Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty-Four. Those sound like nerfs.

Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty-Four. Those sound like nerfs.

"There is one more thing," Bob continued, pulling out the Endurance Affinity Crystal from his satchel and passing it around the table.

"It looks like an economy size Affinity Crystal," Dave observed.

"It's an Endurance Affinity Crystal," Bob explained. "It doubles your base Endurance. So if you're tier five, at level twenty-five, instead of your base endurance being thirty, it would be sixty."

"Where can I get a full set of these?" Harv asked before passing the crystal over to Elli.

"Make that two," Elli agreed.

"These coalesce off monsters a full two tiers plus your level over you," Bob explained.

"Those are challenging fights, even for those of us with Affinity Crystals and Arcane Familiars," Bailli said with a grimace.

"And they appear even less frequently than regular Affinity Crystals," Bob shook his head. "I've been grinding for months, and I just found that one."

Dave frowned. "I'm not sure it's worth burning the time to get those before tiering up," he said slowly.

"Maybe gather them on the trip to tier six and then tier seven, so when you reincarnate down at tier seven, you'll have them for it," Amanda mused. "With the increase in mana crystals required to level and tier up at tier seven, assuming two natural affinities, the trip from seven to eight is going to be long."

"Another minor detail," Bob interjected, "is that mana crystals are going to coalesce less frequently. I'm not sure how much less, but less. Also, you won't need to seed Dungeons with Affinity Crystals anymore, they'll appear naturally, and randomly, whenever you're fighting monsters a tier and half your level above you."

"So, once we hit tier seven and head for tier eight, it'll take four times the crystals to tier up, and we'll be earning fewer of them," Mike shook his head and sighed. "Not like it's going to stop us from doing it, but damn."

"How much of this can we share, exactly?" Elli asked.

"About a month before the update, the System is going to send a notification to everyone stating when the update will occur, as well as advising that everyone will need to be in a safe place when it occurs," Bob replied. "I'd say at least wait until that happens, and whatever you do, please don't tell anyone the information came from me."

Harv smiled grimly. "I've developed a bit of a reputation as a researcher, so while still unusual, it'll be somewhat believable," he said. "Which reminds me, Thidwell is starting an academy to teach Shepherds how to train freshers. He built a shallow Dungeon at the edge of Holmstead, complete with a small tower above it with classrooms and a mess hall. Apparently, the legend of Bob has given rise to a whole segment of the younger population who want to be trained by Bob or, barring that, trained by someone who was trained by Bob. He'd like to have you spend an hour a day teaching a class," he finished, "and said he'd be happy to compensate Monroe with free meals for the day from Kevin's kitchen and that he'd work something out for you."

Bob shook his head. "You two did fine teaching me the ropes," he protested. "I know I'm not good with people, and there have to be other competent shepherds besides the two of you."

"It's the Harbordeep effect," Bailli interjected. "What happens in Harbordeep sets the tone for the rest of the Kingdom. Harv and Elli, Corlos and Vivian, they were some of the only active shepherds around. Or at least the only ones who were offered through the Adventurers Guild, and even then, they were just here in Holmstead and part of Thidwell's schemes. There hadn't been a publically available Shepherd in Harbordeep in a decade. The fact you not only didn't charge anything extra was unheard of. Then you didn't just escort them into the Dungeon, you took the time to actually teach them how to not only survive but thrive with your rules." Bailli shook her head. "You don't appear to understand just what that meant, so I'll lay it out for you. More than half those kids you shepherded would be dead by now, were it not for you. They would have scraped up the crystals to pay for a slot and gone in on their own because they couldn't have afforded to pay for a guide. They would have gotten in over their heads, and some of them wouldn't have made it out. What you did started a sort of revolution, where young people aren't willing to start adventuring blindly. Quite a few of the folks who flocked to Holmstead did so because it was where you were from."

"And they've been insisting on 'Bob Trained' shepherds," Elli interjected.

"I'm not saying you should do it," Harv raised his hands in surrender, "I'm just explaining what's happened and why Thidwell is asking you to."

"The thing of it is, once the update hits, Delving is going to change," Bob grumbled. "People will have to retrain themselves to adjust to working in proper groups."

Elli shrugged. "The good ones already do that," he said. "I know you met and worked with a group in Harbordeep that followed the Beacon, Healer, Killer layout. It's widely understood that to progress safely down the deeper floors of a Dungeon, you need a balanced group. Or at least it was until Affinity Crystals became common knowledge."

