This time, it was as if the consciousness somewhere far out there beyond even The Greater System knew he was looking back. Luke got a flash of amusement from it. Then his mana regeneration kicked in, and the weave of all things blended back into the surroundings and became invisible to his senses.

  A little later, Luke sat in silence, eyes fixed on the far wall, near the ceiling, looking back at the attention he felt from the Deep Dweller. It wasn't visible, but he knew it lurked in the shadows.

  Milla walked over and sat down next to him. "How are you doing, little brother?"

  "Great," Luke said. "Just great."

  She nodded in recognition of his sarcasm. "The others have been talking. We need to continue or retreat."

  "Of course. Let's go," Luke said, standing. "Is everyone back at full mana?"

  "Near enough."

  They turned and walked toward the now diminished group that was Luke's and Milla's parties. As they approached, he heard a most welcome voice calling out to him. "Luke! Why can't I move my arms?"

  "Liza," Luke said, hurrying his step.

  Repairing the mana channels he'd severed was no challenge at all. She held up her hands, moving the fingers this way and that. "Tingly. Like they've been sleeping."

  "That should pass soon," Luke said.

  She nodded and peered over his shoulder to the empty area where the dragon had landed. "You beat it."

  "It's dead, anyway," he agreed.

  "I'm sorry about Nate."

  Luke swallowed hard. "Thanks."

  She looked to Nymh, then Hannah. "What about the Deep Dweller?"

  Hannah frowned. "It's around."

  "Everywhere?" Nymh asked, indicating the dwarven buildings.

  "Strangely enough, not in there," Hannah began, gazing up toward the spot where the Deep Dweller disappeared. "It's like that thing is all around us, but not in there, at least not as far as I can tell."

  "But it's in the tunnels still?" Liza asked.

  Hannah nodded. "Yup."

  Nymh crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. "We continue forward, then." She turned to Liza. "I'd be happy to keep my party and yours together for the time being. I've been authorized to do so by my superiors at the Department of Integrated Affairs."

  Milla rolled her eyes.

  "That's... nice," Liza said. "Yeah, we should stick together."

  "I've had reports of more Integrated entering the portal despite my warnings. Also, the humans back in that outpost are getting restless," Nymh continued. There was a sort of authoritative air about her, like she used to be in the military, or perhaps an ex-cop.

  "Together, we are strong!" Mateo declared.

  "What about them?" Longstrider asked, his voice muted and tired as he nodded toward the mass of people milling about.

  "I will inform them of our intentions and reiterate the danger of moving back through the tunnels," Nymh said. "We move out in fifteen minutes."

  Milla made a mock salute behind Nymh, grinning. It was an attempt to cheer Luke up, he knew, and he was grateful for it. Forcing a smile wasn't easy, but he didn't want to disappoint his sister. At this point, he wanted nothing more than to leave this dungeon and find out if there had been any more sightings of Ray. It'd been stupid to even enter this portal with everything that'd been going on, but the possibility of gaining more levels and power created an excitement that overrode his logical brain. In the future, he'd have to take more care and not throw himself through every portal willy-nilly. Luke suppressed a sigh and focused on what was in front of him.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Fifteen minutes. That was enough to distribute his attribute points and take a look at whether any new skills became available at level 15. Walking off to sit on top of a boulder, Luke opened his interface. With 15 attribute points to distribute from three level-ups, it was time to change things up a little.

  Rather than dump them into one of the mental attributes, it was time for the physical stats to see an upgrade. Boon of Potential let him grow without leveling up, but it was a slow process, and up until this point, he hadn't found the time to train more than a couple of times. Several times during the last fight, he'd missed things and found himself lacking in the speed and reflexes department. A little more strength wouldn't have been such a terrible thing with the dragon corpse crushing him, either. If he'd caught what'd happened to the dragon, Nate might still have been alive. Doing his best to push that thought away, he added 7 points into Strength and 8 points into Agility, which still placed them lower than all his mental attributes, but at 12 and 13, he'd hopefully see an improvement.

