Callum looked thoughtful for a moment then said, “Yeah, I got nothing, Asling?”

  “I’m an Archer, I could shoot it, but I don’t think that will help,” Asling said.

  “Pythias?” Callum said, obviously asking for his input.

  “I have nothing that will help here except maybe True Sight and my vision has seen nothing that allows us to bypass this room.

  “Robert?” Callum asked.

  “We have two staves that create globes of invulnerability that soak magical damage. If we time everything correctly we might be able to use a staff to create a barrier near the entrance, step out into the room, let Pandora’s orb absorb another strike, and then put up another globe on the other side. This depends on whether Pandora can absorb the stored spell out of the orb after it absorbs it,” Robert said.

  “That’s a great idea,” Pandora said as she called the Air Orb that held the 10th-level lightning bolt it had absorbed. As soon as it touched her hand she received a Prompt.

  Would you like to Absorb Level 10 Lightning Bolt from Air Orb, Yes or No?

  Pandora chose “Yes.”

  Would you like to Absorb the to Heal Self or to Heal Other ability?

  Pandora chose “Heal Other.”

  You have absorbed 10 spell Levels. Magic Levels Absorbed 10 of 517

  Pandora smiled as she said, “I can absorb spells from my orbs if they’re absorbed. The maximum number of spell levels that I can absorb is 517. I think we may be able to bypass this tower without worrying about it too much.”

  “How so?” Callum asked.

  “Easy, I step into the room and start absorbing the spell levels from the lightning bolts that try to strike at all of you. We stick to the plan, and I’ll keep the air orb between the crystal and the five of you and you all follow Robert’s plan to get to the other side while I stay between the crystal and all of you. Then once you’re safe, I’ll follow.”

  “Robert, will that work?” Callum asked.

  “It should,” Robert said.

  “All right, Asling, tie a rope around Pandora’s waist, if her absorption doesn’t work we’ll pull her to safety.

  Pandora let Asling put the rope around her waist then moved to the right. She kept herself between the crystal and the party. She set the Air Orb to stay between Robert and the crystal as he stepped into the room.

  The first lightning strike reached out and she absorbed it.

  You have absorbed Level 10 Lightning Strike, Magic Levels Absorbed 20 of 517

  “It’s working. Get moving,” she said as another lighting strike was absorbed.

  You have absorbed Level 10 Lightning Strike, Magic Levels Absorbed 30 of 517

  Pandora, watched as the party made their way along the wall to her right. When they’d started to split up one of the lightning strikes had skipped Pandora but Robert being the next closest was saved by her Air Orb which absorbed the spell.

  “Stay together. Keep me between you and the crystal,” Pandora called out.

  It was slow going but the rest of the party made it to the other tunnel and Pandora slowly backed toward them until she stepped out of the room as the last lightning bolt hit her.

  You have absorbed Level 10 Lightning Strike, Magic Levels Absorbed 160 of 517.

  Pandora summoned her Air Orb over to her. When she touched it, she absorbed 10 more levels bringing her to 170 of 517 Magic Levels Absorbed.

  Cedrik looked up at Pandora as he said, “Didn’t even fritz your hair, you took those lightning bolts like a champ!”

  A tension that had built up as they’d made their way through the room broke as everyone laughed.

  “Also, I think this may help if we must retreat,” Pythias said as he pointed to part of the rock wall that opened and revealed a lever behind it.

  Cedrik moved over, looked everything over then pulled the lever. In the room they’d just traveled through the Crystal was pushed up into the ceiling as a column of stone rose under it.

  “Nifty,” Cedrik said.

  “All right everyone, we made it through. Let’s recover and get back into our normal formation. We’re still in a hallway in a dungeon we haven’t cleared. We need to make our way to the next encounter.”

  Everyone nodded.

  Cedrik moved forward with Pandora close behind. Once they were about thirty feet ahead. Callum and Pythias followed with Pythias glowing slightly while Robert and Asling stayed a little farther back because their ability to see in the dark was much better.