"Even now, with Affinity Crystals, dedicated Adventurers usually work in groups," Bailli added. "Your insistence on delving alone is an exception to a rather firm rule."

"I'll consider it," Bob replied. "I've been putting in the work, but I'm burning out a little, and it might make a nice break. Back to the matter at hand. The other major change from the update will be a significant reduction in mana regeneration. The System is going to have a customizable heads-up display and a 'Help File' for attributes, attack and defense values, as well as skill descriptions. All of this will require mana to maintain, so part of your regeneration will go towards that. This will have the beneficial, in the eyes of the System, side effect of forcing us to use more mana than we regenerate, thus emptying our matrices and ensuring more mana is circulated."

Bailli winced and shook her head. "That's going to be a problem, or at least an adjustment."

"Believe me, I know," Bob agreed. "I think that the System is going to use one point of regeneration for each school, spell, and modifying skill you have, as well as one for the heads up display."

"Which is what, exactly?" Elli asked.

"Glad I'm not the only one who didn't know," Harv mumbled.

"It's a semi-transparent overlay that appears as part of your vision," Eddi blurted out. "It can show you your health, mana, stamina, and any buffs or debuffs you're currently operating under."

Bob nodded.

"I think that the folks who embrace the system and go all out are going to wind up holding there for a while," she finished.

"Any other massive, path-altering revelations?" Bailli asked.

Bob thought for a second. He was pretty sure he'd covered everything. "Nope," he replied, "that's basically it. I'm sure you'll all be busy practicing System-less magic right up through the update."

"Not all of us have mana-sight," Mike shook his head. "Honestly, if you aren't planning to build Dungeons, it's not necessary, and it's not like the Shadowmancy brings a whole lot else to the table. The drain spells are shit, and even the geekiest amongst the Old Guard haven't figured out a way to make them useful in combat." He sighed. "Not that I'm not busy enough as it is."

"How was your date with Annisa?" Amanda asked curiously. "She said you were taking her to Paris," she fanned herself with a hand. "So romantic," she laid another hand across her forehead, and mock swooned into Dave's side.

Bob was surprised to see Mike blush slightly. Despite his reincarnation, Mike still projected the image of the hard-bitten, world-weary detective.

"We visited the Louvre and saw the Eiffel tower all lit up at night," Mike replied. "We ate a meal that cost over a thousand dollars and made me a believer in the hype about french cuisine."

"Why Mike, I never had you pegged as a closet romantic," Jessica grinned. "Good catch on that one, mate, she's a looker."

Eddi looked at Mike with wide eyes. "You were playing hard to get," he said slowly, "playing the long game, they call it."

"No," Mike grumbled, "I was not 'playing hard to get,' I was busy working, and I didn't, and still don't, have time for a relationship, but she ate enough of my time bothering me that I realized it would be less time-intensive to just go on the date."

"I think that's an example of the whole double standard thing," Dave mused. "She got away with her behavior because she's pretty."

"No," Mike replied, "she got away with her behavior because she never crossed the line into actual harassment, and she was useful enough that her presence always came out as a net gain in the wash."

"Or that," Dave agreed with a grin.

"She cast a lot of reincarnation rituals for us," Mike sighed. "And honestly, the date was nice."

"Are you going on another?" Amanda asked.

"Why the interest in my love life, or lack thereof?" Mike asked suspiciously.

"I've got a hundred crystals on you going on three dates before becoming a couple," Amanda replied with a grin.

"I'm at two hundred on four dates before the integration," Dave added.

"You're wagering on my relationship with Annisa?" Mike shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh, he's admitting it's a relationship," Jessica said gleefully. "I got in late, but I got great odds on two dates and more than six months before the integration."

"Are all of you in on this?" Mike asked suspiciously.

Bob raised his hands defensively. "First I'm hearing about it," he said in denial.

"I heard about it, but I didn't bet or anything," Eddi added. "Didn't seem right."

"We both went in on five dates, after the integration, for a hundred crystals each," Elli said, nodding to Harv, who grinned.

"Same," Bailli shrugged. "Word gets around, and betting on the newest noble is entertaining."

"Woah, hold up," Dave said, looking at Mike. "You're a noble?"

Mike grimaced. "The King gave me some writ of nobility, basically making me responsible for the Old Guard and the Redoubt, which I'm responsible for anyway," he shrugged, "didn't seem too important to me."

"As much fun as it is to hear about Mike's love life and his foray into the Thayland political landscape," Bob tried to shift the focus of the conversation away from his friend, "what are we doing about the tide?"