As the adventurers reached the second floor, Ergo turned his head to look at Crys through the wall. “So, why do you want them here? What do you gain?” Ergon asked, to take his mind off his territory.

“A few things. First, I get mana from any creature that enters the dungeon. Second, I earn XP for my monsters being killed. The stronger the monster, the better the XP. I mean, I only have the dungeon crystal class, but at least it increases my natural mana regeneration, and gives me the chance to earn perk points. Third, when they drop things, or I kill someone, I get templates that I can use to make things. For instance if I kill a strong fire mage, I might learn how to add the fire element to monsters.” Crys lectured, happy to keep Ergo occupied.

Ergo growled in thought. “Interesting. And how does XP work? Levels? Perk points? We did not have any of these in my former home.”

Crys was taken off guard, but recovered quickly. “XP is used to gain levels. When you level up, you gain a certain amount of stats depending on your class. When you reach the cap at level one hundred, you can prestige your class. Your level is reset to one, and you lose most of the stats you gained from the class, but you get a perk point; plus you can change classes if you want. Also, every time you prestige, you get a new level of a trophy that boosts your future stat growth.”

“You said most of the stats? I assume that means not all?” Ergo asked distantly, clearly deep in thought.

Ergo mentally nodded at him. “You get a permanent flat stat bonus every time you prestige. What stats you get depends entirely on what class you are. Advanced classes are the most variable. They can either give a ridiculous amount of one stat, or almost no stats in favor of the skills you learn, and trophies you can get. I’ve even heard of a few classes whose primary advantage is that you gain XP incredibly fast in order to stack the prestige trophy quickly. In fact, I’m fairly certain these adventurers are recently prestiged. A few hours ago, they were struggling against my generic slimes. When they left the room they shacked up in, the warhammer lady took out the entire room with a single swing.”

Ergo growled. “I’m not so sure I like this method of growth. Why should the strong be relegated to a period of weakness?”

Crys snorted. “You would have to ask the gods. There’s some speculation on the wiki about how the gods want to remind the strong to practice humility, but naturally the gods themselves never actually answer when asked.”

Ergo groaned. “It irks me to be shackled in such a way.”

Crys mentally shrugged. “Trust me, everyone wishes there was a get strong quick scheme. I don’t recommend trying to find one though. It usually ends badly from what I’ve heard. Just abuse the system as best you can to gain strength the right way.”

Ergo snorted, and padded back to his bed to lay down. As he did, he realized there were notifications in the corner of his vision. Why some notifications obnoxiously thrust themselves into his vision while other hid until he wasn’t busy was a curiosity he didn’t have an answer for.

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

Level Up!

+10 HP

+10 MP

+10 Stamina

+5 Strength

+5 Endurance

+5 Fortitude

+5 Magic

+5 Regen

No skills gained

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

This identical notification popped up seven times. When Ergo used what he now knew was an “expand” button next to the stats, he got a brief description of the stat. Strength was self-explanatory. Endurance boosted his physical stamina, fortitude boosted his natural defense, magic increased spell damage, and regen increased his mana regeneration. The problem was that he had no context for the numbers.

“Wow, those are some pretty high growth numbers.” Crys commented when Ergo asked. “The average class gives two for most stats, maybe four in a primary stat. You’re lucky to have that class. It’s a shame you can’t learn any skills.”

Ergo cocked his head in consternation. “Why not?”

Crys sighed as if knowing Ergo wouldn’t like the answer. “Monster classes don’t gain skills. They have their racial benefits instead, and skills will have to be learned by using human classes.”

Ergo felt a mental tug as Crys directed him to watch. Ergo begrudgingly obliged. On the second floor, the adventurers had encountered heavier resistance; the dragon slimes being interspersed with the regular slimes. Ergo watched as the man with the bow eliminated a slime with a shot to the core. Seeming to preternaturally sense another slime leaping at him, the man blinked three feet away; somehow having an arrow already nocked in the moment between disappearance and reappearance. Without even stopping a moment to aim, he fired; arrow striking the slimes core as it landed where he had been a moment ago.

Next to him, the woman with the hammer grinned with bloodlust. She screamed, and the slimes that had been moving to surround him shifted their focus; all squelching towards her. As they gathered in a ring, she bared her teeth. The archer’s eyes widened, and he dove for the entrance to the next room as she lifted her hammer. As if she had timed the sequence of events perfectly, the woman spun like a ballerina; hammer raised, just as the man ducked through the doorframe. With only a single three-hundred-sixty degree rotation, a wave of kinetic force sent the entire horde of slimes flying into the walls with a deafening splat.

Not a single slime survived, and a moment later the archer poked his head through the doorframe. “Really? How many times do I have to tell you not to do that while I’m there?” He yelled at her.

“Oh come off it Rickard. I waited until you were out of the way this time.” She replied, laughing boisterously.

“Oh screw you Ameline. You didn’t even warn me. You’re just lucky I got out of the way in time.” He huffed.

Ameline laughed, and punched him in the shoulder conspiratorially. “Too late, you already screwed me.”

Rickard rolled his eyes. “Haha, very funny perv.”

Ameline shrugged. “Hey you’re the one who proposed. I warned you you’d regret it.”

Rickard grinned faintly. “Hasn’t happened yet.

Ameline winked, tousled his hair, and walked past him. “Come on, we’re in a dungeon. We can get back to making babies later.”

Rickard snorted, but followed as Ergo withdrew his focus. “See, the archer teleporting, and the berserker’s big aoe attack were skills. If you reach a certain level of mastery, you can keep them when you change classes. Of course, you don’t lose any skill progress by prestiging if you stay in the same class.”

Ergo huffed. “This is all getting overly complicated. Where did you learn this information? You aren’t exactly mobile.”

“You… didn’t see the wiki?” Crys asked in surprise.

“Oh. Right. I’ve been far too busy to explore my menus.” Ergo admitted sheepishly.

“Too busy sleeping.” Crys snorted.

Ergo turned his head to glare at Crys before settling down to explore.