Monroe stretched slowly, flexing his paws as he extended and retracted his claws.

His human-servant had started to behave properly again, and the thrice-daily offerings of steaming hot meat bits were once again arriving.

He had not been best pleased by the cold meals he'd been forced to endure for days.

Still, his meals were arriving in the fashion that befitted him, and his human was bringing him out to bask in the sunlight again.

His human servant had behaved oddly this morning, disturbing his post-breakfast nap by sitting him atop a pile of crystals and moving the blue lights around while he tried to sleep.

Monroe did feel good though. Stronger. Faster.

He finished his stretch and lept to the edge of the sink where he watched his servant clean himself.

Monroe had tried for quite some time to show his human how to clean himself properly, but he hadn't understood.

It was much the same with hunting, his human had been terribly bad at it, although once they'd come to this place, he'd finally embraced Monroe's lessons, and was now an almost adequate hunter.

He idly batted at a droplet of water that had landed on the sink.

Maybe his servant would take him to high rocky stream again today.

~ ~ ~ ~

Bob was lost in thought as he idly scrubbed himself.

He'd commit to taking two weeks off, and seeing if he felt any different.

If he was able to document a physiological or psychological change, he would extend that to a full thirty days.

It was unlikely that he would be able to level his Elemental Schools to the point where he'd be able to use them to construct the house, so he was going to be relegated to actually building. Although he was certain no small amount of magic would be involved.

He'd considered ritually summoning modular building panels, but his Summon Mana-Infused Object spell wasn't leveled at all.

Still, his conversation with Trebor had convinced him that he needed to lockdown five persistent effects during his downtime.

Bob had decided to increase his Elemental schools, along with the Plant school.

He glanced over at Monroe, who batting a drop of water on the sink.

Monroe loved the water and had been especially fascinated by the ever-flowing fountain Bob had bought him the year before on Bob's birthday.

He'd need to arrange something similar for him, Bob thought, surely there was a pet or even a livestock supply store in Holmstead, that no doubt provided water bowls or troughs that spewed a steady stream of water when a mana crystal was fed into them.

Bob rinsed off and turned off the water before grabbing a towel.

If there was one thing he was going to miss about living in the Adventurers Guild, it was going to be the laundry service.

Clean sheets and towels every day.

At home, he'd just gotten used to the constant presence of Monroe fluff everywhere.

It was sort of nice to towel off his face without getting a free covering of Monroe.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob looked over the gorge, enjoying the view.

He was going to see Jimi later today and talk to him about the lumber needed to build the house, and discuss exactly what he wanted to build and how.

While he had initially wanted radiant heat, having experienced it at the vet's office, it might be entirely possible that the entire house could be kept at a reasonable temperature with the application of fire magic.

Or maybe a stove with some air magic to spread it around.

There were certain to be options he'd not considered.

Bob had a reason for being up here.

He had lain out a small campfire on the edge of the sandstone slab he used for a chair, and coaxed it to life.

Now he was going to try to work some magic.

Bob slid Monroe from the Makres and cradled him in his arms, scratching him under the chin.

Concentrating, Bob mentally projected the pattern for Control Earth, and then he tried to have Monroe do the same.

Bob sent the mental feelings of help-earth-magic but he didn't feel like it was translating very well for Monroe, who seemed indifferent.

"Trebor," Bob said, "how exactly do I manage to have Monroe cast his spells with me?"

'Simply form a secondary copy of the pattern, and mentally associate it with Monroe,' Trebor replied.

'Your cat, while a truly a magnificent specimen, and very special to you, is in fact, a cat, and despite his ascension to your dimensional familiar, he lacks the ability to consciously project patterns and channel mana into them.' Trebor explained.

'You'll need to project the pattern, and the imagine Monroe's mana filling it,' Trebor finished.

There was a small part of Bob that was a trifle sad that Monroe couldn't cast spells on his own. There was a much larger part of Bob that was grateful that Monroe couldn't.

"I have to ask," Bob said slowly as he stroked Monroe, "Shouldn't an Arcanist's Familiar be able to cast spells on its own, considering they have to have affinities for magic, and they gain skills each level from their presumably Arcanist owners?"

'The Arcanist's Familiar Path was developed by an insectoid tier six species that mentored a sapient tier four species,' Trebor said, 'and as sapient beings, the tier four species that took this path was quite capable of projecting patterns and infusing them with mana.'

"Ah," Bob said, "and as Monroe is sentient, not sapient... "

'Precisely,' Trebor agreed.

Bob tried again.

This time, he laid a secondary control earth spell on top of the first, and then fed mana into it.

Two small scoops of earth rose up from the ground beside the sandstone slab.

"Well, at least that sort of worked," Bob muttered.

He allowed the patterns to collapse, and the earth fell back down to the ground.

He was trying to have Monroe help with the spell not cast it on his own.

Bob projected the pattern of a single control earth spell, this time projecting the idea of feeding not only his mana into the pattern but Monroe's as well.

A chunk of earth rose, larger than either of the previous two.

Bob smiled, and let it fall back down.

