Chapter Sixty-two. Bob's day off.

Chapter Sixty-two. Bob's day off.

Bob was tired of the tenth level of the Dungeon.

He was tired of the heat and the sun and the constantly blowing wind.

All told he'd been delving twelve hours a day, every day, for thirteen days.

And he was heartily sick of it.

Monroe also didn't appreciate it. The big Maine-coon had taken to hiding in his inventory whenever he got near the Dungeon.

Despite the bonanza of experience and crystals, Bob was ready to be done with it.

And it had been quite the harvest.

Ninety-seven thousand, nine hundred and twenty scorpions had yielded three thousand and thirty-four crystals.

His Magical School of Abjuration was now level four, and his Eldritch Cube spell was level nine, which gave each side of his cube seventy-three essence. Bob had cast it a few times, and it effectively forced a scorpion to split their attack, which drastically reduced how hard they struck.

His Dimension School had reached level five and offered him his threshold bonuses.

Magical School of Dimension Tier threshold reached. Dimension Affinity Crystal detected, redefining parameters. You have reached your tier in the Magical School of Dimension. Please select from one of the following: All Magical School of Dimension Skills increased by ten percent. All Magical School of Dimension Skills costs reduced by ten percent. All Magical School of Dimension Skills maximum level increased by ten percent. (Dimension Affinity Crystal). Magical School of Dimension maximum level increased by twenty-five percent. (Dimension Affinity Crystal).

Bob had chosen the ten percent increase to the maximum level of all Dimension Skills.

He'd started working on Shadowmancy, and discovered that mana sight was effectively useless as a persistent effect.

System Help, Divine School of Shadowmancy Skill: Mana Sight Mana Sight allows the user to perceive mana in its natural state. The user is able to see the ebb and flow of mana as well as its density out to a range equal to the user's caster value divided by 10, measured in feet.

It was the range that killed it. He'd managed to level his Shadowmancy School to level two, and the spell all the way to nine, but between effect over time and persistent effect, he was just barely at nine-feet. If he cast the spell and maintained concentration he could see nearly forty feet.

The ebb and flow of the mana flowing the Dungeon had been hypnotic when he'd cast the spell and maintained concentration. He could see where the mana pooled, and he knew that scorpions spawned there.

Mana itself looked like pale, ethereal silver light.

Once he was level twenty-five, and both the Shadowmancy School and the Mana Sight spell were capped, he'd be able to use persistent effect, and still have a range of over eighty feet.

The Mana Sight spell had capped out long before the School had, so Bob had decided to level up his Mana Drain spell.

System Help, Divine School of Shadowmancy Skill: Mana Drain The Mana Drain Skill allows the user to directly drain the Mana from a creature's pattern. This effect drains an amount of mana equal to the user's caster value, divided by sixteen, and it returns the user's caster value, divided by thirty-two. This is direct essence damage and is resisted by the creature's Spirit.

He had cast the Mana Drain as a persistent effect on himself, which after all his modifiers, failed completely to drain any mana from him. His Wisdom attribute provided his Spirit resistance, and it was much higher than the two point five mana that spell attempted to drain from him. Even after the School of Shadowmancy had reached level two, and the Mana Drain spell had reached level eight, it failed to drain any mana.

Bob wasn't sure how useful the Mana Drain, Health Drain, and Stamina Drain spells were going to be, but he needed all three of them along with Mana Sight to be able to take Mana Manipulation.

His thoughts rumbled along, and Bob paused to wonder just how badly fatigued he was. It was rare for him to not feel clear-headed.

Slouching through the Gateway and into the mausoleum, Bob left the tenth level of the Dungeon behind.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob woke up the following morning feeling lighter. Just knowing he wasn't going to be stuck in the sand brightened his day.

When Bob designed his Dungeon, it would be a pleasant place.

Yes, it would be filled with monsters trying to kill you, but it wouldn't be a chore to spend time there.

Bob was pretty sure there would come a point in the immediate future where he'd be spending a lot of time in the Arcane Depths Dungeon he was eventually going to create.

Laying in bed with Monroe curled up on his chest, Bob planned out his day.

Breakfast, hopefully with Elli and Harv, or Bailli or Kelli, or some combination thereof.

Then he'd pick up his new armor.

He also wanted to find a staff, as he could now use two hands, and he wanted the full bonus, which he wasn't getting from the one-handed sword Thidwell had given him.

Harv or Gary could likely point him in the right direction.

That should take him on to lunchtime, and if not, he'd take a walk around town with Monroe.

After lunch, he'd go for a hike. The mountains to the east had some lovely canyons, and he had spotted a waterfall that he wanted to take a look at.

He'd have an early dinner, and get a good night's sleep before tackling the cockroaches on the twelfth level of the Dungeon again.

Bob started scratching Monroe's ruff and smiled as the big cat's purr motor rumbled to life.

It was going to be a great day.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob walked into the tavern with Monroe on his shoulders, and immediately spotted Harv and Elli taking their seats at a table.

He hurried over and let Monroe flow onto the table in between himself and Elli as he sat down with them.

