Bob woke up groggily, his thoughts sluggish.

One of the features of his Advanced System Integration which Trebor had shown him, was the ability to set an alarm.

It was arguably the best alarm clock he'd ever encountered. It just caused him to wake up at the set time. No sound or sensation, just a return to consciousness.

He swung his legs over and sat up.

Half-awake, he instinctively looked around for Monroe before remembering where he was.

"Soon Buddy, I'll get you out of there," he quietly promised as he staggered to his feet and shuffled over to the sink to start his day.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Harv and Elli were standing beside the doors leading out of the Guild, talking quietly between yawns.

Well, Harv was talking. Elli continued to give solid evidence to the theory that he was not a morning person.

Bob nodded to them as he approached, and together they exited the Guild, stepping into the darkness of Holmstead's early morning.

A light drizzle fell as they crossed the Plaza, and Bob was pleased to discover that his cloak served quite well to keep the rain off. He just had to shrug his shoulders and pull it forward, and it covered him completely if he kept a hand on it to keep it closed, or he could fiddle with a loop and tie inside to keep it closed and free up his hands.

Passing by the guards at the wall, they quickly ducked into the mausoleum housing the entrance to the Dungeon.

Clyde was sitting in the chair, firing a beam of light at the wall across from him.

"Back down again?" Clyde said with a smile.

"Once more into the breach," Bob replied dryly.

Clyde gave him a solemn look and a nod, as he opened his book and wrote their names down. Apparently, that particular quote had a counterpart here.

A quick trip through the Gate and they were once again back on level six, or as Bob had come to mentally label it 'Baconville'.

As they shoved themselves through the brambles, Bob contemplated the fact that either Thidwell didn't have complete control over the Dungeon, or he wanted people to have to endure these damned brambles every time they came down. He was leaning towards the later.

As Elli pulled a wooden stool out of his backpack of holding and settled into it for what appeared to be a nap, Bob shuffled forward into the clearing and prepared to settle in for another long day of boar extermination.

He brought out his UtahRaptor and took a long hard look at Jake's new status.

Summon: UtahRaptor(Jake) Tier: 5 Size: 5 Level: 8 Weapon Hardness: 16.5 Hide hardness: 11 Strength: 26.4 Mana: 12.1 Armor: 50.8266 Coordination: 26.4 Stamina: 29.04 Claw Damage: 153.7954 Endurance: 14.3 Health: 153.34 Bite Damage: 147.7432 Intelligence: 11 Movement: 36.74 Wisdom: 11 Dodge 37.84 Beauty: 14.3 Summoning Mastery 1.1 Caster Value / 2 56

Bob blinked. At level eight, Jake was pretty damn impressive. And that ten percent bonus from the summoning school seemed to apply to almost everything, given the presence of decimal points that hadn't been there previously.

Bob didn't fall into contemplation and was aware enough to send Jake barrelling towards a boar as it squealed its challenge and crashed out of the underbrush.

Jake dashed slashed the boar, drawing its attention. As the boar slashed its head to the side, trying to catch Jake with its razor-sharp tusks, Bob was surprised to see that while the boar did catch Jake's side, the blow wasn't enough to wound the UtahRaptor.

Another exchange of blows and the boar fell to the ground, while Jake remained unharmed.

Bob took five steps to the left and sent Jake after the boar that crashed out to challenge him.

He smiled. Defense was ablative, and didn't look like a single boar could even hurt Jake anymore.

Time to kill.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two hours and twenty minutes later, the trio exited the Dungeon and headed across the plaza towards the guild.

"Looks like your Summons is really paying off," said Harv as he slid his staff into his backpack.

Bob nodded, and replied, "He is truly a good boy."

"Creepy is what he is," muttered Elli as he squinted his eyes against the first rays of dawn creeping over the horizon, "it's not right, the way he looks at us when he isn't fighting. I know it's thinking about eating me."

Bob could only shrug in response. The truth was, Jake acted the way Bob expected him to act, and Bob fully expected a UtahRaptor to view humans as food.

As entered the Guild, Bailli caught sight of them, and headed towards them, a tray full of empty plates in hand. "Full breakfast this morning?" She asked as she stopped to snag a pair of empty mugs from a table.

"Eggs and Bacon for me," Bob responded, as Elli and Harv gave nods to indicate they'd have the same.

Taking a seat at their table, the group let out a sigh in unison, which was followed by chuckles from Elli and Harv.

"So, how are you doing on your goals in terms of crystals?" Elli asked.