Now to add effect over time and persistent effect.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It took the better part of an hour, but Bob was finished.

In front of him was a sphere, three feet in diameter.

The bottom third was filled with earth, while the top third was filled with air, a could of steam swirling at the top.

The steam was generated by a brilliant ember that lay on a piece of stone in a hollowed depression in the earth.

Water condensed at the top of the sphere, ran down the sides, and flowed to the center, where it flashed to steam again.

Bob had dropped a bit of moss onto the earth in the sphere, and the earth was covered in a rich bed of dark green.

Bob, with Monroe's unwitting help, was keeping everything together with five persistent effects, one for each of the elements, and one for plant growth.

He'd used the Control Air spell to harden the outside edge of the sphere into an airtight seal, preventing the water or earth from escaping as well.

It was gorgeous.

And now it was time for the test.

Bob touched the sphere and mentally projected, 'Store.'

The sphere disappeared.

Bob pulled it back out of his inventory.

He smiled as the sphere reappeared, the spell effects unchanged.

Perfect.

Sure, it was only two hundred and sixteen experience a day, but those five spells and schools were going to inch their way up over his vacation.

Bob opened a portal with his last eleven mana and walked through it.

~ ~ ~ ~

As it turned out, most buildings were in fact heated with an application of Elemental Fire and Elemental Air effects, which effectively provided constant radiant heat.

Much like everything else it ran on mana crystals.

For the plebians who didn't have mana crystals, there were wood-burning stoves that served as both ovens and ranges, while also boiling water and sending it through cooper pipes to a radiator.

Fortunately, Bob had a surplus of lower-level crystals.

Being as he'd previously been quoted prices that totaled up to five hundred crystals for building a basic cabin, and what he had in mind had a sunroom/greenhouse, Bob expected it was going to be a little bit more.

Bob had sketched out a basic plan for his cabin.

One bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a small living room. It would be larger than his last apartment, and that was before you took into consideration the ten-foot-wide sunroom that ran the length of the twenty-foot to a side cabin.

He'd just need to go see Jimmi in order to get things started.

~ ~ ~ ~

Bob slumped into a chair in the tavern as he shot a thumbs up to Theo.

Organizing the materials needed to build his cabin had been tiring, in no small part because he intended to build it outside of the town.

Jimmi had listened to his additional requests and directed him to a glassmaker who produced window panes for the small greenhouses in the city.

All told, unfurnished, his cabin was going to cost him six hundred and eighty crystals.

Bob was responsible for transporting the materials and the workmen to the site, as well as ensure he had the area cleared, leveled, and ready.

He poured Monroe onto the table and started stroking him.

The big cat had grown when he'd leveled up to sixteen, and now stood almost two foot at the shoulders, and was easily two and a half feet long, tail notwithstanding. He was also over forty pounds.

Bob was grateful for his choice to include strength enchantments on his armor.

He was certain that Monroe was going to love the cabin. He'd be placing it facing southeast, allowing the sunroom to catch as much sunlight as possible and to overlook the stream and waterfall.

His buddy was a huge fan of naps in sunbeams, and while he was alright with shoulder rides in the sun, Bob could tell he missed being able to curl up and nap.

Bob was planning to use Control Earth as a ritual to clear, level, and reinforce the cabin's footing.

He was pulled out of his jumbled thoughts by the arrival of Harv and Elli.

"Bob," Harv nodded as he took a seat next to him, with Elli sitting on his other side.

"Heard from Bailli that you're taking a break after spending some crazy hours in the Dungeon," Elli said as he reached out to pet Monroe.

"She laid out a pretty clear case," Bob said.

Harv ran a hand through his hair as he said, "We thought we'd been pretty clear about not staying down too long, or delving too deeply, but when she told us what she told you, we realized we hadn't told you the long term consequences."

Elli nodded and said, "Sorry about that, we thought we'd gotten through to you."

Bob shrugged and replied, "You did, but then I thought that if I had enough endurance I could keep going."

Harv shook his head, "A high enough endurance reduces the anxiety and can help delay the onset of some of the physical symptoms, and a high enough wisdom can help delay the psychological ones, but it all comes back to you eventually."

"What about Thidwell?" Bob asked.

"Thidwell isn't normal," Harv said with a shake of his head, "and I don't know how much time he actually spends in the Dungeon."

Elli nodded as he decided to try offering Monroe a belly rub and said, "He doesn't mark his delves with the Church, he just goes down."

"He's down quite a bit checking on curator things, and he's driven the Dungeon quite deeply, quite quickly, but being as he's sane and his heart isn't exploding," Harv shrugged, "we have to assume he has it under control."

Bob grimaced and grumbled, "If he has a trick for staying down without suffering from the mana density I'd love to know it."

Elli reconsidered his attempted belly rub and switched to scratching Monroe's ruff.

"Once you're not suffering anymore," Harv said carefully, "you'll likely see it differently."

Elli nodded and added, "You've got time Bob, lots of it, no need to rush."

Bob lowered his voice and said, "The nobles aren't going to be happy about me spreading the word about the Affinity Crystals, and it's bound to reach them sooner or later."