  They didn’t have to wait long before they came to a cave at the end of the tunnel.

  “Me hears you, Come in! Come in!” a voice called from the cave ahead.

  Cedrik stopped and looked back at Pandora with a questioning look on his face. Pandora set five of her orbs to protect Cedrik and five for herself then motioned for both of them to move forward.

  As they crept forward the voice spoke again, “No need to be scared, me smells and hears you. Me smells halfling. Me also smells something new, something fresh. Me never had before, me wants it,” as a “THUNK” was heard behind the party from the room with the crystal chamber. Had the creature just reactivated the crystal trap?

  As Pandora was thinking about that a slightly scaled, gray-skinned humanoid creature peaked its head around the corner, sniffed loudly then launched itself past Cedrik at Pandora. In a moment it was upon her and reaching its claws toward her chest, only to have all of its attacks blocked by Pandora’s orbs.

  Callum came rushing up behind and called, “Don’t kill it! It’s only level 20” Just as Cedrik had been preparing to attack it from behind.

  Pandora with her five hundred-plus strength reached out and grabbed the creature by the neck and held it off the ground like she’d scruff a cat. It dangled from her hand twisting this way and that as it tried to get free. She looked at it disdainfully as she asked Callum, “What is it?”

  “My Analyze skill is identifying it as a Grimlock,” Callum said.

  “Well, Grimlock, do you have a name?” Pandora asked.

  “Let me go, Let me go, I never tell you my name it’s a secret. Sides you never leave here. You trapst with me,” it said with a loud cackle.

  “Cedrick, check out the cave, Pythias you help.”

  The Grimlock continued to struggle. Every time it thought to get too aggressive Pandora would shake it good and it would calm down for a bit. In less than a minute Cedrik and Pythias returned to the corridor.

  “It’s a small cave, with a stream running through it. Looks like our friend here was eating things it found in the water to survive. Didn’t find any treasure or secret doors though Pythias found the level it pulled. My gut tells me the other lever…

  “What other lever? There’s no other lever. You trapped here with me. If you’re nice I share my food with you,” which he followed with a whisper Asling, Robert, and Pandora picked up easily, “until I tastes your flesh.”

  “So, what’s the plan, Callum, this creep is dreaming about eating you. Just that is making him feel slimy to me,” Pandora said.

  “Do you think this could be the Dungeon Boss,” Robert asked?”

  “Could be,” he said thoughtfully. “We were fighting creatures that shouldn’t be as high a level as we ran into,“ Callum said.

  “What level is it?” Asling asked.

  “It, oh it’s level 20.”

  “Next question, is whoever kills the boss of the dungeon going to get anything special for it?” Cedrik asked.

  “Maybe, Robert said, but you have the Party set to loot and experience sharing so I don’t think it will matter.

  Pythias spoke up for the first time, “That creature is evil. Let us put it out of its misery and let’s move on.”

  Callum nodded.

  “No! No kill grimlock…”

  ACK!

  While Pandora continued to hold the Grimlock off the ground she had all 21 orbs attack. Pandora had thought this Grimlock would be like the Ogre they’d faced earlier with a lot of hit points and an ability to take damage. It was not.

  “What the Hell Pandora!” Cedrik cried.

  It had happened so quickly that none of them had been able to react. They’d all been frozen in place as the grimlock exploded and covered them in blood and gore. Even Asling, who’d stayed back had been hit.

  “Pandora, what did you do?” Callum asked.

  “I had all the orbs attack it,” she said as she dropped what was left of the head and scrapped the gore off of her face.”

  “Uh-huh, and how much damage does each of those orbs do when it hits? Callum asked.

  “Each does up to four points of damage. I have 21 so I probably did 84 points of damage.

  “No Pandora, they didn’t each do 4 points of damage. The first four that hit might have but that Grimlock only had 12 hit points. After the fourth hit the other 17 were just destroying the corpse.

