Sean’s POV

“Greetings, goblinbane.” I had just entered the boss chamber of the dungeon, and things were vastly different this time. The goblin chief was surrounded by ten shamans, and never before had he tried speaking to me. “Tell me why you continue to attack our kind, though you have been able to teleport to the next section for the last two months.”

“To test my skill.” I replied almost immediately. “Every time I come down here, your kind has grown stronger and smarter. Forcing me to advance my own skills in order to survive. I wanted to see who could reach the peak of their skills first.”

“I see.” The chief nodded. “My shamans inform me that though you have powerful magic, you still restrain yourself while you move through here. Though our ambushes have long since been useless against you, you still battle and force your way through them. To think that a human, of all creatures, would respect us. Well, we have an offer for you.”

“Oh?” I asked, intrigued. I walked closer, though stopped when the lead shamans started tensing.

“Indeed. Our skills are at the limits of what the dungeon will allow. If you want, you may attack now and know that you have bested the absolute top of the line the dungeon has to offer. Should you emerge victorious, you will gain powerful equipment, perhaps even a completed set. Or, we may offer you something else.”

“Something else?” I asked, intrigued.

“Indeed. The system has knowledge of your skills, and has noticed one that is lacking in improvement for far too long. It whispers in our ears, telling us that we may help you break through to the next level. In exchange, the first five floors of the dungeon will be barred to you. What do you say?”

“I’ll accept the help with the skill.” I said. Training against the goblins, and after them the wolves was productive, but I was starting to reach several bottlenecks. Spearman had slowed down at level 9, celestial sorcerer had been sitting at 7,999 for a month, and advanced elementalist seemed stuck at 34,000. No matter how many spells I used, it refused to advance and even worse, none of the elements that I was using had reached mastery other than gravity, which was preventing me from gaining bonuses for mana regeneration. I could still recover my mana in just over an hour, but that was still a long time.

“Excellent. Come here then, and we shall work on your issue.” I nodded, and started walking forward. The shaman cleared a path, and allowed me to sit in a chair across a small table from the goblin king. I couldn’t tell earlier, but this one was far more refined than a simple chief. The normal goblin stench was lacking, and the clothing it wore was tailored to fit it. While it still had an exposed chest bulging with muscle, there were also hints of swirling tattoos that tingled when I saw them with magical sight. Just to make things even worse, had I attacked I would have had to deal with someone who was wielding a Damascus steel blade. “Now. System tells me to have you cast Otherworldly Solar System.” The king interrupted my inspection, and I complied.

“Here you go.” I said, covering the table with the hologram. “Though I’m not sure what the system thinks I can do to improve it. It already recognizes it as a maxed out grandmaster level spell.”

“Explain this thing.” He ordered.

“Sure. This is my home. The sun you see in the sky? Our world has it too. This is the central orb. My world, called Earth, is the third orb that circles the sun.”

“Hmm, so this third world is like Vitae?”

“Yyyesss.” I drew the word out.

“I see. Then why can I run my hand through it?” He asked with a grin, sending a finger through the hologram. “Do you see where you need to improve?”

“Holy shit.” I said, mesmerized by the implications. I had made a hologram, sure. But how much skill would be required to actually build a solar system with the elements? Gravity, plasma, lava, there were a myriad of things that I would have to accurately balance.

“I see the light of inspiration in your eyes. From now on, you may practice here under the watch of my shamans. The dungeon mana will be thick enough that you shouldn’t have to worry about running out. As long as you don’t attack my fellow goblins on your trip down, you will in turn be offered free passage.”

“You have my thanks, Goblin King.” I said, giving him a proper bow and getting a chuckle in return. I immediately went back and started working on improvements. First would have to be a plasma sphere for the sun, but that wasn’t all. Gravity to lance out to all the planets, as well as a magnetic field to hold the plasma inside. That simple improvement took half an hour to perfect.

The next portion was going to be much more difficult. Mercury. A rock blasted by heat. Mostly earth, but with enough fire near the surface that it was covered in lava mana, especially on the side toward the sun. Making it was easy. Controlling it? Another story entirely. Just that expenditure had me sweating in moments, and I was only able to hold it for ten seconds.

“That should be enough for the day.” The king said, after my third attempt at starting to form Venus. “You are trying to move forward too fast. From now on, you are not allowed to move on to another sphere until you can hold the previous one for an hour.”

“You’re right.” I said with a sigh. “And thank you for this opportunity.” I was also sure that part of the reason I wasn’t able to keep moving like I wanted was my lack of skill with the lava element. I headed back toward the beginning of the dungeon, checking my status along the way.