"Two eighty-one," Bob replied, "Which is just about enough for level six. I wanted to make enough on this level to pay for my Dungeon Gate Token," Harv and Elli both nodded at this, "and to reach level seven. I'll use level seven crystals to power the ritual," he finished.

"So figure another three hours down there, and then you can raise yourself to level six and have lunch?" Harv asked.

Bob nodded and accepted his mug of water, and plate of eggs and bacon from Bailli.

"What can I expect on level seven?" Bob asked as he started working his way through the scrambled eggs.

Ketchup, he mused. He needed ketchup.

"Bears and wolves," Harv replied as he started crunching his way through a slice of bacon.

"Level seven," Elli said, "is where you start running into more than one type of aggressive monster. The wolves move in packs, whereas the Bears are only encountered alone. The challenge," he went on as he scooped up a spoonful of eggs, "is that the Bears tend to wander about, and you'll inevitably encounter them when you're busy fighting the wolves."

Harv leaned forward and said quietly, "Bear is pretty damn tasty," he said, "you can probably convince Kevin to find some room in the larder for a couple."

Bob nodded as he chewed. A few more crystals wouldn't hurt.

"Any other surprises on level seven?" he asked.

"Not really," Elli replied, "the wandering bears are bad enough."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob let out a sigh relief as they exited the Dungeon four hours later.

Your Summon Mana-Infused Creature Skill has reached level 9.

He'd reached his goal in terms of Crystals and was currently carrying three hundred and forty-one level six crystals.

Bob walked up to Austan, who was doing something to make his hands glow every few seconds.

"Austan, I'd like to purchase a Dungeon Gate Token for down to level ten," Bob said.

Austan nodded and pulled out a small ledger and a pouch as he said, "Two hundred crystals."

Bob pulled two hundred crystals from his inventory, having discovered that if he left the crystals loose, they accumulated in a single slot, and he could request a certain number of them with a thought.

Austan took the crystals and handed Bob the ledger and a quill. "Please sign your name on the first empty line," Austan said.

Bob signed his name, and Austan took back his ledger and quill, then handed Bob a small, round token.

Holmstead Dungeon Gate Token

This token allows the user to activate a Gate in the Holmstead Dungeon, on levels six through ten.

- Gate activation requires ten mana per second the gate is to remain open.

- Crafted by Thidwell Orstang

Bob slipped his hand into his satchel, and then the Token into his inventory.

"Thanks," he said as Austan stuffed the pouch bag in his satchel.

"Welcome to the Dungeon," Austan gave him a smile, "you're able to hop down by yourself now."

"Still not quite ready for that," Bob said.

And that was very true. While he felt much more comfortable on level six than he had before, he was all too aware of the fact that he really did need Harv and Elli watching over him.

Bob took a few minutes to consider that as he followed Elli and Harv across the plaza and into the Guild.

Assuming he could buy potions for five crystals each, he'd likely be ok on level six as it was. He'd have to keep it to an hour at a time, but he could probably safely kill boars by himself. That would equate, at a nice slow and safe killing speed, to about eight or ten crystals a day, just from his one hour of delving.

A crystal for lodging and a crystal for meals left him a net positive of five crystals a day, conservatively.

As he settled down in a chair, he asked Harv and Elli, "How much does it cost to have enchantments placed on your equipment?"

"A hundred crystals," Harv said, "and you'll want the highest level crystals you can get."

Elli nodded and added, "By the time you've gotten all of your attributes boosted, as well as your health, mana, and stamina, as well as a dimensional pack," he nodded to his backpack, "you're looking at a thousand crystals."

Bob winced, and Harv chuckled. "Yep. If you're adventuring safely, it can take quite a while to gather enough crystals to fully outfit yourself," he said.

Bailli dropped off full mugs and took their orders.

"So, we'll eat, and then you can raise your level to six," Elli said.

"You should consider joining the guild," Harv said suddenly.

Bob blinked. Come to think of it, he hadn't ever really done anything to join the Adventurers Guild. Elli and Harv had brought him here and he'd just sort of let events carry him forward.

"What exactly does that entail?" Bob asked.

"One mana crystal per level per month," Elli replied, "and your agreement that when a monster wave comes, or the tide rises, you'll stand with the Guild to defend Holmstead."

"Or whatever city you're in," Harv added quickly.

"In return," Harv said, "you have access to the ritual chambers, the library, and the rest of the facilities," he finished.

"You're pretty much experiencing being in the guild now," Elli said, "but you should think about joining. That summons of yours, as creepy as it is, could save some lives in a wave."

