Bob wiped his brow and squinted at the sand dunes, the hot breeze doing nothing to cool him as it danced across the ridges and dips, leaving intricate ripple patterns behind.

Bob was looking for the disturbances in those ripple patterns that would indicate a scorpion.

His airconditioned Pavillion helped with the temperature, but when that wind swept over him it was like opening the oven door when it was preheated to four hundred and fifty degrees.

He pulled out his canteen and took a long deep draft from it.

A glance told him that he was twenty minutes away from the twelve-hour mark which would signal the end of his day.

Monroe had long since retreated to his inventory.

Still, he'd been floating a foot above the ground, surrounded by an Eldritch Cube of Force ever since he'd set up shop, and Bob expected that he'd see some real gains in those two spells.

System Help, Magical School of Dimension, Flight Skill

This skill allows the user to move without regard to gravity. The speed at which the user can move is determined by the user's caster value, divided by one hundred and measured in feet. Normal weight restrictions apply, which may further reduce the speed at which the user may travel. This Skill can only target the user, and the mana cost is one mana per second.

Sure, he was only moving at a few feet per second, but regardless, he was flying.

System Help, Magical School of Abjuration, Eldritch Cube Spell This skill allows the user to create a cube of Eldritch Force around the target, requiring the target to break through one of the six walls in order to escape. As pure energy, the Eldritch Cube's walls offer no damage resistance and have a value of the user's caster value divided by six for determining the essence of each wall. Note that if one wall is destroyed, the other walls remain. The cost of this spell is one mana per second.

Bob could see a number of ways that this spell could be abused, although the Cube he was currently sitting in was constantly dropping and coming back up as the terrible wind blasted sand right through the measly six essence it offered as protection.

Still, he was effectively leveling those schools for free while his UtahRaptor cleared out scorpions by the truckload.

As he started taking down his Pavillion he considered again that he might just stay on the tenth level of the Dungeon. If he could drop a barraged Eldritch Cube on three cockroaches that held them for just one second, that could make a huge difference.

For that, he would need to cap the spell and at least push the School of Abjuration to level five.

Bob paused for a sip from his canteen, then tucked away his chair and collapsed Pavillion into his inventory.

It was time to call it a day.

Bob stepped through the Gateway and into the mausoleum then paused.

Rather than Austan or Clyde waiting to greet him, there was a well-built woman with gray streaks at her temples and a serious look on her face.

"Hello," Bob said, "I'm Bob, I just finished my delve on the twelfth level of the Dungeon."

She nodded and opened the ledger and ran a finger down the column of names.

Finding Bob's she blinked in surprise, before asking in a surprisingly high and light voice, "You've been down there for twelve hours?"

"I have," Bob said as he stifled a yawn, somewhat unsuccessfully.

She shook her head as she marked his delve complete in the ledger before tucking the book away.

"I'm Seara, I'll be filling in for Clyde for a while," she said.

Bob nodded.

That made sense, as he'd handed the Path of the Eldritch Guard off to him a few days ago.

"Well," Bob said as moved to head out of the mausoleum, "it's a pleasure to meet you," he continued as he handed her a pouch with twenty-four mana crystals in it, "a donation to the church," he finished with a wave as he headed to the Tavern.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob looked around the tavern for familiar faces and found Kelli sitting alone at a table.

He headed over, pulling Monroe out of his inventory as he walked.

Monroe was amiable to this, having realized that his servant only pulled him from his extra-space when delicious meat bits were going to be offered.

"Kelli," Bob nodded as he sat down and poured the big cat onto the table in a pool of fluff.

"Evening Bob," Kelli said cheerfully.

"Have you eaten yet?" Bob asked.

Kelli replied with a shake of his head and a wave towards Theo who was hurrying back towards the kitchen.

With a look and a pair of nods, he kept going.

"Theo seems to have gotten the hang of the tavern," Bob commented idly as he examined his Summon Mana-infused Creature experience bar.

Something was wrong.

