Bob spotted Harv and Elli sitting at a table as he walked into the tavern and he promptly headed over to join them.

He poured Monroe onto the table before sitting down with a sigh.

"Bob," Harv said between bites.

"Evening Harv, Elli," Bob said as he caught Theo's attention with a wave.

Elli nodded to Bob and Monroe as he continued to chew his way through his steak.

Monroe stretched out languidly, idly focusing his gaze on Harv's steak.

His tail swished from side to side.

Harv pulled his plate closer to him and curled an arm around it protectively.

"Feed him before he steals my food," Harv muttered as he cut off another bite of steak.

Bob grinned and said, "It isn't his fault that your steak is delicious."

Harv kept a wary eye on Monroe as he chewed.

Elli said, "Haven't seen much of you in the past week or so, how have you been keeping?"

"Fairly well," Bob replied, "I took level twenty-two and then spent eight hours down, sixteen hours up while delving the twenty-third floor of the Dungeon for crystals."

Harv nodded approvingly and said, "You're keeping your ratio healthy at least."

Theo arrived with a serving bowl piled high with steaming meat chunks, and a plate with steak, and a healthy serving of something that was not entirely unlike green beans.

Monroe, exerting tremendous effort, dragged himself over to his bowl and started to devour his meal.

"How about you two?" Bob asked as he cut up his steak into bite-size pieces.

"How are your freshers doing?"

"Done," Harv said with a sigh as he relaxed his protective stance, feeling that his steak was now safe from Monroe's predations.

"The last group is on level six and doing nicely," Elli added.

"We've even had time to head down to the eleventh floor of the Dungeon and start stockpiling some crystals," Harv said with a grin.

"Assuming we don't have a ton of freshers after this wave," Elli grinned, "we'll be looking to reincarnate after it, assuming someone digs up a Summoning Affinity Crystal."

Bob nodded.

"Thidwell already gave both of us the Conjuration Affinity Crystals," Harv said with a smile.

"Still planning on going for the Elemental Conjuration path?" Bob asked.

"Unless you have something better?" Harv replied.

Bob shrugged.

"Bountiful step would allow you to have two affinities, one for Dimension, one for Conjuration, and still have the ten level bump to a Conjuration blast spell," Bob said, "although I don't know if you want to be a Dimensionalist or not."

Harv shrugged and said, "I sort of like the idea of having an elemental form."

Elli's grin widened and he said, "He's been positively giddy about it."

"And you?" Bob asked Elli, "Are you looking forward to switching up to a more spell casting oriented build?"

Elli gave a quick shrug and said, "I think I'm going to maintain an attribute allocation of two points per level into Endurance, and one each into Coordination, Intelligence, and Wisdom."

"I don't want to give up my ability to play Guardian," Elli explained, "so I'll still need the Endurance and the Coordination."

Bob nodded.

"With the wave coming up I'm going to be on the twenty-seventh floor of the Dungeon, looking for Summoning Affinity Crystals," Bob said.

"Good luck," Harv said, "just don't go too far from the Gateway," he warned, "the monsters appear much more rapidly and in greater numbers during a wave."

"I'll be staying close to it," Bob confirmed, "Hopefully my UtahRaptor will keep up with them."

"We will be staying on the tenth floor," Elli said.

"What about Bailli and Eddi?" Bob asked.

"Bailli is going to be down on the twentieth floor with house Crenshaw," Harv said, "she has been delving hard to keep her skills up to her level."

"Eddi and the other Endless Swarm's are going to stay topside," Elli said, "Thidwell is going to have all the new pathers up top, to demonstrate to the power of the Affinity Crystals and the paths you've laid out."

Bob nodded and a smile crept over his face as he said, "That is fantastic news, that might completely eliminate any casualties."

Harv nodded, a serious expression stealing over his visage as he replied, "It might very well, but there was also the consideration that those kids are young, brash, and they might be a little overconfident."

"They aren't likely to bite off more than they can chew on the wall," Elli finished.

Bob nodded.

"On that note," Elli said, "did you finish printing out all of your pamphlets?"

Harv's grin returned and he chimed in, "Unless you want to give another lecture of course."

"Thidwell reckons he'll pick up a few more people looking to either become Adventurers or maybe some folks who were laborers might decide to make the switch," Elli finished.

"I finished them," Bob said with a sigh and a wince, "I can drop off a couple of the thousand I've designated for Holmstead."

Harv stood up and stretched, prompting Elli to do the same.

"It's a big thing," Harv said with a yawn, "what you're doing."

