Chapter Three Hundred and Ninety-Three. Dungeon Bound.

Chapter Three Hundred and Ninety-Three. Dungeon Bound.

Bob watched as Jessica knelt, her blue eyes taking on a silver sheen as she began to weave the pattern of the ritual.

It was beautiful.

She directed the flows of mana like a conductor guiding their orchestra, painting the sky with sure motions. It was art.

The difference between his ritual and hers was plain. He could cast the ritual, but it was a plain, simple working with no grace to it.

She had a gift, a natural aptitude for working with Mana that was beyond him.

He smiled. There was a time when he would have felt somewhat bitter about having to work twice as hard to achieve less success, but he'd grown past that.

Bob knew that she'd felt somewhat adrift. She shared the group's goal of exploring and progressing, but while everyone else seemed to have a passion that drove them, she'd been tagging along.

That wasn't to say that she wasn't a valued member of the group, but rather that her motivations lacked a personal drive.

He thought she might have finally found it.

"I'm just saying that they are basically ready now," Eddi argued.

"They're really not," Mike shook his head. "This city has over two hundred thousand people. It needs a solid ten percent of them to be able to delve the Dungeon to keep it from overflowing. Figure we can get away with the four hundred and sixty we've shepherded doing the same, then that group doing so."

"That's another three or four weeks," Eddi grumbled.

"Believe me, I know," Mike agreed. "I don't think any of us expected to spend this much time in a Dungeon."

"I know we've got the quest, but when we left, I thought we'd be able to go back home every now and then," Eddi sighed.

Mike nodded and gave the younger man's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

He'd hoped to be able to check in as well. He trusted the Old Guard to avoid getting into any real trouble, and he was confident that his friends would be alright. They'd all slowed down, hitting the peak of tier six and calling it good, with only a few of them stretching for tier seven.

On Thayland, it was all they needed to keep themselves safe, and with the added lifespan, they were taking some time off.

He didn't begrudge them their choice, but he'd decided to keep up the grind.

"I wonder what Holmstead is going to look like when we get back," Eddi mused.

"Bigger," Mike replied. "I saw some a few things on Kelli's desk," he continued. "It looked like they were planning to build out the entire valley."

"The tower could end up inside of the town," Eddi grinned.

Mike rolled his eyes.

Eddi had been proselyting. When he'd left to follow Bob to the stars, the Endless had made certain that he had enough Summoning Affinity Crystals to recruit tens of thousands of new guild members. Just in case he met new people during his travels.

The young man had been frustrated by having met everyone inside of a Dungeon, as he couldn't build a tower here, or at least he couldn't build one that would last.

He'd also been stymied by the lack of mana crystals.

Eddi had gained a few converts. The Urlinad were, by and large, religious, but not all of them were deeply invested, some paying lip service to their faith. It was the less devout that Eddi had preyed upon, waxing poetic about the joys of summoning and how much easier it could make their lives.

Mike couldn't disagree that SummonMana-Infused Object was the most useful utility spell he'd been able to find.

One of Eddi's arguments was that once the summoner was powerful enough, they could summon creatures to labor for them. He painted a picture of a single Urlinad directing a group of summoned creatures to plant their crop, tend the fields, and then harvest it. All while the summoner lounged in a chair, sipping on a cool drink while they worked their magic in the shade.

He'd gained enough traction that once they finished clearing all the Dungeons and getting everything under control that Kulaod would have its own branch of the Endless.

Mike was pulled from his thoughts as Jack sat down across the table with a sigh. "Thanks for the furniture, Eddi," Jack said.

"Summoning is the best," Eddi replied with a grin.

"I won't deny that it provides comfortable seating," Jack agreed.

"Done with your group?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, I dropped them off to watch Jessica and Bob make with the crops," Jack rolled his neck. "They've been at it for a couple of hours now, and the priests brought out pews."

"That's just going to feed into that divinity shit," Mike grumbled.

They hadn't had to use them for a while, but they proved their worth, providing a space to get away from the Urlinad, and loaded with furniture that was designed for people without tails.

"At least we know Monroe will be happy," Bob mused as they continued down the boulevard, side by side.

The System provided a local clock that was as accurate as you wanted it to be.

Bob didn't see the point in going out past seconds, not for general timekeeping, but he could have gone to nano-seconds if he'd wanted.

It also provided alarm functionality, a feature that Bob was rather fond of as he had a tendency to lose track of time when he was slaughtering monsters, although that was less of an issue now that Dungeons didn't have respawns.