Bob nodded slowly. He was planning to continue staying at the guild and delving into the Dungeon. A crystal per level per month wasn't too terribly onerous in terms of dues.

"Who would I speak to about joining?" Bob asked.

"Kelli," Harv answered.

"I'll join after I finish my ritual," Bob said.

Harv and Elli both nodded, and conversation halted as lunch arrived, and was duly devoured.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Much to Bob's relief, advancing to level six did not cause any sort of errors or inflict any pain. He allocated his five points into Wisdom and selected the Portal skill.

He wasn't entirely certain how much he would be able to level the skill, and the Dimension school, but he knew that he needed to start now if he wanted to get home any time soon.

He'd met Harv and Elli in the tavern again, and they'd headed across the plaza together.

They'd said hello to Austan, and let him know they were going to be heading to level seven before Harv had shown Bob how to activate the Gate with his token.

And now Bob was standing in what appeared to be a rocky mountain pass. Boulders and small pine trees filled the landscape, and the ground sloped up at a considerable angle away from the gate.

Harv stamped his feet and blew out a breath, which misted in the cold air. "Let's find a good cliff to back up against, we'll let you get to it," he said.

"Stay away from the copses of pines as best you can," Elli advised, "that is where the wolves come from."

Bob summoned a UtahRaptor and followed Harv and Elli to the left, up and away from the gate. They'd only made it thirty feet when they heard a ringing howl from a nearby copse of trees, and Harv and Elli sighed, stepping several feet back.

"Can't go anywhere on this level without a pack attacking you," Harv grumbled.

Bob watched as four wolves hurtled towards him.

He mentally commanded Jake to attack and watched as Jake rushed to meet the wolves.

It was immediately clear that even when facing multiple opponents, the UtahRaptor's higher level, plus the bonus from the summoning school and his casting value were enough to keep him from being dropped instantly.

While Jake was taking damage as the wolves dashed in to bite at his flanks, the damage was low enough that Bob expected that Jake would be able to take eight or nine hits. Although it was requiring three rakes for Jake to kill a wolf, which meant Bob was going to need a different strategy.

The UtahRaptor managed to kill one wolf before the pack brought him down. This gave Bob a solid three seconds to consider how to handle the remainder of the pack. He quickly summoned out a UtahRaptor using effect over time, and then repeated the process as the wolves leaped to close the distance.

He was pleased to see that his Effect Over Time Jakes could take at least one hit as they engaged, but Bob didn't have time to enjoy the feeling, as his two UtahRaptors had only distracted two wolves, leaving the third to hurtle towards him.

Bob smiled and deployed his newest trick.

A pool of dark blue light, black streaks of light flickering through it, opened beneath his feet as he fed mana into his mental projection of a Portal.

Bob had played around with his new skill in the ritual chamber he'd used to reach level six. It turned out that you didn't need to create the portal vertically. Also, you didn't need to orient the terminus of the portal in the same orientation as the origin.

Bob fell through his portal, leaving a very startled wolf to complete its leap directly through the space Bob had occupied a split second earlier.

He dropped to the ground ten feet behind the wolf, and a second later another effect over time Jake stood between Bob and the wolf.

Bob kept up his rat tested and proven strategy of keeping multiple EOT Jakes out until the battle ended. Sadly, no crystals appeared.

As he walked over to Elli and Harv, Bob glanced at his experience bars, including the new one he'd added for the Portal spell.

He paused, shook his head, and continued over to them.

Once there, he held up his hand and closed his eyes, concentrating on the exp bars.

He quickly came to an unfortunate realization. The experience had been split between his spells.

He opened his eyes and asked calmly, "So, the experience is divided between the spells and schools you use in combat?"

Harv nodded and replied, "It is, which can make leveling three or four or five spells and schools a bit time-consuming."

Elli chimed in, "I like the way you deployed that Portal under your feet," he grinned, "I don't think I've ever seen a wolf look surprised before.

"What is your range on that?" Asked Harv.

"About sixty feet," Bob replied.

"Good," Harv said, "I'll point, you open a portal and keep it open so we can all go through, should save some time and help us avoid more wolf packs until we're in a good spot."

Harv pointed towards an open space next to a boulder about a hundred feet away and Bob opened a Portal, pumping the five mana into it each second for the two seconds it took for the three of them to shuffle through it.

"This will help," Elli said.

"Stars, it'll save ten minutes getting to and from the Gate," Harv chuckled and pointed again as he said, "Portal there please."