"Figuring out the Crystals and the Paths might save even more lives in the long run than the Orstang Dungeon design," Elli added.

"Just doing the right thing," Bob said awkwardly.

Harv grinned and shook his head as Elli reached down to give Monroe a quick ear scritch.

"See you tomorrow morning?" Harv asked.

"I'll be here," Bob replied.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning dawned cold and clear.

Bob was snuggled up in his bed with Monroe curled up alongside his legs.

It had only taken a few days to work out that Monroe was now too physically large to sleep on Bob, and the big cat now settled for leaning on, or sprawling across Bob when he slept.

The volume of his purr had increased with his size which made it difficult for Bob to sleep when Monroe attempted to drape himself over his head, as the purrmuffs were just too loud.

Bob had lowered the temperature in the house to sixty degrees at night because he'd found that he slept more soundly that way.

Also, while Monroe's temperature hadn't increased, the mass of the kitty had significantly increased the heat he put off.

They'd both adjusted to the changes Monroe's growth spurt had necessitated.

Now Bob was contemplating if he really wanted to wake up.

He had a few hours before Harv and Elli were likely to be eating breakfast, and he didn't have anything he needed to do.

The house was clean, he'd had his laundry seen to the day before, and with Monroe napping, the Maine-coon's emotional ball radiating sleep-warm-content, he decided to just set his alarm for another hour and a half, and rollover.

~ ~ ~ ~

Two hours later, Bob strolled into the Adventurers Guild feeling well-rested.

He saw Bailli waving to him, and not seeing any sign of Harv or Elli, walked over to her table and slid Monroe onto the center of the table in a pool of fluffy, nappy kitty.

"Good morning Bailli," Bob smiled.

"Morning Bob," Bailli replied with a brilliant smile of her own as she reached out to stroke Monroe, who had curled up in the center of the table and covered his face with his tail.

"And good morning to you too, Monroe," Bailli said as she dug her fingers into Monroe's ruff, giving him a good scratching.

"He's still a little sleepy," Bob explained as he joined her in a bit of kitty worship.

"I can't get over how big he's gotten," Bailli said quietly.

"And somehow even more handsome," Bob said as he ran his hands through Monroe's silky fur, "he's just the most handsome kitty in the world, aren't you buddy?"

Monroe began to purr as if to indicate that he did indeed know that he was the most handsome kitty in the world, and it was only right and just for his human servants to recognize that fact.

"So you're getting a late start today," Bailli said, "or are you taking the day off?"

"Taking the day off," Bob replied, "Gary is upgrading my armor, and I'll take level twenty-three at some point today, but I'm not delving."

Bailli nodded and pulled back from Monroe as Theo arrived with two plates of scrambled eggs and sausage, and Monroe's serving bowl heaped with meat.

She watched in fascination as Monroe twitched his tail to reveal his face, gave a delicate sniff, then oh so slowly and languorously stretched, before sauntering over to his meal.

"He is a little vain isn't he?" Bailli said through a light laugh.

"He has every reason," Bob replied as he gestured towards Monroe.

Monroe was a handsome boy. He'd reached the height and weight of a Bobcat, but he'd retained all the features of a Maine-coon. His coat was layered and silky, his ruff could be considered a mane, and his ear tufts were still perfectly proportioned to be adorable.

Finally, he had his slightly over-size paws, complete with tufts between his toe-beans.

"I suppose he does," Bailli agreed as she started in on her breakfast.

Bob joined her, and after a few minutes, as plates had emptied, asked, "Harv mentioned you were going to be standing on the twentieth floor with house Crenshaw?"

Bailli nodded proudly and said, "I reached nineteen a week and a half ago, and I've been leveling up my spells on the twenty-third floor."

Bob groaned and muttered, "I hate Rhinogators."

Bailli laughed and replied, "Oh, I'm not too fond of them either, but they did push my blast spell to level forty-two."

"Wow," Bob said, "you've been pushing pretty hard then."

"Delving as deeply as I can and for as long as I can without causing myself any trouble," Bailli confirmed.

"How are you doing as far as keeping up with equipment?" Bob asked.

"I have level sixteen gear at the moment," Bailli replied, "and I plan to upgrade to twenty-three, but I don't have the crystals yet."

Bob gave a nod and said, "I had to stop delving for experience to level my skills and switch to delving for crystals in order to gather enough of them for Gary to upgrade my armor."

"That's a good problem to have," Harv's voice sounded from over his shoulder as he and Elli slid into the other two chairs at the table.

