It took less than an hour to find the Dungeon portal that was mentioned by his three new helpers. Mathew didn’t run into any problems. Agnox took care of the few random beasts that would have been annoying to deal with himself. Not because it was difficult, but because he would have to spend effort and time fighting them.

Mathew was surprised by one important thing the Dungeon box showed.

Boar Dungeon: Novice

Number of Attempts: 2

Two other groups have already gone into it and failed, and it was still the first day of being inside this World Dungeon. Mathew wasn’t even tired yet. Either from him being in meditation for days, or his new rank. Reguardless, he enjoyed it.

It gave him more time to gather more treasures and rewards. More time to experiment and research other things as well. He had two new Axioms, a new Ability, and quests to complete.

Mathew already had decided to take [Mana Shield] as his ability quest reward. The other two he hadn’t even started yet.

He walked into the portal and looked around. All around him was a rocky landscape. Random boulders stood tall around him. Brown and orange dust covered the ground.

Agnox flew up into the air and looked around. “Yeesh, this place looks dried up and dead. What’s the plan here Boss?”

Mathew smiled up at his familiar. “For now, you and Jeffery rest. I want to experiment with my new Axioms and spear work. Having a weapon with reach is useful. I enjoy throwing daggers and knives, but my aim is horrible with my old skill gone. I need something reliable at close range. If I need to fight something at a distance, I can use [Mana Bolt] or the wisps.”

Agnox narrowed his eyes. “I don’t like how you are saying ‘for now’. What are you planning?”

“Why Agnox. You and Jeffery are going to fight the boss alone.”

“What! Why? That’s suicide.”

“Agnox. We both know you are strong for your level. Your armor and weapon are great. With Jeffery to help offset any problems, you two can kill a Novice Dungeon Boss easily. If not, then it’s obvious you have been slacking on training.”

“But- What if- Agh fine. If I die, I’m going to haunt you though.” Agnox started to pout realizing Mathew was right.

“That’s fine. I don’t think you will die. Plus I’m there just in case.”

Mathew pulled out Quiq’s Spear. It was light in his hands. He knew he needed to work on his [Piercing Weapons] skill. His goal was to leave this World Quest with no powers in the Novice rank, except for his quest related ones. He can’t be at fault for receiving a new power and the next day leaving the Dungeon with a Novice ranked spell or ability. That would be silly.

He currently had two abilities and one skill to work on. Plus he had three Axioms. Mathew honestly had no clue how Axiom’s improved. His improvement on [Resistance] was based on use and applying it in a different way.

Would that work for all Axiom’s or just that one? How did you apply [Piercing] differently? Then there were his two newest Axiom’s: [Bolster] and [Enforce]. There was no better place to test them out than where he was now.

Mathew winked at Agnox. He was in a playful mood. Knowing that nothing in this place was a true danger to him if he went all out, he had the time to push his powers in fun directions. There was no rush to ranking up, there was no looming timeline other than his death in over a year.

Nobody was around to watch his movements either made him able to fully stretch his capabilities. No need to hide anything in case someone wished to plan to take him out.

Mathew needed to be cautious. There are people who fear those stronger than themselves. He has been lucky with the lack of attempted attacks upon him and Agnox. Just voiced complaints. That won’t last long thanks to Mr. Melton's project for the Gods.

Wincing at how bad of an idea Melton had, Mathew finally found his first distraction. True to the name of the Dungeon, a boar was readying itself to charge at Mathew. It dug into the ground with it’s hoof to try and scare him off.

Mathew readied the spear in his hands, slightly bending his knees. He waited to use any Axiom, wanting to compare results.

The boar charged at Mathew, dust flying up behind it. It was quicker than expected, but Mathew reacted in time to thrust the weapon down it’s side while also dodging the deadly tusks.

If impaled, it would pierce right into his thighs. Yet, Mathew had a feeling it couldn’t truly pierce through him. With his armor and a well timed [Resistance] infused body, he should be fine.

Mathew turned to face the now bleeding boar. It was further enraged by the pain. He glanced at the piercing weapon and pushed forward his mental energy.