Name: Sean O’Carrol

Age: 33

Titles:

Chosen of Ariana (hidden)

Blessed by Lokir (hidden)

Otherwordly traveler (hidden)

Summoned Hero (hidden)

Attributes:

STR – 6 (+11)

AGI – 12 (+4)

DEX – 7 (+12)

INT – 27 (+21)

WIS – 28 (+21)

CON – 15 (+3)

END – 12 (+3)

Health: 140/140

Mana: 8290/8290

Health regen: 0.090/min

Mana regen: 116.67/min

Spirit: 27/27

Spirit regen: 0.96/hour

Class: celestial sorcerer (7,999/10,000)

Available classes: priest (0), Advanced elementalist (7 subs), mender (300)

Secondary class: Advanced elementalist (VII) (34,000/35,000)

Unfinished classes: 4/10

Profession: Camp Cook (13)

Available professions: slave master

Secondary profession: Spearman (9)

Finished classes: True elementalist

Level: 25/25

Exp to next level: NA

“Holy crap, when did I turn 33?” I asked myself, not really expecting an answer. I had been so busy settling in with the groups here in the city that it just passed me by. I exited the dungeon, and headed to the Red Rooster where we were staying.

“Yo, Sean!” I turned to see the Silver Eagles heading my way just before I entered.

“Darren! Martha! Alex! How the hell are you guys?” I asked, surprised to see them.

“Doin’ well, doin’ well.” Alex, the leader said. “Any idea when your group wants to go hunting with us again? Between your guys’ ability to damage everything and Martha’s tracking skills, I don’t think we’ve ever been building credits so quickly.”

“Ah, no idea.” I said as we all took a seat in the fairly empty room. It was still early afternoon, and the others were likely off finishing their errands for the day. “Truth be told, I’m probably not going to be going out for a while. I found a great place to practice improving a spell, and am hoping to break through a few bottlenecks.”

“Oh, I know that look.” Darren said. “How long do you need?”

“Not sure.” I said. “I haven’t even mastered one part, and there are at seven more to master after that. Though I have only been working for a day.”

“Ah, how will poor, sweet Elendria take this? Her man running off to the arms of the dungeon for days at a time, too tired to take care of her when he returns.” Martha giggled as Darren gave an overly dramatic reenactment.

“It’s not like that.” I tried to protest, but the others weren’t really having it.

“Relax, we know you guys have a complicated situation.” Darren said, slinging an arm around me. “We just have to keep you grounded, ya know? You might get a big head if we let you know how much easier hunting is with you.”

“Really?” I asked. “I didn’t think what we did really made that much of a difference. I know Elendria slows them down a bit, but I can only slow them down by ten percent or so.”

“Ten percent or so he says!” Martha threw her hands up. “Do you realize just how much that helps? Especially since you two use different elements, the effects stack more often than not.”

“Look, if you guys want to give thanks, then give it to Harold the mage over in Penultimate. He’s the one who taught me about the haste spell, and without it I wouldn’t have been able to reverse it.” I tried explaining, only to stop as someone at a nearby table turned to us.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but your groups conversation is rather interesting. Did I hear you right, in that you have a way to slow someone down?”

“Uh, yeah.” I said with a shrug. “It’s basically a reversed haste spell.”

“Would you mind casting it on me? I’ve never heard of something like that.”

“Sure.” I said. “I’ll leave it on for five seconds. Repression!” I cast the spell, and the man tried to go through a quick knife kata. I could see the frustration building on his face, and when I cut the spell off his speed noticeably increased.

“By Ariana, that is a weird feeling. I could think just as fast, but I couldn’t move how I wanted to. I kept trying to move too early. How does it work?” He asked, curiously. I noticed his friend leaning forward as well.

“Do you know the haste spell?”

“I don’t, but Anna here does.” He said, motioning to his friend.

“Well, you know how haste lowers the electrical resistance of the body?” She nodded. “All I did was reverse that and increase the resistance. Thoughts aren’t affected, but the muscle movements are slowed a good bit.”

“Not only that, but the coordination drops drastically.” Darren chimed in. “Huge help in a fight.”

“Do you mind if I use the spell?” She asked. “I don’t want to step on your toes if it is a unique spell…” She trailed off at the end.

“Go ahead.” I said, waving off her concerns. “I don’t mind. Heck, if it saves lives feel free to spread the knowledge. These guys seem to think it’s worth it.”

“Heh, understatement of the century.” Martha said. “We are able to kill quicker and cleaner with less injuries. Between him and his elf friend blasting things with cold to slow them down, we hardly need our armor anymore.”

“Really? I didn’t think, but one’s lightning, of course!” The mage muttered. “Thank you, all of you. Come on Brian, I need to practice this skill!” She reached over and grabbed his hand, practically dragging him off.

“And there you have it.” Alex said. “Proof that your spell is worth a lot more than you realize. As this spell gets around, the quality of pelts they are going to be able to bring in is going to increase as well.” After our friends left, talk settled down for a bit as we ate a late afternoon dinner. Excusing myself after eating, I headed to bed a bit early. While my mana reserves never dropped below half, my brain felt like I had been repeatedly taking tests all day. Seconds after my head hit the pillow and I was out.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I woke up the next morning with a warm body cuddled up to me, my arm around her stomach. “Mornin.” I mumbled, still half asleep.

“It’s about time sleepy head.” Elendria said, suppressing the laughter in her voice.

“Not my fault. Training new spell.” I explained.

“So, that’s what the Eagles meant.” She said, turning over to face me. “You aren’t going to be much fun for a while.”

