Chapter Three Hundred and Ninety-Two - Upper Levels

Chapter Three Hundred and Ninety-Two - Upper Levels

Chapter Three Hundred and Ninety-Two - Upper Levels

The rest of the second floor wasnt all that much of a challenge. We continued to climb, taking a small break around the three-quarters mark for something to drink and to let our legs rest, then we kept on going and going.

Eventually we neared the end of the floor. By then, the Evil Roots had become so common that the beetles didnt have any space to roll through, and we had to climb over and through tangled roots just to keep going.

The others still insisted on killing them whenever we found some. I found it kind of distasteful, even if I kept getting team fighting experience from it.

Finally, Amaryllis said after we beat the final beetle on the floor. The ground levelled off ahead, and I seemed as if we were done climbing for a while.

What happened? I asked.

She smiled, looking quite smug with herself. I hit level sixteen with my main class, she said. Just now. Ive been looking forward to that level up for a while.

Oh, wow, I said. Congrats!

Thank you, Amaryllis said. It was a long time in coming. Or... well, perhaps not so long in the grand scheme of things. At the rate were going well all be quite strong soon. A few more dungeons, a few more of your little adventures and well be hitting our third tier.

That would be impressive, yes, Caprica said.

There arent many third-tier people around, right? I asked.

One in a thousand or so, Amaryllis said. Or thats the rule of thumb, it varies a lot depending on where you are, and of course it varies by profession.

In the army its closer to one in fifty, Caprica said. In the Paladins, its closer to one in ten. The Royal Guard are all in their third tier, since thats a requirement to enter. There arent that many Royal Guards, however, likely for that very reason.

Oh, I said. So it wasnt super uncommon, but it was still the kind of level reserved for the elite, or at least people who were at the top of their game. Wait, wouldnt a lot of older people reach that kind of level? Most of us were pretty young, after all.

Oh, sure, but if youre hitting your third rank when youre quite old, then youre probably already settled down, Amaryllis said. The race for power tends to be a younger persons game. Well, level-based power. Political power tends to be an older birds game.

That made sense, I supposed. Okay then! Lets all hit our third tier before the years out then!

Broccoli, the year will end in a couple of months, Amaryllis said. What kind of harebrained levelling scheme do you want to try?

I didnt know that, I said. So lets hit our third tier before the end of next year, then!

Amaryllis rolled her eyes. It only gets harder to gain levels as you go, you know? Each new push requires more unique experiences and more work than the last. Although... maybe it would be possible, but I dont want to take stupid risks just to gain a few levels faster.

Oh, fine, I said. She was probably right, risking our lives just to level a bit faster was rather silly.

In any case, the discussion about levels and experience and all that stopped as we finally reached the top of the floor. The ground was flat once more, and after walking up a ramp for so long, it almost felt strange to be on even footing once more.Cheêck out latest novels at novelhall.com

This is it, Puffles said. Next floor starts right through there. He pointed to a crack in the wall, not too dissimilar than the hole wed squeezed into to get onto this floor. There was a bit of light coming in from the other side, so wed at least be able to do away with all of the magic lights we had.

I was fond of my ear-lights, but they were consuming a small trickle of mana pretty constantly, and so my mana reserves werent replenishing.

Ah, right, the Evil Roots. They were draped across branches like garlands. Some had those familiar Evil Root pods growing on them, and I was worried that wed have to fight some nasty plant monsters on the way through.

Then, there were the fireflies.

They were big, plump bugs that bumbled about with a noise like a helicopter. The wind, I realized, wasnt natural. It was coming from the fireflies as they gently flew past, butts blazing so bright that they lit up the entire world beneath the shadows cast by the trees canopy.

Mister Ward, Caprica asked as she turned to Puffles. Do the fireflies effects work on this ledge?

Mhm, they do, he said.

In that case, we should take turns looking at them while the others hold onto the looker. Itll give us each a good idea of how potent the effect is on each of us.

That seemed like a reasonable thing to try. Caprica went first, and Calamity and I held onto her shoulders as she focused on the nearest firefly and squinted at the light coming from its rear. Do you feel anything? I asked.

Hmm, I recognize this feeling. A few people have used similar skills around me before, to grab attention and keep it. My father has something similar when hes giving a speech. This isnt as potent as that.

Soon enough it was my turn, and I squinted at the nearest firefly, specifically the large bulbous pod on its rear that glowed with a powerful yellowish light. It was quite pretty, actually. There were several different shades of yellow and white, all swirling into each other in a way that reminded me of a lava lamp.

Broccoli? Awen asked.

I shook my head. Oh, right, uh, yeah, I guess its pretty? It is kind of distracting, but I dont know if its dangerously distracting?

The others took their turns, and I could better see the effects on them than I could on myself. Mostly it amounted to whomever was watching the light being transfixed on it for a while, but anything that caught their attention would pull it away, even just calling out their name.

Hmm, you lot are better than most Ive seen, Puffle said with a nod.

I... didnt want to say it, but I suspected that the reason was somewhat innate. The Mothfolk seemed really keen on bright floaty balls of light, and that was before any sort of attention-grabbing magic was involved.

Okay, so now the only challenge is the jumps? I asked.

They dont seem that big, Amaryllis said. I think anyone should be able to make them, at least those I see. The branches are swaying though, especially when those fireflies move past. That might be enough to throw someone off their aim.

Maybe we use ropes again? Awen asked. Will the dungeon do anything if you tie things together?

Not as far as I know, Puffles said.

That settled it, and as a group we started down the main branch with Puffles and Caprica taking to the air around us. If someone missed a jump, then we had two fliers to help, which was reassuring.

Puffles did fly off for a moment, but he returned with a serious nod. I traced a good part of the path over. We dont want to end up walking down the wrong way.

Oh, that makes a lot of sense, yeah, I said. There were a few places we could jump to, but it looked as though some branches didnt reach others. Basically, we were traversing a massive three-dimensional maze where instead of walls, there were huge drops.

I didnt feel like using the old stick to the left trick on this one.

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