"Good Morning," Bob said cheerfully, sliding Monroe a bit to the right and center to ensure he'd have room for his breakfast.

"Morning Bob," Harv replied with a smile, "Haven't seen you for a week or so, how are things going?"

"I'm so glad to be done with the tenth level of the Dungeon," Bob grinned, "you have no idea how happy am," he shook his head, "the crystals are nice, but I'm ready to not have sand everywhere, you know?"

Harv nodded and nudged Elli, who was slumped over in his chair and hadn't reacted to the appearance of his Divine Feline Overlord.

"Whasit?" Elli grumbled without opening his eyes, "Tel' Theo big breakfast,"

Bob chuckled and said, "Monroe is here to see you."

It took a moment to register, but Elli cracked an eye, and then reached out to start rubbing Monroe's chin.

He cleared his throat and said, "Haven't seen you two around, been busy?"

Bob nodded and waved to Theo who had just emerged from the kitchen, before saying, "Yes, we've been keeping the sands of the tenth level of the Dungeon scoured of the hordes of scorpions."

Elli made a face and opened both eyes as he said, "Hope you got one of those pavilions from Gary, that heat is brutal."

"I made it one day without," Bob said as Theo approached, "and then I bought one, along with a canteen just like yours."

"Good call," Elli grunted, as Theo looked at the table and asked, "Eggs and Bacon all around?"

Receiving confirmation, he hustled back to the kitchen, pausing first to give Monroe a quick scritch on his ears.

"So are you delving further down today?" Harv asked as Elli started playing with Monroe's toe tufts, an activity that appeared to be currently permitted.

"No," Bob shook his head, "I've got a new suit of armor to pick up from Gary, fully enhanced for level ten, and then I'm just going to take the day off, go for a hike, clear my mind."

Elli nodded and said, "Good, I know you've got things to do, and precious little time to do them, but you've been down there for over ten days that I know off, and that can lead to serious fatigue from the mana density."

"Oh I was feeling it yesterday," Bob admitted, "one of the reasons I'm taking today off."

Theo returned with their breakfast, and Bob gave in to the tiny nudge of his conscious as he asked, "So is Amber still terrorizing the kitchen?"

Theo shook his head smiling and replied, "No, Kevin is letting her cook once a week, and he freezes enough of it in the Larder that she can eat her weird vegan diet without inflicting it on the rest of us."

"Sounds like she's finding her niche as a part-time cook," Harv suggested as he tore into his scrambled eggs.

Bob shrugged uncomfortably and said, "I do feel a little bad about pulling her here, although to be fair, she accepted the summoning spell willingly."

Elli freed a hand from kitty worship, and clasped him on the shoulder as he said, "The fact that you feel bad about it, makes you a good person."

Harv nodded, and picked up a piece of bacon, carefully eyeing Monroe who was addressing his bowl of meat chunks, and said, "I haven't heard of her refuting anything you said about stealing your work and blowing you into our universe, so I'm going to say that she got off lightly."

Bob nodded and sighed.

"Maybe I should give her the crystals to get to level five," he said, "it's not like I don't have plenty of them, or that I can't get more."

"At least then she'd have the same chance I had," he finished.

Elli snorted and said, "Except you arrived in a Dungeon, and spent two days fighting rats with your bare hands before we found you."

Bob shuddered, "Yes, except for that," he said.

"And having to hike to Holmstead in those ridiculous shoes you were wearing," Harv chimed in with a smile.

He pointed at the staff to his right, which was a dark chocolate color, with streaks of lighter honey running along the grain.

"This is black walnut, with a tempered bronze core," Joseph said as he ran a hand along the staff, tracing the grain.

"It's been crafted for level twelve, which won't matter much if you're actively delving for levels," he continued.

"Now this one," he turned to place a hand on the staff to his left, "is hickory, and I crafted it for level fifteen, again with a tempered bronze core."

The hickory soft was a warm tan color, with swirls of pale yellow and darker red that followed the twisting grain.

"Either one will do for you, although you'll be feeding a lot more low level crystals into this one," he patted the hickory staff.

"Or," Joseph said, "I could do you a custom staff for level ten, so you're not wasting crystals at all, but that'll take a couple of days."

"May I?" Bob asked as he gestured towards the staves.

"By all means," Joseph said with a smile, "I'd not take your crystals or coin without you getting a feel for it anyway."

Bob picked up the black walnut staff first and slid his hands along its length. It was smooth and cool. He took a quick swing with it and was pleased with its balance.

He placed it carefully back on the counter, and then picked up the hickory staff. It had a slightly rougher texture, but the wood felt warmer somehow. Bob swung the staff and found it to be balanced perfectly.

Bob ran his hands along the staff, feeling the grain twist and turn and swirl.

"This one feels right," Bob said slowly.

"You'll pass it on to your kids one day," Joseph said, his grin widening, "it's all yours for just five hundred crystals."

Bob leaned on the staff and pulled out a pouch from his satchel, then counted out five hundred mana crystals from it.

"Use it in good health, and come back to see me when you've outgrown it," Joseph said as he turned back to his forge, once again taking up the bellows and rhythmically pumping them, bringing the coals to life once more.

