Ska and I finished off the last Broodmother, seconds after Fiona dealt with hers. Our dungeon dive lasted four full days. I was thankful for the portable shield and my arm cannon. Both had come in handy in the tight tunnels. The shield to block the bugs so we could rest and recuperate and my arm cannon because it could clear an entire tunnel with one blast.

When we finally reached the spawning chamber we found not one but ten of the gargantuan egg layers. They weren’t much of a threat but the elite guard dewgon were a pain to deal with. They refused to be drawn into the tighter tunnels and had the same scythe-like appendages of the normal soldiers. But they also had sonic attacks.

Fiona was our best asset in dealing with those creatures. Once she got them down to a manageable level we went in and finished off the rest. They were still only level fifteen, not much of a threat to any of us, just annoying.

I plopped down to rest, we had time until the dungeon disappeared and I was tired. I also wanted to go over the messages that had come through. No level up but I was getting very close.

Congratulations you are the first group to clear this dungeon. For this epic feat, you have been awarded 1 free skill slot

For being the first group to clear this dungeon your team has been awarded 5000 credits

Your team has earned the title Bane of Arthropods 15% additional damage when fighting hard-shelled insects

Additional rewards are being calculated based on waves you survived before clearing the dungeon

Calculating...

Your team survived 502 waves

For surviving more than 50 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the lowest level individual

For surviving more than 100 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

For surviving more than 150 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

For surviving more than 200 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

For surviving more than 250 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

For surviving more than 300 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

For surviving more than 350 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

For surviving more than 400 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

For surviving more than 450 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

For surviving more than 500 waves in this horde dungeon your team receives 1 stat point, Allocated to the next person in the party

Congratulations you are the first group on your planet to survive a full 500 waves in a horde dungeon. For this epic feat, you have been awarded the title For the Horde

For the Horde: For every enemy arrayed against you over five, you receive one percent damage reduction to a maximum of fifty percent. And an intuitive sense for horde dungeons if they are within one mile of your location.

The full ten points, five each. But I was almost happier about getting the second title. For the Horde was amazing. Not only did it make us harder to kill when we fought larger groups; all three of us could now detect other horde dungeons. It was a shame Fiona wasn’t eligible for the stat points but at least she still got the titles.

I assigned my five points and looked at my new stats.

Paul Fuller | Mantra Enchanter | Level 19

Strength: 15(+2) modifier x20

Endurance: 20 modifier x38

Agility: 16(+2) modifier x20

Perception: 17 modifier x20

Intelligence: 22 modifier x38

Wisdom: 15 modifier x20

Charisma: 11 modifier x20

Luck: 14 modifier x20

HP: 760(836)

Mana: 836

Mana Regen(M): 300

I had tried to put more points in endurance, figuring that surviving five hundred rounds in a swarm dungeon would count as a feat of endurance but apparently it didn’t start counting feats until you were already at the threshold of twenty. I was a bit annoyed but not surprised. It just confirmed what I had learned with the Intelligence stat.

“Ska is happy,” Fiona said, as she floated up to me.

“Yeah, not often that he gets free skill slots and more attribute points. Seeing as I have your attention, can I run something by you?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, gee I don’t know. You have been rather preoccupied the last few months. Not that I blame you. I know how hard being imprisoned against your will can be. Then Martin left and, well…”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be distant,” she replied apologetically.

“As I said, I understand.”

“What did you want to run by me anyway?”

“My next class,” I added.

“Oh, are you closing in on level twenty?”

“Yes, I figure if we clear a few hundred of the dewgon from the chasm I should level up.”

“Honestly, I’m not sure how much help I am going to be. I don’t know anyone personally that has hit level twenty. In my old world, it was rare, and mainly only royalty attained that goal. The opportunities to level as fast as you have… were non-existent. But feel free to bounce ideas off of me and I’ll do my best.”

I nodded.

“Originally I wanted to choose a class that gave me the ability to create portals, and use that to get back at the people that wronged me.”

“But now that seems redundant with the flying fortress?” Fiona asked.

“Exactly, it would still be a powerful ability but it seems useless in my fight against Randy Cotton and the Black Dragon, especially now that my hand is gone.”

“I don’t know much about teleportation-based classes, but what I do know makes them seem like more of a support or utility style class. Like a pure healer. There may be battle-oriented ones, but I would expect those to be advanced classes that you would probably not meet the prerequisites for.”