  “Oh,” Pandora said.

  “Look at it this way, it’s really dead,” Cedrik quipped.

  Everyone looked at Cedrik with disdainful looks on their faces.

  “What, too soon?” Cedrik asked with a grin.

  “You said there was a stream in the cave?” Pythias asked.

  “Yes,” Cedrik said.

  “Then let’s get cleaned up. Cedrik if you’d loot the corpse please,” Callum said.

  Cedrik leaned down, looted the corpse and they all walked into the cave and over to the stream. They were still on the lookout for anything that might be in the cave when they noticed a glowing grey orb of swirling energy on the other side of the stream. The stream wasn’t wide so getting to the orb would not be an issue.

  “What is that?” Pandora asked.

  “It wasn’t here when I checked the cave out a few minutes ago.

  “It’s the Dungeon Exit orb,” Robert started to explain. “As a party, we all go up, place our hands on the orb and it will indicate we’ve both cleared the dungeon and send us to the entrance.”

  “Let’s get cleaned up first,” Callum said, “I’m covered in gore.”

  “Me too,” Cedrik said.

  “You know, you might just be a little too powerful,” Asling said thoughtfully,”

  “No such thing,” Cedrik said.

  “Cedrik is correct,” Pythias said. “There is no such thing as too powerful. There are only those who use that power to serve others and those who use it for selfish gains. I would venture to say that Pandora falls into the first category.”

  “Thanks, Pythias,” Pandora said as she cleaned herself off in the shallow stream.

  “While you’re cleaning up, check your notifications. Also, Cedrik, it’s probably time to share the loot you’ve picked up with the rest of the party.”

  “On it,” Cedrik said.

  Pandora opened her notifications.

  Congratulations You have killed a Level 20 Grimlock

  You have received 3,500 XP from assisting your party in this kill.

  Pandora checked her level and noted that she was still at level 27. That was a bummer.

  “No level here,” Pandora said.

  “Me either,” Cedrik said. “Treasure incoming”

  Cedrik has shared loot from; Level 10 Gnoll, Level 12 Gnoll, Level 65 Earth Mage, Level 77 Ogre, and Level 20 Grimlock with you

  Your Share of the Loot is 33 gold and 3 silver

  “Is 33 gold a lot, Pandor asked?”

  It is more than enough,“ Aisling said. “You could live comfortably for a couple of weeks with the 49 gold we’ve found so far, not to mention all the other loot Cedrik needs to sell and share the profits of with us.”

  “I didn’t forget, I just figured you all didn’t want to carry around the various items.”

  “Let’s not get sidetracked. If everyone is cleaned up let’s go touch the Orb and see about getting out of here,” Callum said.

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  The party made its way to the orb and placed its hand on it. As Asling, the last person placed her hand on the Orb new messages started popping up.

  New Dungeon Complete.

  Calculating reward for Dungeon experience.

  Error, The Number of creatures in a dungeon far exceeds the normal number of generated creatures.

  The maximum level of creature in the dungeon, Level 20 (Error - 77)

  Maximum number of creatures in the dungeon, 100 (Error - 1307)

  Average of the highest level in the dungeon, 10 (Error - 39)

  Calculating

  Calculating

  Calculating

  Initial Clear of Virgin Dungeon All experience awards doubled.

  Total Experience award 14,377,000

  Personal Experience award 4,792,333

  Adjusted for mark and split between Caspa and Pandora, 2,635,783 earned.

  Congratulations, you have level 77.

  Pandora was so excited she exclaimed, “I just reached level 77!”

  “Keep reading Pandora we have a decision to make as a party,” Callum said.

  You have a choice, accept treasure now, or accept a Secret Quest for an increased reward.

  Secret Quest: Cleaning House

  A new dungeon was recently invaded and corrupted by the denizens of the Underworld. A passage of theirs still leads into this dungeon. This Quest is twofold. First, find the source of the invasion and destroy it. Second, close the alternate entrance into the dungeon.