Harv and Elli nodded in sync and Elli said, "You've got time, Thidwell is working on gaining more Affinity crystals, and even if you only take conjuration crystals with you when you start spreading the word, they'll likely believe you on the rest."

Harv scoffed as he said, "And believe me, a group of Conjurers is a hell of a thing to watch."

Elli grinned and said, "True true, both our morning and afternoon groups have reached level five, and they are running through those boars like you wouldn't believe."

"Take them to level ten and have them slaughter scorpions until they have three thousand crystals each for equipment," Bob suggested.

Harv shook his head and replied, "They just hit level five, their blast spells are level thirteen."

Bob nodded and said, "Well, once they have their blast spells at level twenty then."

"Let them level up incrementally on the tenth floor of the Dungeon," Bob suggested, "when they are level six, they'll be pulling sixteen experience from each scorpion, which will help them level their Conjuration school quickly. Once they have their school capped, not their spell, have them level up."

Harv nodded slowly.

Elli grinned and said, "That'll at least slow the buggers down a bit."

Bob nodded and then directed a question to Harv, "Do you know anyone who has leveled up their spells and schools by hanging spells with persistent effect?"

Harv blinked as he mentally switched gears.

"I know it can be done, although being unable to persistent effect blast spells significantly reduces the practice," Harv said.

"Alright, I was just wondering," Bob said as he pulled his terrarium sphere out of his inventory, "I'm working on my elemental control spells as well as plant growth, so I have this."

"That's beautiful," Theo said quietly as he started shuffling plates and bowls onto the table, "how did you make that?"

"Persistent effect Control Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Plant growth," Bob told him, surprised that Theo had managed to sneak up on him.

Apparently, Monroe had been focusing on trying to nibble on Elli's fingers and hadn't noticed the approaching food.

"Someday," Theo said wistfully as he reached down to scratch Monroe's ears before heading off the kitchen.

Bob watched him leave then looked over at Elli and asked, "Is he going to take a spell caster path?" as he pulled his sphere back into his inventory.

Elli nodded and said, "Theo is going to be a Curator."

Harv added quietly, "His family is from Crystal Springs, and their Dungeon is the old tunnel and drop style, so he moved here to learn the Orstang Gateway style, but while Thidwell shares it out happily, Theo doesn't have the levels to get back home, and as a Curator..."

Elli finished for him, "He just doesn't have spells to tackle the Dungeon, he's a weakling with a club, and he's not local, so it's hard for him to find a party."

Harv nodded and said, "Now that he's working at the tavern, in six months someone," he sighed, "probably us, will shepherd him to ten, and then he can start working to earn enough crystals to get home and bring what he learned with him."

"I was sort of curious about that," Bob said, "I know that either Austan or Clyde are always up top, but I've only ever seen them have to heal one person, and that was the fellow you two pulled off the eighth floor before my first Delve."

Elli nodded and said, "People who come to Holmstead to delve the Dungeon usually do so in groups, and are mostly well prepared."

Elli chimed in, "People from Holmstead know how dangerous the Dungeon can be, and are normally," he grinned at Bob, "cautious enough to make the healer waiting at the entrance awfully bored."

"No wonder Austan always seems bored," Bob said as he finished cutting his steak up, and started to eat it.

Monroe had finished his first bowl and was working on his second.

"Ah, Austan is good man," Harv said between bites, "been trying to convince my cousin Sarah to try and get to know him, she's looking to become an acolyte and the Church doesn't mind having its members marry."

Elli grunted around his steak, "Always playing matchmaker."

Harv grinned and pointed a fork at Elli, "I can't imagine the poor woman who would put up with you, so I've got to focus on those who still have hope."

"Are you married, Harv?" Bob asked.

Harv's expression fell and he shook his head, "I had an... understanding, with Mel, that when we reached level twenty-five we'd marry."

"Sorry," Bob said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say.

Desperate to change the subject, Bob said, "I'm building a house, you two should come and see it when I've got it finished."

"Really?" Elli said with interest, "Where are you building?"

"You were looking at a lot over by the plow quarter right?" Harv said, clearly trying to pull himself out of his thoughts.

"I was," Bob replied, surprised that they remembered that conversation, before reminding himself that both of them likely had near-perfect recall as well.

"But when I was out hiking, I found this gorgeous stream that runs down a series of waterfalls into a gorge," Bob grinned, "and I decided that I'd really like to have that view every day, so I'm building up there."

Elli smiled and said, "Normally we'd caution you about building outside the town, but given the range on that portal of yours I imagine you and Monroe can get out of there when a wave arrives, or the tide washes in."

"When do you think you'll have it built?" Harv asked.

Bob shrugged and said, "Well, I'm going to ritually shape the base for it this afternoon, and from what the craftsmen said, it sounds like less than a week."

He shook his head ruefully, "Which is unheard of where I come from, given the nightmares I've heard about permits taking months."

Harv mouthed the word 'permits', then said, "Once you've got it done and ready to show off we'll pop over for lunch."

"It'll have to be," Elli grumbled as he finished his steak, "As that's the only meal we're free of the freshers."