Lucan appeared in a lavishly decorated hall. Silent and the others were waiting for him. Lucan had been the last to leave the Instance. He pulled up the hood of his cloak, the shadows obscured his eye and the scars surrounding it. He activated the quick change using the face he had saved. He started walking towards the others while his features were reconstructed.

[Endless Horde score:12,504,950]

[You are currently in 57th place.]

[You are currently in the top 2%]

"Good job everybody." Madlad said, satisfied with the result. "There will be more people who do better than us, but there will also be plenty who do worse. I am confident we will remain in the top 5%."

"We got this in the bag." Van said, pumping his fist.

"Let's head back." Madlad said before taking his token out. A blinding light wrapped around the monk, then he was gone. The others followed suit and reappeared in Avalon, at the same place they left from.

Lucan, who received the least experience still jumped up a level. He was now at level 55. Silent had huge gains and broke through to level 90.

"Hey Silent." Lucy said. "We were planning on running a dungeon this afternoon. We have a spot left for a rogue if you are interested."

"Sure, that sounds fun. We would love to." Silent said.

"Ah, well, we only have room for you. Lucan's level is to low, we would have to kick someone else out to accommodate him."

The smile on Silent's face disappeared. "Oh, umm, that's okay, I think Lucan and I will-."

"I have things to do." Lucan said, turning around and heading for the transfer point.

Silent hesitated, wanting to follow Lucan but he had been swallowed up by the crowd.

"Sorry." Lucy mouthed to Silent as the rogue joined up with them.

***

Lucan stepped into the Assassin's Guild to collect on his completed contracts.

"Lucan." SuperSleuth called out to the warlock.

"Hey, you're back how was your time in the Shadow realm?"

"It was fruitful, I made plenty of new contacts. Where is Silent? You guys are pretty inseparable."

"She is doing some dungeon or something, she will probably be back later." Lucan said, waving the question away. "Let me hop in line, then I will give you some money.

Lucan cashed in all the contracts he and Silent took. After he was paid his portion, he gave 200 gold to Super. The high-risk contracts paid good money and when the high level Silent helped there was almost no chance of dying.

"Thanks, need any information?" Super asked after taking the gold.

"Nah, I don't have the funds right now."

"I can help you as long as it isn't crazy."

Lucan thought for a moment. "What is the fastest way to earn money?" Lucan asked.

"That's an easy one, no charge. The fastest way to earn money is to take on player bounties. Assassinating a single player will earn from 50-500 gold depending on their strength, that plus the money and loot they drop make it a lucrative business. However, chances are you will become a red player unless you can get them to attack you first every time. That means after each kill your name will turn redder and you will drop more loot and lose more levels when you die. It is a dangerous game but can help you get rich quick; a single mistake and you lose half your gear and have to spend a fortune to replace it."

"Ah, I see."

"Don't forget you own thousands of square miles of land. I find it hard to believe that you don't have any natural resources to take advantage of. If you want to make money, you should spend some time inspecting your land and uncovering its hidden secrets."

"You are right, I need to turn my attention to my own people anyway." Lucan said. It was possible he may find something of value on his land. "Any issues with the new class? Things going well?"

"It's going very well, and the fact that I bank experience when my employees buy spells and abilities is very nice. I have already made good use of it."

"Keep up the great work, I will get your money soon enough." Lucan said before excusing himself.

Lucan returned to Avalon. Since he was here, he decided to pay a visit to the magical research department. He hoped that Glen would be done with his experiment and have time for a chat.

Lucan's wish was granted. The doors to the research lab stood open while Glen was tinkering at his work bench.

Lucan knocked on the door frame to alert the Head Researcher to his presence.

"Oh Lord Quilldrake, It's you." Glen said excitedly. "How have you been?"

"Please, call me Lucan. Things have been going well. Did things go well with your experiment?"

"Ah, you weren't waiting on me for long, were you?" Glen asked.

"Ha, ha, no, I swung by a few days ago to find you busy so I thought I would come back the next time I was in Avalon."

"Good, good. What can I help you with?" Glen asked.

"I made a variant spell and then I started to wonder. Will I be able to make an unlimited amount of variant spells?"

"Good for you and no. I am currently an Advance Spell Weaver and I am limited to 12 in total. When you advance from Novice to Intermediate you will be able to create your own spells, and you can make an unlimited amount. Even though it is possible, you likely won't have the skill to create any until your move from intermediate to advanced. It really is difficult to make a new spell. It isn't like the variant where you fuse 2 spells together, no, you have to build it entirely from the ground up, altering spells rarely leads to new spells."

"Okay, it's good I was cautious then. I don't want to waste my variant spells by making junk."

"Yes, I wish I had the same foresight when I was younger. 3 of my first 4 variants are practically useless, but it was a tremendous learning opportunity." Glen said with a shrug.

"Oh, I wanted to tell you, that you inspired me to start learning formations. I am officially a Novice Formation Master as well."

A large smile spread across Glen's face. "It is a very rich and fascinating area of study. Do you mind showing me what you can do so far?"

"Sure!" Lucan said eagerly, a chance for some free advice was always welcomed. If Lucan went to Raze he would undoubtably be charged for any real information.

***

"You have made a good start." Glen said after Lucan demonstrated his formation to protect his campsite. "But you have only stepped into the door. Your formations lack real substance. You are using spells in place of runes. This is taking advantage of formations, but it is not using the formations to their fullest. A good formation creates something that is more powerful than the sum of its parts. To really understand this better I suggest you move symbols up on your reading list."

"Okay, I have several books that discuss the importance of symbols in formations. I will go to those next."

"Good, have you invested in any flags yet?"

"I bought some beginner flags. But they were actually destroyed today."

"You should stay away from the beginner spell flags. It is possible for you to reinforce bad habits. Most beginner flags use spells as the building blocks of the formation. In reality, symbols should be your blocks while your spells and mana act as the mortar between them."

"Is there a certain kind I should get?"

"Certain formations will work better with certain flags, but if you are going to continue studying formations, I would suggest you have a set made that holds a high compatibility to your mana type. Sure, a certain type of flag may be best for a specific formation, but custom flags will be good for all formations. Using your mana efficiently can never be overrated."

"Okay, that is great advice. I will remember it." Lucan spent a few more hours in Glen's lab. He showed the researcher his variant spell. Glen helped to come up with a few variant spell ideas with Lucan.

After their chat Lucan decided to head back to Shadowsweep. He enhanced the tunnel as he travelled. It was starting to grow wide enough to accommodate a wagon. The faint light glowing form the tunnel itself made it easier to see.

Lucan kicked himself for leaving the tunnel in the cave. The small cavern was wide enough for several wagons, but the exit of the cave was only 4 feet wide. The Tunnel had been enhanced too many times to be able to move it now. Still it would be easier to load up wagons in the cave and take them back compared to filling up bags.