A white glow enveloped the weapon as the Axiom of [Piercing] was applied. Mathew could have sworn he saw the point become narrower. He didn’t have time to really examine the change to the weapon since the boar charged at Mathew once again.

Deciding to test the limits of his own powers, Mathew aimed at the Boar’s head. As the two collided, a sickening crunch of bones echoed out and Mathew was pushed backwards along the ground slightly.

Blood and gray ooze covered the ground as the boar slumped to the ground dead. Mathew was amazed at how easy it was to impale the boar through its skull. The beasts were renowned for their thick skulls, and this was a System created one. Far stronger than any versions natural to Earth.

He pulled the weapon out and noted the clean hole. There were slight fragments of bone, but it was mostly a true cut through the bone. Mathew was impressed with himself. He left the body alone and continued onward.

Jeffery sniffed the body, and tore off a limb for himself. Agnox continued to float and watch Mathew work.

Mathew took down two more boars with his Axiom infused spear. After that, he started to throw it. Unfortunately, he missed the first throw on the boar. The spear moved much faster through the air than he was used to with the first spear that returned to his hand automatically.

On the second throw, he clipped the boar easily on it’s hind leg, causing it to have trouble moving around. After that he finished it off with a singular [Mana Bolt].

Mathew paused to think for a moment. “Agnox what do you think? Using my chains and spears to slow someone down, and then pepper them with [Mana Bolt]?”

“It sounds good, but what do you do against things that are too fast to hit?”

Mathew shrugged. “Slow them down more obviously. Chains can’t miss as far as I can tell. But you bring up a good point. Someone could be too fast to hit with the spears, or too defensive. My Axiom can only go through so much hardness right?”

Agnox flew down to a rock to sit on. “Why not just pierce better? That’s the point of the Axiom right? To pierce through things. So why not just put more power behind it, and go through things better?”

Mathew pursed his lips. “It’s not that easy is it? Just more power?”

“I’ll think about it. Which one should I test next? [Bolster] or [Enforce]?”

“Sounds the same to me.”

Mathew shook his head. “No, they seem similar, but are totally different.”

Agnox leaned on his arms. “What do you mean?”

Mathew sat down as well. “Before I was meditating, I saw a vision. After thinking about it, it has to be because of my new Profession. I reflected on what I witnessed, and really pondered upon it. I realized two things.”

“The first is to never back down, to never yield to opposition. Believe in your values, and they won’t lead you astray. The second, became more powerful. Using other things than stats to ensure victory. Items, Rituals, Enchantments, Summons, anything and everything. The first was to [Bolster] the second was to [Enforce].”

Mathew looked down at his hands and flexed them. “The first is more defensive I think, however it’s not a shield. It boosted my Vitality stat by 15 points, and Strength by 10. Meanwhile, [Resistance] is focused on not only Endurence, but also Wisdom. One is physical, the other is Mental I think. Yet, I can use either one both ways. It’s almost as if they were made for each other.”

Agnox raised an eyebrow. “You think you will combine them?”

“Maybe. I know that to reach the next tier of Axiom’s I can either combine Axiom’s, which is the easiest route, or to gain enough enlightenment to improve them beyond. I have plenty of time. None of them are even Apprentice rank yet. That’s my deadline for them.”

“My vote is the second one. I want to see how it works with your vision of it.”

Mathew stood up and looked down at his familiar. “That brings up a good point. Why don’t you have an Axiom yet?”

Agnox raised an eyebrow. “Why should I? I’m a familiar, we can’t learn Axioms.”

“Who says that?”

Mathew could see the cogs in Agnox’s head turning. “Well, it just is. I mean, theoretically I could, but Imps are just sentience creatures typically. I kept my sapience when I was deranked. Otherwise I would be a wild and crazy Imp for all my first ten levels.”

Patting his summons back. “Think about it. Maybe you can get an Axiom related to fire.”

Mathew left him alone and started to channel [Enforce] through his spear. To his surprise the weapon took on a purple hue. He tested its weight and movements and found nothing changed about it.