He'd entered the level with Jake capped at level twenty-five. Assuming the normal doubling math was in play, considering the eleven thousand two hundred and eighty-one scorpions he'd killed, his bar should be halfway filled.

It wasn't

There was a tiny sliver of color that represented about five percent of the bar.

"Give me a moment," He said to Kelli who had looked like he was about to speak.

'Trebor,' Bob mentally projected, 'could you explain why my Summon Mana-Infused Creature experience bar is so very empty?'

'Your UtahRaptor is level twenty-five and you are attempting to push him over the threshold to tier six,' Trebor answered calmly.

'And that should be thirty-two thousand experience right?' Bob asked.

'No,' Trebor said, 'when moving up a tier, the cost for the initial level is multiplied by ten.'

'So three hundred and twenty thousand experience?' Bob projected in shock.

'Yes,' Trebor replied.

Bob had a terrible thought.

'Does... Does that apply to the mana crystals needed for me to move from tier five to tier six?' he queried fearfully.

'Of course,' Trebor said.

"Fuck," Bob muttered as he reached out to stroke Monroe.

"Are you alright?" Kelli asked.

"I just realized that going from level twenty-five to level twenty-six, and increasing my tier to six is going to require thirty-two fucking thousand mana crystals," Bob grumbled.

Kelli's mouth dropped open in an 'O' of surprise.

"Thidwell mentioned that he'd used a large number of crystals to tier up, but I didn't realize it was that many," Kelli said excitedly as he pulled out a notebook and started scribbling in it.

Bob sighed.

"Big number," he said, "but the only way forward is through."

Kelli nodded as he finished his notes and slid his notebook back into his satchel as their dinner arrived.

Monroe stirred from beneath Bob's attentive hands and inched his way over to the bowl of raw, steaming meat.

Bob dipped a slice of bread into the creamy soup in his bowl and started eating.

He paused.

Something was different.

Kevin was nothing if not dependable and consistent.

He only made cream-based soup once a week, and while he rotated the meat depending on what was available, cream of bacon and cream of bear (which tasted far better than it sounded), tended to be his normal choices.

Bob swirled his spoon in his soup.

Potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery.

No meat.

Bob caught Theo's eye and waved him over.

"Theo," Bob said pleasantly, "I'm not normally one to complain, but it looks like Kevin forgot to add the meat to the soup."

Theo let out a long-suffering sigh that spoke volumes about a man who was suffering in purgatory.

"Kevin," Theo said, "didn't cook that, it was that vegan Amber."

Theo shook his head and spat out, "She threw a fit about not having any vegan options, so Kevin told her if she wanted to eat like a cow, then she could cook for herself."

His hands drifted down and he started rubbing Monroe's ruff as he continued, "She barged around the kitchen and ruined the roast we had on, then started ordering the cooks about."

He grimaced as his eyes went distant in memory, "Kevin was not well pleased, I can assure you," Theo shook his head as he looked around, and then down, realizing that he'd been petting Monroe.

"Ah, sorry, sorry!" Theo said as he snatched his hands back.

Bob gave him a reassuring smile as he said, "Don't worry, if Monroe hadn't liked it, he would have let you know," Bob leaned forward and said conspiratorily, "and now you've learned one of the great secrets of the universe: petting a cat helps you relax."

Theo gave him an unsteady smile before blowing out a long breath and finishing, "Anyway, this 'cream of potato soup' is all we have this evening."

Bob and Kelli both nodded and Kelli said, "It isn't that bad, thanks for explaining."

Theo's smile evened out and he turned and headed over to the table with four teenagers who appeared to have had one too many drinks.

"Vegans," Bob mumbled as he examined the soup carefully, "truly a plague from which there is no escape."

He sighed.

It was actually quite good, now that he knew the meat was missing on purpose.

He'd just been expecting something else.

Kelli paused between bites to ask, "So, how long do you think you'll be on the tenth level of the Dungeon?"

Bob took another spoonful and considered.

"I'm going to say five more days," Bob said, "I was going to push a bit harder, but I'm going to take Elli and Harv's advice and have a full set of enchanted gear crafted for me while I'm on a level that I can easily gain crystals."