"I certainly will," Bob said as he stepped outside the shop and took a good look at his new tool.

Calico Hickory and tempered Bronze Core Staff

Plant-Shaped Staff

- Hickory Hardness Thirty.

- Tempered Bronze Core Hardness Seventy

Grown and Shaped by Helen Alder

Tempered Bronze Core by Joseph Alder

- Magical and Professional Bonus to Spell Casting - 15/15

Professional Bonus by Joseph Alder

Magical bonus by Helen Alder

"Oh my," Bob muttered.

He checked his status again.

Name Bob Level 9 Tier 5 Size 5 Armor Hardness 60 Weapon hardness 50 Str 32 Armor Style 1.04 Weapon type 2 Cord 32 Dodge 59 Spell casting 2 End 32 Int 75 Wis 59 Beauty 14 Health 331 Mana 85 Armor 120.44 Mana Regen 13.4 Spell casting w/Familiar 280.8 Damage 254 Spell Casting 270 Arcane Familiar Bonus 1.04

"Between the enchantments on the armor and the new staff I've nearly doubled my spell casting value," he muttered.

He might need to reconsider the values he'd proposed for the paths, as apparently with a full set of at level equipment, it was possible to eke even more out of them.

He shook his head. They'd already seen the value, a bit more power wouldn't matter.

Bob headed back to the tavern. He might grab a sandwich or two and just eat lunch on his hike.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob walked into the tavern was immediately ambushed by an excited Eddi.

"I did it!" Eddi was practically vibrating, "I got my Summoning School to level five you like said, and I took the option to boost Rexxy's maximum level by twenty-five percent!"

"Well done," Bob said as he started walking over to an empty table with Eddi in tow.

"It's amazing," Eddi gushed, "I'm on level six killing boars and Rexxy is just obliterating them."

"I can imagine," Bob said, "Rexxy is level capped at level twenty, how close is she?"

"Eighteen," Elli said proudly.

"Good work," Bob said, "although I should warn you when Rexxy hits level twenty-five, the push to get her to twenty-six is going to be three hundred and twenty thousand experience."

Eddi's blinked and shook his head.

"That is a lot of monsters," he said solemnly.

"Yes, yes it is," Bob said with a sigh.

"I haven't gotten Jake through it yet, although I'm probably two-thirds of the way there," Bob confided, "So just be aware of that challenge coming up."

Eddi shrugged and said, "I'll get there, Rexxy is the best."

Bob stifled a chuckle.

"Can you let the other Endless folks know? Grayson, Carri, and the others?" Bob asked.

"Sure," Elli said eagerly, "we're all delving on the sixth level of the Dungeon, close enough to each other to help, but not so close as to get in the way."

"Not that we've needed any help," Eddi was quick to add, "but Elli and Harv always say that it's better to be safe than sorry."

"And they are absolutely correct," Bob agreed.

Bob waved Theo over, accepting that he wasn't getting out the tavern any time soon, and settled down to listen to the thrilling tales of Rexxy, the greatest Boar hunter to ever live.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An hour and a half later, Eddi was headed back to the Dungeon for another hour of delving, while Bob was headed east, looking forward to a nice relaxing hike.

Getting out of town wasn't a problem. His portal spell had a range of half a mile, which allowed him to portal out of town and into the woods where he'd last followed a trail that had led him into the mountains.

Bob stepped out of the portal, and stopped, taking a deep breath and enjoying the clean smell of the forest. Holmstead wasn't bad, in terms of odor, and was certainly leaps and bounds over his old apartment building, but this...

Bob carefully brought Monroe out of his inventory and settled the drowsy kitty onto his Makres.

Monroe would no doubt be happy to be in the forest, once he finished waking up.

Bob closed his eyes for a second, just taking in the sounds of the forest.

Opening his eyes, he started to walk up the trail, his new staff making an excellent hiking pole.

It was clearly a game trail, but it was the easiest way to get up into the mountains a bit without magic, which Bob was out here to get away from.

He needed to decompress.

He followed the game trail for half an hour before it split.

A few weeks ago, he'd taken the trail that climbed higher, but today he decided to follow the road stayed even.

He was walking through a copse of birch trees when he heard the distant sounds of falling water.

He smiled as he automatically checked to make sure Monroe wasn't getting into any trouble.

The big cat had a tendency to chase small wildlife, and Monroe had nearly succeeded in getting a squirrel.

Bob kept walking, and the trail started to become steeper, while the now discernable sound of the waterfall became louder.

And then as he stepped around a boulder, Bob was greeted by a swiftly flowing stream that cascaded down a series of short waterfalls before ending in a narrow canyon below.

Bob climbed up onto the boulder and leaned back with his arms behind him as he slowly swept his gaze down the canyon, across the stream, and further up the mountain.

Monroe took Bob's sudden stillness as an invitation and hopped up onto his lap, turning twice before settling down.

As Monroe's purrs rumbled in harmony with the waterfall, Bob considered that he needed to make sure he took time to decompress more often.