitution classes. The rounded shape was aerodynamic, but it also meant that when using it as a blunt weapon, a smaller surface area was impacting the target, allowing the force to be concentrated.

  The design would result in the weapon’s shaft having to deal with a tremendous bending force. A spewn made from normal materials would quickly begin to deform from the blows a dwarf could impart. Thus, they were only made from special high-quality metals or composites. The stress issue would be especially true once Alan was able to engrave a rune for heaviness onto it. That was still a distant dream since he had yet to be able to get even a glimpse of the weapon’s aura. Until he could do that, he couldn’t engrave anything.

  This enemy was not at a level that any of that mattered. He probably could have killed it by bashing it with a rock. The bulbous end of his silvery spewn made contact with the side of the lizard’s head, and at that moment it ceased to have a skull. Instead of shattering the bones, they were more liquified. The brain was a softer material, better able to absorb blunt force, but the weapon didn’t care as it tore through it, the fire enchantment burning the organic material around it as well. It was a bit of a let down in terms of a fight, but an awesome sight to see. He wished someone had a slow-motion camera around so he could have watched the replay.

  The blow did little to alter the trajectory of the beast’s corpse. Most of the force had gone through it, rather than being absorbed by it. Luckily it had been going around him, otherwise he still might have taken some damage from the heavy body. Instead it sailed past him and he turned to watch the rest of whatever was happening.

  The predator had already cut off another lizard and was on its way to a third. That left one more streaking away. Based on how fast everything was moving, Alan doubted the mysterious killer would be able to catch it. It wasn’t moving in his direction, but it wasn’t moving directly away from him either. A quick dash to the side put him in its path, and he shifted his grip again.

  This time when it came, he made sure that in addition to striking, he was also using his feet to move him out of the way of its body. Instead of hitting with the rounded side of the tip, he was wielding it more like a short spear. He could have stabbed, the more common move with a spear, but they can also be used to slice. Not wanting to have it ripped out of his hands by plunging it into its body as the beast ran past, he tested out the edge of the spewn and sliced its side open. The edge of the bladed portion was incredibly sharp and hardened. It easily sliced through the skin, fat, and muscle and it even cut into the ribs as it opened up the entire side of the lizard. The extra weight of the head allowed him to keep the blade from bouncing off of the ribs, and instead it maintained contact all the way along its body.

  It was a mortal strike, in that it would soon bleed out, but not instantly fatal like a gooped head. The extra fire damage also melted and cauterized some of the cut, but it was so deep and long that there was still plenty of blood loss. It made it another ten meters before it stumbled and then slid to a stop. He moved to finish it off, but even from there it was clear that it was already dead. He must have done some more serious internal damage than he thought.

  Turning back he once more located the silent predator. It had already finished the last of the lizards and was now making its way towards Alan. He appreciated its help in eliminating the low-leveled beasts, but he wouldn’t feel safe sleeping with something so deadly nearby. Even if he had walls around him. There still was only a hide ceiling. It was nice that it was bringing itself towards him, rather than him having to chase it down.

  Adjusting his grip once again, he prepared to wield his spewn as more of a sword. This was not as natural as the other two uses, since the blade was so short, but he wanted to test its effectiveness. The stealthy killer was able to approach without Alan catching more than a glimpse through the swaying grass. That glimpse was enough to make him hesitate.

  That hesitation could have cost him, but his aura sense allowed him to verify the gut feeling he already had. A white streak shot out of the grass, leaping for his torso. Two clawed paws landed on his chest, pushing him to the ground. He was already laughing as a raspy tongue licked his face.

  “Two Socks! It’s good to see blech…” he was interrupted as the wolf slobbered in his mouth. A few coughs and a hacked up loogie later, and he was kneeling next to the wolf pup who had been more of an acquaintance before. Something must have changed, because he could feel it radiating happiness as he ran his hand through its very soft fur.

  While the fur was soft, the muscles beneath were not. It was also at least twice as big as before and the teeth he had glimpsed were the size of a pocketknife blade. It seemed more than just Alan had done some growing while they had been apart.

  Beast: Adolescent Stalker Wolf (rare) level 7, threat: medium

  He was still an adolescent, which probably meant he was going to continue to grow. How big was he going to get? Two Socks was already the size of a mastiff. That put the now deceased lizards at a size, if not weight advantage, so his lethality was impressive as well. More surprising was the change to his rarity, and that he was now considered a stalker wolf. Alan didn’t know what the designation meant, but it also probably explained the upgrade from uncommon.

  Something had definitely changed the wolf’s attitude. They had been friendly before, but he now felt more like a companion. Maybe he felt more attached because he had been mooching off of Alan’s food and shelter. Either way he felt a little better as he made his way back home.