  Reward. 50,000 XP and one Mythical item compatible with your primary Class.

  Current Reward if Secret Quest denied: Scarce.

  “What’s the difference between Scarce and Mythical?” Pandora asked.

  “Good enough that my automatic answer is to accept the quest,” Robert said.

  “I’m with Robert on that one,” Asling said.

  “Me too,” rang out from everyone else.

  Pandora looked at the last message.

  Would you like to accept Secret Quest: Spring Cleaning Yes or No?”

  Pandora chose “Yes.”

  The Party vanished from the room and appeared in the giant chamber at the tunnel they’d decided to skip. Callum looked around before he said, “Okay, we don’t know what we’re going to have to deal with though we know some of it was higher level. Everyone, go through your classes, choose your new abilities, and spend your attribute points. I don’t think people are meant to level this fast but it looks like we will be, and we’ll probably need it,” Callum said.

  Just then a new series of notifications entered Pandora’s vision.

  Universal Update 2.00 will Launch in exactly 600 units of time.

  While most may not notice any changes to themselves please understand that some creatures will find the adjustments shocking and painful.

  First, the old Cultivator Rank level designation has been removed. If you don’t know what that is, count yourself lucky.

  Instead, a new leveling system has been adopted. Conversions are relatively simple For every 10 full attribute levels or personal levels all attacks or formulas will treat that as one Quintessence Ability Rank. Each Quintessence Ability has its own ranking system that starts at 1 and has no upper limit.

  Quintessence Abilities, Skills, and Attributes all have their own effective ranks or levels.

  For instance, an Attribute or level of 70 will be able to create an attack comparable to an attack from a level 7 Quintessence Ability. If you must compare to the Previous Step system simply divide your Quintessence level by 7 or your Attribute or Level by 70. Level 71 would be Step 2 while Quintessence rank 14 would still be Step 2 but Step 15 would be equivalent to Step-3.

  Individuals are limited to 1 Quintessence Ability plus 1 per 10 Attribute points in Willpower.

  Step progression no longer sets individuals so far apart that you don’t have a chance against someone just one step higher than you. However, a Step Comparison will be utilized for at least one year after this Update to help creatures adjust.

  Items of Note:

  Attributes

  Attributes are awarded for leveling your Personal Level or your Class Level. The amount is based on your Race and Class. Starting Attributes are determined by your Race, Level, and Class. Attributes cannot be purchased with XP.

  Experience (XP)

  You earn experience by performing activities. Half the experience earned goes toward your Personal level and one-half goes towards your Class if you have one. If you do not have a Class all experience goes toward your Personal Level. XP is normally awarded as follows. Creature level multiplied by 100. ? award for monsters ? your level. Double XP for creatures twice your current Personal level. Class Level is not used for this comparison.

  Classes.

  Classes have been added. Currently, there are four classes; Fighter, Healer, Rogue, and Mage. Class is an additional mechanic and requires you to earn experience for that Class to level it. Each Class will give benefits to certain types of attacks, and defenses, and give access to special abilities that will automatically unlock as the class is leveled.

  Leveling.

  To Level, you must earn Experience Points equal to your current Personal Level multiplied by 1,000. Class levels require 10,000 Class Experience per current level to advance to the next level.

  Quintessence Abilities

  Quintessence Abilities are individually leveled by spending the number of Quintessence equal to the abilities’ current rank. It should be noted that a Level 3 Quintessence Ability is the equivalent of a Level 21 or higher attack. Be aware that Abilities unlocked with Quintessence will be much easier to advance going forward. If you have the Quintessence you can advance the ability.