He had explained this feature to all of the clergy, but for some reason, Tyolad had insisted this ceremony be performed at the 'darkest night.'

Bob felt that doing so at midnight would have been a better, more exact choice.

His irritation had nothing to do with Monroe's insistence that they needed some playtime after dinner, which restricted Bob to a forty-minute nap before he'd been woken up to attend the event.

He wanted to go back to sleep, but instead, he was standing with the rest of the team, patiently waiting as the minutes passed by, with midnight fading into their rearview.

Finally, at eighteen minutes after midnight, Tyolad raised his arms.

"As darkness reaches its fullest, and night begins to give way to light, we embrace the new cycle, heralded by the Avatars," he gestured toward the humans. "As one, we accept our paths!"

Bob blinked as all four hundred and sixty Urlinad inhaled as one.

Then chaos erupted.

Some of the Urlinad fell prostrate, others to their knees. Some raised their arms to the sky, some cried, and some shouted in exaltation.

"What the fuck?" Mike muttered.

"We have some awesome paths, but I don't remember any of us being quite that emotional," Amanda agreed.

Tyolad rushed over to the group. "We have been blessed!" He announced loudly, several cheers ringing out in approval.

A System screen appeared in front of Tyolad.

Path of the Dungeon Bound Acolyte.

This user was placed in stasis to prevent their untimely demise after their universe was blessed by the arrival of the System. The unthinking actions of a careless user resulted in an unexpected influx of energy, preventing their timely release from stasis. The user remained in stasis until diligent agents of the System arrived to regulate the energy and secure their release. The agents have shown their devotion to the System by going above and beyond the basic requirements of their assigned task, and have provided otherwise unattainable resources to ensure this user will be able to assist the rest of their species. The user has chosen to revere one of these agents. The user has chosen schools and skills for the purpose of aiding their community.

This Path has been enhanced, due to the achievements of the Agents.

The Path of the Dungeon Bound Acolyte provides the following benefits.

Each Threshold reached in a Divine School of Magic, or a Spell or Skill within it, increases the value of the effect by 1%. This bonus is calculated by using the number of thresholds reached for the specific spell or skill, and the school to which it belongs.

Each Threshold reached in a Divine School of Magic, or a Spell or Skill within it, decreases the resources required to utilize the spell or skill by 1%. This bonus is calculated by using the number of thresholds reached for the specific spell or skill, and the school to which it belongs.

Each Threshold reached in a Divine School of Magic, or a Spell or Skill within it, decreases the damage done to the user by manifestations in a Dungeon by 1%. This bonus is calculated by using the total number of thresholds reached for each specific spell or skill, as well as the individual schools.

Each Threshold reached in a Divine School of Magic, or a Spell or Skill within it, decreases the amount of food and water required by the user by 1%. This bonus is calculated by using the total number of thresholds reached for each specific spell or skill, as well as the individual schools.

Each Threshold reached in a Divine School of Magic, or a Spell or Skill within it, increases the amount of experience gained by 1%. This bonus is calculated by using the total number of thresholds reached for each specific spell or skill, as well as the individual schools.

Each Threshold reached in a Divine School of Magic, or a Spell or Skill within it, increases the number of energy crystals produced by completing Dungeon quests by 1%. This bonus is calculated by using the total number of thresholds reached for each specific spell or skill, as well as the individual schools.

Special skill 'Dungeon Born' granted. This skill allows the user to expend a number of energy crystals equal to their level to enter a state of Stasis.

Additional Bonuses, granted by the achievements of the System's agents.

Special Skill 'Rain Dance' granted. This skill allows the user to spend one hour and one energy to create one cubic millimeter of water. Users may act cooperatively, and for each one thousand users who do so, the effect is doubled. This skill only functions when inside a Dungeon.

Special Skill 'Endless Harvest' granted. This skill allows the user to spend one hour and one energy to advance the growth of one square centimeter of food crops to advance to maturity, ready for harvest. Users may act cooperatively, and for each one thousand users who do so, the effect is doubled. This skill only functions when inside a Dungeon.

Special Skill 'Ashes to Ashes' granted. This skill allows the user to spend one hour and one energy to disintegrate the plant matter above one square centimeter, recycling that matter to nourish the soil. Users may act cooperatively, and for each one thousand users who do so, the effect is doubled. This skill only functions when inside a Dungeon.

The Path of the Dungeon Bound Acolyte is restricted. This path is not available for evolution.

"Strewth," Jessica breathed.

Bob could only nod in agreement.