  Drawing in a deep breath, Luke stood and bent at the knees before pushing off. There was a springiness in his jump that hadn't been there before. Nothing incredible, but enough to notice. Moving side-to-side was quicker, and once he'd set off running at full tilt, he marveled at the speed increase. Physical stats changed you. No doubt about it.

  "Good," he said to himself, stopping. "This is good."

  There would be times when he'd need physicality. There was no doubt about that. People kept dying around him. Yes, he saved many, but not everyone. If he got stronger, maybe he could do more by himself. That way, fewer people would die going forward. Arrogant to think himself able to deal with everything without help. The fate of the world did not rest on his shoulders, either. Still, it was something to consider going forward, if nothing else.

  Seeing the others giving him peculiar glances, Luke stopped moving around and sat back down, surrounded by rocks. It was time to take a look at the skills. Nothing new. That was alright. He had several interesting ones to choose from as it was.

  Available skills:

  Wounded Symmetry [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: Mirror a tear in the weave and create it anew.

  Strengthen Thread [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Use mana to strengthen the weave.

  Heartthread [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Bind your weave to another.

  Weaver’s Rupture [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: Shatter a Thread of Mana into a pulse of force.

  Weaver’s Boon [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Mana not only restores, but empowers.

  Bleed The Weave [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Rupture a weave to make your target weep mana.

  Weavestep [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: Pass a short distance through the weave.

  Weaver’s Echo [Passive]: A part of you lingers in those touched by your weave.

  Corrupt Thread [Active - Mana Cost: High]: Force threads together in a harming weave.

  Rank up skills available:

  Weaver's Eye (Rank 2) [Passive]: Reveal imperfections in the weave.

  For a moment, he considered selecting one or two of the damage-type skills, like Bleed The Weave or Weaver's Rupture, but discarded the thought. Even though he played with the idea of working on his offensive capabilities, he was, deep down, still a healer. Even without being able to lob fireballs or swing swords, it wasn't like he didn't have anything that could hurt his opponents. Threads of Mana and Needle of Life, tools to save lives, worked wonders in ending them as well.

  Luke nodded to himself, reiterating that the path he'd chosen for himself was the right one. There was never a question in his mind about which skill to choose first, and he ranked up Weaver's Eye without hesitation.

  Weaver's Eye (Rank 2) [Passive]: Reveal imperfections in the weave.

  Turned into

  Weaver's Eye (Rank 3) [Passive]: Reveal even the faintest flaws in the weave.

  Cryptic as ever. Time was running out, and Luke wanted to distribute the other available skill points as well before they were off. Experimentation would have to wait. Next, he chose Weavestep.

  Weavestep [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: Pass a short distance through the weave.

  Luke had thought a lot about this skill since it became available at level 10. If it, like he hoped, allowed for some sort of teleportation, it would be an invaluable tool in his toolbox. Looking through the list one more time, he found himself unsure of what to spend the last point on. As he saw it, the remaining skills could be divided into damage-type skills, buffing skills, and utility ones. Buffs were more in his wheelhouse than damage, but the utility ones, Weaver's Echo and Heartthread, were interesting too. If only the skill descriptions weren't so terrible. To his eyes, they might do the same thing, but that was unlikely.

  For the moment, Luke decided to hold on to the last available point rather than use it. Perhaps a situation would arise where he needed something specific from the list. It wouldn't be the first time that had happened.

  "Luke!" Liza shouted. "It's time. Your sister and her people are already leaving!"

  Indeed, they were. Milla waved as she followed Nymh toward the home of the dwarves. Wanting to show off a little and keep his mind off the last hour or two, Luke activated Weavestep, focusing hard on a destination. He wanted to appear right next to Milla and give her still raised hand a high-five. The look on her face would've been incredible to see.

  That was not where he ended up.