  There are no longer minimum Quintessence requirements to level abilities. All quintessence higher than Step-1 in the old system have been converted to Normal quintessence of the same type. Also, be warned that higher-level Quintessence abilities may require higher levels of mana or stamina. If you Unlock a High-level Quintessence Ability ensure that your attributes are at least one level lower than the Quintessence ability. As an example, if you were to use a level 5 Quintessence ability that required an equivalent amount of Mana, the minimum attribute you would want to use the ability would be a Wisdom of 40. Even so, it would still utilize 41.7% of your mana for that one attack. Please take the time to learn about the changes made or you will find yourself depleted at a crucial time. Also, not that in some cases this will not be true.

  NOTE: There is no longer a major step between any Quintessence level or Attribute Level rank. Levels have been Balanced. You will be able to utilize abilities one level higher than the associated attribute at least twice before you run out of energy.

  Soul-Cores.

  At Level 71, So long as you have at least one Quintessence ability to level 11 a Soul Cores can be formed. What does Soul Core do? How do you use it? Those are questions you must answer for yourself or earn a reward that gives you this information.

  300 time-units remaining.

  A new feature has been created within every Universe, Plane, Realm, and Dimension attached to the Astral Plane. If you do not know what those are, you will learn about them soon.

  Dungeons!

  Dungeons will spawn randomly on any planet or location that has any form of life on or in it. The Chance and number of Dungeons that spawn within any geographical location are a function of the total levels in the Area where there is a 100% chance that a dungeon will spawn anywhere there are 1,000,000 levels. Dungeon functionality will be explained upon entering. Other environmental and individual factors may form Dungeons in remote locations as well.

  A second new feature has come into Existence,

  The Labyrinth

  The Labyrinth can connect to any Dungeon anywhere and can act as a way to travel between dungeons, in addition to having dungeon-like areas within The Labyrinth. The Labyrinth should only be accessed by experienced Adventurers.

  Do you acknowledge that you have received Universal Update 2.0 information, Yes or No?

  “What the Hell, what is a Universal Update 2.0?” Pandora asked.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about Pandora. I didn’t receive any messages,” Callum said.

  “Me either,” Cedrik said,

  Pandora looked at the others who all shook their heads.

  “Let me read it to you,” Pandora said as she read the messages she just received.”

  Robert looked thoughtful for a moment then said, “You said you were from somewhere else, maybe something is happening there and somehow it’s translating to you through the message system?”

  “Maybe,” Pandora hedged.

  “How much time do you have left on that timer,” Callum asked.

  “About 10 seconds,” she said.

  “Okay, everyone, if this is something that is going to affect us be ready and watch your personal information. I have no idea what Quintessence is but who knows maybe we’ll figure…”

  Callum’s words were cut off as the world stuttered. That was the only way to explain it. For a moment everything seemed frozen, and then everything was the same. Or so they thought.

  “My damage and cost for one of the abilities I just picked up changed,” Robert said.

  “What was it before?” Callum asked.

  “I picked up a new ability called Shadow Bolt. It was going to allow me to shoot a magical bolt from any shadow and do 4 points of damage for 20 mana. Now it costs 33 mana and only does 3 points of damage.

  “Me Too,” Callum said. “I picked up a new ability that would allow me to block an attack with a shield and stop 100% of the damage for 20 stamina. Its cost is now 33 as well.”

  What’s going on?” Asling said. All of my costs have been adjusted to 33 whether it was for stamina or Mana.”

  “No idea,” Callum said. “Will this affect how we use our current abilities and tactics?

  “Yeah, Robert said. If the net increase is 33% of 100 that means we can only attack 3 times instead of 5 when the cost was 20. It means we’ll have to be more careful how we spend our mana and Stamina.”

  “How about you Pandora, anything change?

  “Not yet, everything seems to be the same. Caspa and I are still at the same levels so no, no change here.”

  “Okay, so the one person that it could have been really bad for is fine. Continue with getting abilities and attributes. We have a Secret Quest to finish,” Callum said.

  Everyone wondered what the messages meant and what the changes to their abilities meant but there was nothing they could do about it, so they went back to work. At level 30 Pandora picked up another aspect of her Absorb ability.