“Fair enough. I could always choose a mage or pure attack class but I don’t feel like those would be flexible enough to meet my changing needs going forward,” I replied with a shrug.

“You may be correct plus you would have to either learn a new fighting style and weapon or choose one that utilizes the staff or mace as you have with your first class. Some strong classes utilize that weapon but I can’t say how well the skills would meld with your own. It would be a waste to have two skills like your Blink Step for instance. Monk might be a good fit but they use body enhancement ki abilities, which again seem redundant with your buffs.”

“I wonder if those abilities would stack with my own. Double strength enhancement would be nice.”

“I doubt they would. Most enhancements like that wash out the weaker one, leaving only the stronger version in place,” she stated.

I mulled this over as we watched Ska jump around the room acclimating himself to his new stats. He hadn’t hit level nineteen yet and I would probably hit level twenty before he leveled up.

“I had one other idea,” I said hesitantly.

“Oh?” she inquired.

“I was thinking about taking a class that lets me steal other people's abilities.”

“I see. I haven’t met anyone with a skillset or class like that. But with the System, there is always the possibility that more than one class like that exists. Classes are always balanced in some way. Take yours for example. Your spells, while powerful require you to speak or at least mouth the incantation for them to work.”

“Yeah, I learned about just how vulnerable that made me when Randy busted my jaw so I couldn’t cast.”

“The best advice I can give you is to read over the class information carefully. It will usually tell you of any downsides in advance.”

“Wait, what? The system was vague at best when I chose my first class.”

“Didn’t you say the Black Dragon tampered with the system before it went live?”

“Well, someone sure did. But won’t that affect it going forward?” I asked.

“Unlikely, while they may have tampered with the nodes near where you started, it would be impossible for them to do that to all of the nodes on a planet, let alone the multiverse. The system is resilient and redundant. There have been stories of older civilizations trying to destroy the system to return to a pre-System state but none have ever been able to accomplish that goal. Though, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to go back. Most people enjoy longer, healthier lives with the System in place,” she stated.

“Then why did they even bother trying in the first place?”

Fiona shrugged, “hard to say. Perhaps it was a mistake or two groups were fighting over a node and damaged it. I would imagine the activation phase was the only time when the system was vulnerable at all. Perhaps one group tried to stop it without knowing all the details.”

That made a horrible amount of sense. I had a good guess on who was fighting whom as well.

I rubbed my temple, “I think the Black Dragon and the Sons of Autumn were responsible for this whole mess.”

“Those religious zealots you mentioned?”

I nodded.

It would explain the blood feud the two groups seemed to have against one another so soon after the System came into being. Not that the Sons of Autumn needed a reason to be insane. While this revelation was enlightening, there was nothing I could do about it not that I wanted to. Fiona was correct, why go back to the way things were. Sure this world was dangerous but it also allowed anyone the opportunity to rise to the top, irrespective of wealth or previous standing.

I knew the Sons of Autumn were still around but they had been weakened severely in their battle to claim Chicago and kill off anyone in sight. I may have to make sure they stayed that way after I dealt with the Black Dragon. I didn’t want another Arman situation.

It sometimes felt that I never escaped the politics in Chicago. The Black Dragon, the Sons of Autumn, and the Stygian Order were all issues that needed to be dealt with sooner rather than later. Then there were the unknowns like Lord Vik’t and the Mohai. So far they seemed content with their little slice of Earth but I wasn’t happy with the Mohai or how they handled me. How they dealt with my friends and me when we reached the tunnel exit would determine what happened after.

***

After resting up for a few hours the three of us made a beeline toward the dungeon entrance. Other than the stat points and the clear bonus there wasn’t much to speak of in this dungeon. The mana hearts were small, being split amongst the ten egg layers. And we didn’t bother looting the thousands of bugs. The chitinous plates were of subpar material and I didn’t feel like stuffing my rings full of them.

We burst out of the dungeon and got right to work, slaughtering our way through the bugs. A great majority of them had cleared out in the four days that we had been down here but there was still well over a hundred thousand of the critters. They also seemed quite listless, skittering away instead of attacking.

That was fine with us, we were fast enough to catch the bugs and take them down. It usually only took one or two attacks. I kept an eye on my experience bar. I didn’t want to level down here, I wanted a large enough buffer to level out of sight of the Mohai and their underlings.

“Alright, I’m nearly leveled, lets go.”

The three of us broke off our attack and made for the stairs. The bugs scattered at our approach, it seemed like the swarm season had finally ended.