Kelli let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like laughter as he said, "And their advice to only stay in the Dungeon for an hour a day?"

Bob shrugged and replied, "That is a luxury I don't have."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Five days later, Bob walked into Nikki's and waved down Gary who was fiddling with the tent display in the back.

"Gary!" Bob called, "I've come back, as promised, to trade my humble crystals for your glorious wares!"

Gary bounded to the front of the store, his head gleaming in the light.

"Well, if it isn't Monroe and his porter, Bob!" Gary said with a grin as he reached out to scratch Monroe's ears.

"Yes," Bob said drily, "his imperial majesty," Bob shrugged a shoulder to elevate Monroe, "has decided to allow me to obtain new equipment, that I might better serve his needs."

Gary chuckled and motioned Bob over to the counter.

"So," Gary said cheerfully, "what do you have in mind?"

"A big order," Bob said, "I'm looking for a new suit of armor with all my attributes, health, mana, armor, and dodge enhanced, both magically and professionally."

Gary whistled. "That is a big order," he said as he looked Bob over.

"You know that'll take a solid two thousand mana crystals, plus the cost of the armor..." he trailed off.

"What level are you looking for the enchantments and bonuses to reach?" Gary asked as he reached under the counter and started pulling out swatches of leather.

"Level ten," Bob said, "and I have the twenty-one hundred crystals from the tenth level of the Dungeon."

"Good," Gary said distractedly as he continued to pull out leather samples, before finally standing up and presenting a dizzying array of different leathers, scales, and chitin on the counter.

"Now as this is going to be a custom order, we can move away from the standard, and into what would suit you best," Gary said happily.

"As a summoner, even though you're casting spells, you're not likely to need to dodge too much, so let's consider putting you into something a bit heavier," Gary said as he pulled out a selection of scales, and presented them to Bob.

"These are all equal in terms of protection," Gary explained, "so pick whatever you prefer the look of."

Bob looked over the offered scales and fingered them carefully.

They ranged in color from black to cream, and in shape from acute isosceles so sharp as to be nearly hair rather than scales, to nearly perfect ovals.

Bob's eye was drawn to green scales that started off light at the base and darkened towards to ends.

"This one," Bob said.

"Acid Python," Gary said approvingly, "it'll match your cloak and satchel fairly well."

"Now," Gary moved over to the section of chitin, "I suggest using something fairly heavy for the impact plates, although as always, it's your choice."

Bob looked through the chitin. This would be sandwiched between the scaled hide and leather, so the appearance didn't matter.

He decided on a dark gray beetle carapace that seemed especially thick and solid.

"Excellent, excellent," Gary said as he swept the carapace back under the counter and gestured towards the leather.

Bob was drawn to the dark green leather that matched the armor he was currently wearing, so he indicated his preference for that.

"Perfect," Gary said with a bright smile, "now you'll have to understand that this is going to take a bit of time, most likely a week," he paused and frowned thoughtfully, "call it eight days."

Bob winced.

He would have liked to have gotten it more quickly. He had already capped his Flight and Eldritch Cube spells, and while he had plenty of experience to go in the schools, he had several others that were going to need attention as well.

"Alright," Bob said and pulled out his satchel.

"I assume you'd like this armor with a Makres installed?" Gary asked.

Bob snorted and replied, "As I would dare to ignore the needs of his Majesty," reaching up to scratch Monroe's chin.

"Let's call it two thousand crystals for the enchantments, a hundred for the armor, twenty for the Makres, and a thousand for the service," Gary said as he pulled out a ledger and started making notes.

Bob nodded and placed two thousand level ten crystals on the counter in one pile, then another twelve hundred of mostly level six crystals in another.

Gary carefully gathered them into two different satchels, grinned at him, and said "I'll see you in eight days!"

He spun and headed towards the back of the story, yelling for Nikki.

Bob shook his head and headed out of the shop.

He needed the armor and the enhancements, but ...

He'd just have to make the armor last until he was in his twenties.