  Melee Combat Damage Bonus: The spell levels absorbed may be added as a damage bonus to any physical attack you make. The points must be added before the attack is made and only add one point of damage per Magic Levels Absorbed spent. Once spent Magic Level Absorbed points are gone even if the attack misses.

  At levels 40 and 50 Pandora picked up the last two aspects of the Absorb ability

  Cast Spell. The spell energy absorbed may be utilized to cast spells of an equal level or lower at no mana cost. Each spell cast utilizes a number of Magic Levels Absorbed equal to the spell level to be cast.

  Burst of Speed: The Magic Levels Absorbed may be utilized to increase movement speed by one Foot Per Second per Magic Levels Absorbed point spent. This may only be utilized once per combat round.

  The last ability Pandora earned was at level 75 where she received a new message.

  Class not chosen. Ability slot may be saved, or you may evolve the Absorb ability to unlock new aspects of the ability. Would you like to evolve the ability Absorb, Yes or No?

  Pandora chose “Yes.”

  The Racial Ability “Absorb” has evolved.

  Absorb has evolved. As you continue to improve his ability you will be able to absorb memories, skills, material properties, items, Magical Items (Prerequisite: Items), Ambient Energy, and ??? (Prerequisite all others first).

  Memories: for 33 Mana you may absorb the surface memories from the target. This will include everything the target has seen and witnessed within the last few (2) hours. How far you can copy memories from the target into the past can be extended at a rate of 33 mana for each additional hour so long as contact is maintained with the target. Also, memories can be reviewed at the time the ability is used or the ability can be used and the memories can be reviewed later. Memories reviewed are permanent and fade with time, as all memories do.

  Skills: for 33 mana per skill level, you may absorb a skill and utilize it as if it were your own. If you cannot spend enough mana to capture the skill the skill will remain available for a number of combat turns equal to the mana spent divided by 33. For instance, if the Skill were level 11 and only 330 mana were spent, the Skill would be available for 10 combat turns after use and then disappear. This ability cannot be channeled. To capture a skill the entire skill must be captured at once. If successful the target must make Willpower savings throw against a target equal to the mana spent or fall unconscious due to neural shock. They will remain unresponsive for a number of turns equal to the level of skill that was removed.

  Material Properties: For 99 mana per 100 pounds (Rounded up) of Pandora, so 198 mana in human form or 2058 mana in dragon form Pandora can take on the physical properties of any substance she is touching, including Air. This transformation can be maintained at a cost of 33 mana per additional combat round. All bonuses and weaknesses of the material become true for Pandora while she takes on the property of the substance.

  Items: at a cost of 33 mana per pound Pandora can absorb any item she is touching and convert it into Magic levels Absorb. Each pound grants One Magic Level Absorbed. NOTE: If an attempt to absorb an item fails due to not having space in the Magic Levels Absorbed attribute, damage equal to the total Magic Levels Absorbed that could have been provided multiplied by 3 occurs in a 10-foot-diameter centered on the object. From 10-20 foot diameter one-half damage. From 20 -30 foot diameter one-quarter damage.

  Magic items: at a cost of 99 mana per pound Pandora can absorb any item she is touching and convert it into Magic Levels Absorbed. Each pound grants one Magic Level Absorbed. Additionally, any charges the item might carry also grant one Magic level Absorbed. NOTE: If an attempt to absorb a magical item fails due to not having space in the Magic Levels Absorbed attribute, damage equal to the total Magic Levels Absorbed that could have been provided multiplied by 3 occurs in a 10-foot-diameter centered on the object. From 10-20 foot diameter one-half damage. From 20 -30 foot diameter one-quarter damage.

  Ambient Energy: At a cost of 33 Mana you may absorb energy from the surrounding area and become fully hydrated and fed. This ability is not noticeable and does not affect the immediate surroundings. This ability only needs to be utilized once every 12 hours to remain fully fed and hydrated. There is no limit to how many times this ability can be used.