He found a not so willing target for practice. As he was about to throw the weapon, he thought about how he wanted to spear to become better. “Faster. If I don’t have to lead the shot, I can hit so much more often against fast targets.”

As he threw the spear, it blurred forward and impaled the boar through it’s midsection. It didn’t go through as it did with [Piercing], but the extra speed gave it enough power to impale it.

Mathew recalled the weapon and blinked. “Agnox, you saw that it was faster as well right?”

“Sure did Boss. Does that Axiom improve Dexterity or something?”

Looking down at the weapon, “No, it improves Strength, Endurance, and Intelligence actually.”

Agnox flapped his wings and came closer to inspect the spear. “Why does that related to speed?”

“I havn’t a clue, Agnox.” Mathew was trying to figure out why it worked like that. The best way to test it out was to use another spear. He summoned a basic spear and infused it as well. The purple hue covered the weapon.

Thinking upon the same thing, Mathew threw it at a nearby rock. To his surprise, the spear was much slower. The tip made it half an inch into the stone before it fell down.

“Huh.” Mathew said and then an idea came to his mind. “What if it doesn’t improve it’s speed.”

“That’s crazy. It sped up. How does it not improve it’s speed if the spear goes faster?”

“Rememer what I said about it. It’s an enhancing Axiom. It makes things better at its purpose. Watch.” Mathew recalled the normal spear to his hand and threw it again, this time uninfused with any extra power. The spear barely left a mark on the stone.

“The reason the Quiq’s Spear went faster, is because that is it’s purpose.” Mathew summoned his bleeding dagger. “Same with this. If I use [Enforce] on it. It will enforce it’s purpose. Making it better. It’s like my Axiom is supporting it, giving it an extra edge for it’s purpose.”

Agnox pointed at Mathew. “To me, it sounds like it only works on items, and not yourself. I mean, what is your purpose?”

Mathew nodded in agreement. “That’s perfectly fine. I can experiment with it later, you and Jeffery can go fight the boss, I’m tired. Using all that mental energy is giving me a headache.”

Agnox winced. “You are already fatigued? What if you get into a fight right after we leave this place?”

“I can use an Axiom one or two more times. We will be fine. I’ll test [Bolster] tomorrow.”

Mathew cleared out any more boars that appeared with a single attack from Doozorka’s Rod, both saving mana and practicing with the simple attacks. It still functioned as the staves he used months ago, channeling mana into a simple attack.

He has just grown used to using [Mana Bolt] when he had other ways to attack. Relying upon only a single ranged way to fight was the wrong way to think. Mathew knew he needed to keep up all aspects of himself at peak performance.

Soon, Mathew noticed more and larger boars. That was when he saw an entire herd of sixteen boars. In the center was a boar the size of a minivan.

“That has to be the boss.” Mathew pointed out to Agnox.

“Yeesh, and you want only us two to take it out?”

Mathew started to take off his enchanted backpack. “Of course, but we will be putting on Jeffery’s armor as well. I want to see how effective it is.”

Agnox’s mood shifted slightly to more accepting of the circumstances. “What about pills or potions?”

Mathew clicked his tongue in thought. “No, we need to save those for the later floors.” He looked his familiar in the eyes. “If you truly don’t think you two can fight then we can do it together.”

Agnox took a long deep breath. “No, this is good. I am just slightly worried.”

“Says the familiar that sat back and watched me clear out an entire dungeon of dinosaurs alone practically. Including the boss!”

“Hey, we helped! Kinda…”

“Agnox. I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t think the two of you couldn’t handle it. You are both physically defensive with armor. Jeffery is an up and coming tank. You are training to fight with him in battle to protect me. How you wish to grow and improve is up to you. You are nearing Level 20, let alone Level 25. Have some pride in yourself and what you have accomplished thus far. If not for you, I would have died to that specter Bob sent after us.”

He took one last look out at the pack of boars. With a confident nod, Agnox agreed. “Okay, you convinced me. However, we do it my way.”

Mathew held his arms out. “You have the spotlight. If it looks bad, I’ll help out.”