“Sorry hun, but I have to.” I started to explain, but she put a finger to my lips.

“It’s ok. I would much rather you get stronger so that you can get the best evolution possible. Though it is going to cost you.”

“Oh?”

“Yep. I want you to let me give you a massage every night. Helping you relax will only speed your progress.”

“Oh my, how could I possibly let a beautiful woman rub me every night? You have yourself a deal.” I said with a grin.

“Right. Now, off for some breakfast, and then to the dungeon with you.”

“Yes ma’am!” I said with a grin, watching as she slid out of bed.

True to their word, the goblins let me walk straight through to the king’s room after I entered the dungeon. From there, I would spend my time working to perfect my spell. Mercury took an entire day before I could hold it for over an hour without any strain. Venus was more difficult, as I had to make a metallic core covered in miasma. Three days were spent on that, and I was desperately trying to think of how to do Earth. In the end, I used lava as the core, surrounded by earth and water with air around it. Ice at the poles, and I didn’t stop bits from mixing here and there to produce different storm effects. I was actually forced to spend three days just getting Earth working by itself, and four days to get it worked in to the rest of the solar system. Mars was a simple day, as it was simply earth mana with ice at the poles and the barest hint of air.

The outer planets again caused me problems. Jupiter got a bit of metal as the core surrounded by a lot of storm mana. The issue was all the moons. I knew one would be highly volcanic, so that got lava mana. One had a water core surrounded by ice, but I was woefully under informed for the rest. Shrugging my shoulders, I mixed them between ice and earth mana. Saturn was nearly the same treatment, though the rings were made of dust mana. Uranus and Neptune each got ice and miasma mana, and I let it swirl freely inside the orbs. All told, the outer planets ended up costing me another two weeks before I finished my breakthrough.

“Gah!” I cried out, panting as I finally managed to hold the spell long enough that each planet completed a revolution around the sun. The amount of bonuses I just received flowed into me so swiftly I could actually feel my body changing. I had to ignore the stream of system messages for a second, as the king was speaking.

“Your determination is commendable.” He said, nodding at me as he studied the spell that was still holding above the table. “With this, our deal is finished. Thank you, human, and good luck. The next time you enter, you will be transported immediately to level six. Good luck.” He stood and gave me a slight bow, before him and the rest of the shamans all walked to a portal that had appeared.

Spell upgraded!

Otherworldly Solar System is now Grandmaster II

You have pushed an already complicated spell to amazing new heights, and did so without the crutch of using a ritual. Very few manage to successfully cast a spell of this caliber. You will receive the following awards:

Title: Grandmaster Sage

Title grants a concealable aura that beasts and magicians can sense. When active, you will seem to have an overwhelming presence, as if the very mana in the room bends to your will.

All spell costs reduced by 25%

Mana vacuum: When low on mana, your recovery rate increases. Above 50% mana there is no increase.

Skill upgraded!

Mana control is now Mana will

Your control of the use of your mana has reached transcendent heights. It now seems as if mana leaps to obey your every order.

Spell range doubled.

Advanced elementalist skill greatly increased!

In building this solar system, you have managed to hold every combination of basic elements possible. In doing so, you have managed to maximize their usage.

Advanced Elementalist (VIII) is now Advanced Elementalist (XVIII)

Bonuses awarded.

Celestial Sorcerer maxed!

Your mastery of celestial bodies has been perfected. New spells have been acquired!

Comet: Lone traveler, bringer of life. The stars give birth to your tails. Streak forth, and annihilate my target.

Meteor shower: Let those who dare the skies face the tribulation of the heavens! A hundred motes of light become a thousand burning arrows, streaking forth with your doom.

Meteor: Lonely traveler, remnant of a planet that never was. End now your ceaseless wandering. Scorch the skies and shake the very bones of this world, cataclysm mark your tomb.

Name: Sean O’Carrol

Age: 33

Titles:

Chosen of Ariana (hidden)

Blessed by Lokir (hidden)

Otherwordly traveler (hidden)

Summoned Hero (hidden)

Grandmaster Sage

Attributes:

STR – 6 (+11)

AGI – 12 (+4)

DEX – 7 (+12)

INT – 27 (+21)

WIS – 28 (+21)

CON – 15 (+3)

END – 12 (+3)

Health: 140/140

Mana: 13290/13290

Health regen: 0.090/min

Mana regen: 383.39/min

Spirit: 27/27

Spirit regen: 0.96/hour

Class: celestial sorcerer (10,000/10,000)

Available classes: priest (0), Advanced elementalist (18 subs), mender (300)

Secondary class: Advanced elementalist (XVIII) (86,000/90,000)

Unfinished classes: 3/10

Profession: Camp Cook (13)

Available professions: slave master

Secondary profession: Spearman (9)

Finished classes: True elementalist, celestial sorcerer

Level: 25/25

Exp to next level: NA

As the lights started to dim in the room, I headed toward the portal that would take me to the next level. I had no intention of fighting the wolves just yet, but it had a convenient warp back to the beginning of the dungeon. The wolves were going to have to wait a while, as I had a feeling our contribution points were dwindling.