Chapter Three Hundred and Eighty-one. Not good.

Chapter Three Hundred and Eighty-one. Not good.

"Is that Meluben?" Lara asked quietly as she pointed at the ruins, barely visible through the jungle.

"It is," Bob replied. "I know it looks rough, but with a few levels, the right skills, and a pile of mana crystals, it'll be better than new."

"Everyone is still in that other space, yes?" Gualla asked.

"They are," Bob nodded. "We'll get them out soon enough. First, we need to teach you two how to delve, although the first few levels aren't that hard, just tiring and painful."

"My husband, he died buying us time to run to the temple," Lara shook her head.

Bob frowned. "Was that before or after you received the message that the integration had begun?"

"After," Lara replied.

"I'm sorry," Bob said simply.

He felt that he'd gotten a little better at interacting with people but consoling someone from an alien species and culture was beyond him.

"We do need to get going, though," he continued as he pulled up the screen on his armband. "It looks like we have maybe another sixteen hours before the monsters from the Dungeons surrounding us arrive here."

He tapped his armband to turn off the display and then opened his interface. He set the Dungeon level to tier six, level one, and then tapped the entrance to the Dungeon while at the same time sending group invitations to Gualla and Lara, who blinked in confusion at the notifications.

"You can either say yes or think it," Bob said helpfully.

Their names appeared on the far left of his vision, displaying their relative health, mana, and stamina.

"Alright, follow me," he instructed as he entered the Dungeon.

Bob frowned as he looked around.

This was not the Dungeon he'd cleared with his friends.

Instead of Meluben, he was standing in a dense jungle with a well-worn path in front of him.

He checked the quest.

Dungeon 4578G8249N98ISS2PM3D.

Capacity 84%

User tier eight, evolved, level forty-two. User grouped with two other sapient beings, tier six, level zero.

Dungeon level has been set to tier six, level one.

Rewards have been reduced due to tier and level disparity.

New Quest!

The jungles surrounding Meluben have become infested with Quaors!

Kill Quaors, 0/3000

Kill Quaor Brutes 0/600

Kill Quaor Spikers 0/600

Kill Quaor Lancers 0/600

Kill Quaor Carvers 0/600

Kill Quaor Terrors 0/600

He turned to Lara and Gualla.

"Alright, so this is different than the quest we completed," Bob began. "It looks like you'll only be facing one kind of monster, although it will have different flavors."

He pushed his mana into the pattern of a persistent effect Summon Mana-Infused Object spell and handed the weapons to the Urlinad.

"What you need to do is walk forward slowly," Bob instructed. "When a monster attacks you, and they will, beat it with the stick I've just provided. If something goes wrong and you get hurt, I can heal you."

"Just like clearing out rats," Lara muttered as she tightened her grip on her staff.

"Exactly," Bob agreed. "These aren't real creatures, they are balls of energy that have been stuffed into a mold to look like something that is alive."

"I'm not going to argue with you," Bob replied. "If you open your interfaces and select the 'Magic' tab, you'll a section that says 'Divine Blessings.' There will be three categories, Vi'Radia, Mor'Noctum, and Logos. Full disclosure, I don't have a complete understanding of the System." He shook his head. "And this is one of the parts that I'm particularly unsure of. Those three beings are the exceptions to a lot of the rules when it comes to gods. First, they are present in every universe. By that, I am including universes where the System has not yet integrated, which shouldn't be possible. Further, they offer not only their own divine blessings but also the divine blessings for any faith that doesn't have a god shouldering that responsibility. Finally, they don't respond. I have spoken to quite a few priests and priestesses, and with the exception of those three, the gods respond to prayer."

"You're here," Lara breathed.

"No, I'm not," Bob shook his head again.

"Yes, you are," Lara projected her interface.

Ancestral Blessings Available.

Robert Whitman, He Who Walks Before, The Reef, The Redeemer, Light Bringer, Lord of Blight.

Venerating this being allows you to allocate skill points to share in some of his skills.

Mana Sight

Mana Manipulation

Enduring Sphere - Arcane

Summon Mana-Infused Object

"The fuck?" Bob muttered.

He was well aware of Anni, and to a lesser extent, Sereh's efforts to enshrine him. He wasn't happy about it, but he'd realized there was no real way to stop them, so he'd accepted it.

He knew he should have stamped down harder on the whole 'Reef' thing sooner.

Bob had absolutely no idea who had decided to call him 'The Redeemer' or the 'Light Bringer', but he did have a sneaking suspicion where that whole 'Lord of Blight' thing had come from.

"I am NOT the Lord of Blight," Bob said firmly.

"It does say the Lord of Blight," Lara replied nervously. "You did say that the System doesn't ever lie."

Bob pinched the bridge of his nose. "It says that," he began, "because you called me that. In front of a bunch of other people. I'm pretty sure if I talk to everyone who heard it, I can get the System to remove that part."

"You're still here," Lara said. "Does that mean you're a god?"

"No," Bob shook his head. "I am not a god. Ancestral Blessings are just a way for the System to officially recognize someone that a lot of people like."

He brightened. "In fact, if you look a bit further down, you'll see Monroe! Now I love my kitty more than anything, but Monroe, despite being both benevolent and wise, isn't exactly a deep thinker. He's sentient, not sapient."

Lara didn't stop sharing her interface as the entry for Monroe appeared.

Ancestral Blessings Available.

Monroe, Divine Feline Overlord, The Mightiest Hunter, The Softest, He Who Naps In Sunbeams, Lord God Almighty, Kessen.

Venerating this being allows you to allocate skill points to share in some of his skills.

Enduring Strength

Enduring Coordination

Naptime

Bob blinked.

"I've got to start keeping my eye on these things," he shook his head.

"Ok, so, you are aware that everyone loves cats," Bob began.

Gualla and Lara both nodded. "Kessen is universally revered, and his children are sacred."

"Fuck," Bob grumbled. "On the planet I come from, we have the ability to send each other images instantly. We can send an image to almost everyone on the planet all at once. As you might imagine, being able to do this has resulted in people sending each other pictures of their cats. Monroe has always been a handsome boy, but as he leveled up and ascended to tier seven, he evolved to become the gorgeous kitty you've met. People took pictures of him and shared those images until over five hundred million people had seen those images. The System recognized the sheer number of people who liked him. That's it. I'm sure some of those people called him silly things. I've told him that he's the mightiest hunter and the softest kitty ever, so I don't doubt that others have done the same."

"It says 'Divine Feline Overlord, Lord God Almighty, Kessen,' Lara replied.

"He's not a god," Bob shook his head. "Ok, Ancestral worship aside, you can pick up a Divine Blessing from one of the big three and gain access to the Divine Sphere. At that point you can allocate a skill point to unlock a school, and then allocate another skill point to unlock a spell."

He took a deep breath as he tried to get the conversation back on track. "Alternatively, you can choose the Arcane Sphere, which doesnot require a Divine Blessing to access. The Arcane Sphere contains the Magical Schools of Summoning, Dimension, Transmutation, Abjuration, Conjuration, Illusion, and Chronomancy. I'm a Summoner myself, while Bailli specializes in Conjuration, specifically, Lightning. Harv uses transmutation, which is what he used to make the block appear and disappear."

Bob sighed. "There's actually a lot to it, so why don't we head out and get cleaned up," he suggested.