  ???: You must unlock all aspects of Absorb to unlock this ability

  Pandora thought for a moment. That last part of the ability was useless to her. She thought about what would be most useful to the party and decided to pick “Items.” She needed a way to generate points so she could heal herself and others if needed. Also, it might be useful for removing obstacles and such, though that mana cost was a bit extreme.

  “I think I’m done, how is everyone else doing,” Pandora said.

  “I have to say, I’m quite satisfied, my three new abilities should come in handy though the last two aren’t really about tanking. I can strike twice or strike all targets within five feet. The first isn’t too bad for stamina. The second costs three times as much. It will take me 33 seconds to recover the mana from a single strike and over a minute and a half for the big strike but if necessary I have them,” Callum said.

  “I can move silently at my normal speed, jump 20 feet, and with a little concentration, as long as the target isn’t covered completely in armor I can always find a weak spot to exploit. “ Asling said.

  Robert cast a spell and cloaked himself in shadows that clung to him as he said, “I can create this armor that doesn’t seem to have a duration. It will stop up to nine points of damage before it disappears. I also got that shadow bolt spell I mentioned, and the final ability is called Shadow Wall. Unlike my armor, I can throw it up and maintain it. It will slow down or stop 9 points of damage to anything that tries to pass through it. I thought it might be really useful if we find ourselves being peppered by ranged attacks.”

  “That could definitely be useful,” Callum said.

  Cedrik grinned as he said, “I picked up Shadow Vault. In addition to my looting ability, I now have a space that’s about a 10-foot cube. I can store items in it, and it doesn’t add any weight to me. I can also detect traps within 10 feet of me automatically and if I need to move while in the melee range of another, I can combat, I can move without making it easy for someone to smack me.

  “I am also pleased, Pythias said. “I have a new Halo-type effect that reaches out to about 10 feet. All allies within the halo heal at 1 hit point per second and it does that much damage to evil and undead creatures,” he said looking pointedly at Cedrik.

  “What, I’ll be good, or at least neutral,” he said with a grin.

  “Additionally, I now have a divine beam attack and if needed I can seal someone that is wounded in a shell that will last until I release it or it takes 9 points of damage from a single strike,” Pythias said.

  “How did you and Caspa come out,” Callum asked as he looked at Pandora.

  “I still haven’t chosen a class, though I might have to in the near future. For now, I just added to my absorption ability. I can now use the energy I absorb to cast spells, which means I need to learn some. I can also use it to move faster in a moment, which could help in an emergency and I can add a melee damage bonus. The level 75 ability slot was used to evolve the ability and I picked up the ability to absorb items and turn them into energy for my other abilities. I think that’ll be quite useful. As for Caspa, she earned three levels Attribute-wise, all of my attributes are at or above 60, so not too shabby.

  “You’re going to have to choose a class eventually,” Callum said.

  “Hey Robert, is there a way to learn spells without being a mage?”

  “Mage books or scrolls. You can choose to permanently add them to your mind. Everyone is different in how many spells they can hold like that. Casters can hold more spells obviously.

  So, I need to find some scrolls or mage books, we can do that, “She said with a smile.

  “So, who’s up for taking the gloomy stairway of death down to some ancient evil that pissed off a virgin dungeon,” Cedrik quipped.

  Everyone looked at Cedrik with the ‘I can’t believe you just said that’ look

  “What? You read the quest, it’s obvious the dungeon is not happy with whoever broke into it,” Cedrik said.

  “I’m up for it Asling said laughing,”

  “I guess when you’re right, you’re right, “ Robert agreed

  “I’m in,” Pandora said.

  Callum and Pythias both nodded as Callum made a flourishing gesture to Cedrik, “If you wouldn’t mind good sir, let’s go find the naughty children that need a spanking,” Callum said with a straight face before he and everyone busted up laughing.

  Cedrik pulled himself together and started forward.