Elli pulled his perforated wooden ball out of his satchel and gave it a few shakes, instantly drawing Monroe's attention.

Elli shook the ball a few times and moved it back and forth between his hands as Monroe watched it in uncanny stillness, only his eyes moving as he tracked the ball.

"You might want to just roll that over," Bob suggested as he watched Monroe give an almost imperceivable twitch.

"Ever since his growth spurt he's figured out that..." Bob trailed off as Monroe lept across the table and grabbed the ball as it was being tossed from one hand to the other, bowling Elli over in his chair and landing him flat on his back, knocking the wind out of him.

What little breath he had left was further expelled as Monroe flipped onto his back and frantically kicked at the ball with his rear legs while bitting at it, a blur of motion atop Elli's chest.

"He's big enough now to just take what he wants," Bob finished.

Several nearby tables were laughing as they watched Elli try to struggle out from under Monroe.

Seconds later Elli managed to roll out from under the big cat and then grunted as he lifted the near-comatose Monroe back onto the table, where he lay sprawled out in a pool of fluff and happiness, his purr rumbling loudly throughout the room.

"Yes," Elli coughed as he righted his chair, dusted himself, and sat down.

"I can see that he's developed new tactics."

Bob grinned and reached out to stroke Monroe's fur in an effort to straighten it.

"We were playing 'chase the rock' when he figured out his ability to tackle me," Bob said.

"I sometimes forget there is a lot of cat underneath all the fluff," Elli muttered.

"So we all know where we're going to be during the wave," Harv said as he nodded to Theo who had come to remove the plates just as Elli had been tackled, and stayed to watch the fun.

"Yep," Bob confirmed as he gave up and pulled a brush out of his satchel.

"We'll all meet up here after the wave is over?" Bailli suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Elli said as he reached out to give Monroe's cheek a rub.

"I'll be here," Bob confirmed as he started brushing Monroe, an activity that was guaranteed to please the handsome boy, at least once he emerged from his catnip induced state of bliss.

"That's settled then," Harv said.

"What is everyone doing today?" Bob asked.

"We," Elli gestured to Harv, "are going to delve the eleventh floor of the Dungeon for more mana crystals."

"I'll be on the twentieth, doing the same," Balli added.

"Amazing," Bob said wryly, "I'm the only one who isn't delving today."

"Take the day, relax, take Monroe for a hike," Bailli suggested, resulting in nodding all around.

Bob toyed with Monroe's toe-tufts and said, "What do you think buddy, you want to go for a hike?"

Monroe didn't move.

"Silence gives consent," Bob said, "we'll go for a hike after I take level twenty-three."

Bailli stood up and stretched before giving a nod to the table and a ruff rubbing to Monroe, and said, "I'm off, I'll see everyone later."

Bob followed suit, pausing to maneuver the liquid cat onto the Makres, as he said, "I'm going to level up, and then go hiking, I'll see you gentlemen for dinner?"

"Sure," Elli said, and Harv nodded his agreement as Theo approached the table with their plates.

Bob ambled across the tavern towards the door that lead to the ritual room in the basement.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

System Help, Matrix Manipulation Skill. This skill allows the user to increase or decrease the perceived amount of mana present in their matrix, one percent per level of the skill. This percentage may never reduce the perceived amount of mana by less than ninety-five percent, and may never increase it by more than the user's tier multiplied by the level of the skill. The user may select any percentage within their skill range, either higher or lower, however changing that value requires the user to meditate on the mana flowing through their matrix for ten minutes. System Help, Divine School of Elemental Air, Create Air Skill. This skill allows the user to create Air. The Air created behaves as if it were natural Air. The mana cost of this spell is one mana per second. System Help, Magical School of Abjuration, Resist Eldritch Skill. This skill allows the user to reduce the amount of Eldritch damage taken from either direct or environmental effects. The value of the damage reduction is equal to the user's spell caster value divided by two. The mana cost of this spell is one mana per second.

Bob looked over his new skills. He now had all four elemental creation skills, and all the resistances he could pull from the Abjuration school.

Bob wasn't sure if or when he might find himself in the Dungeon with other people, but Matrix Manipulation was a fairly powerful skill, and if he ever did find himself with a group, and not having Jake tank the monsters, it would be a necessity.

He reached up to give Monroe a chin rub as he stood up and headed out of the ritual room.

He would portal back home, and then go for a nice relaxing amble across the gorge, followed by meeting up with his friends for dinner.

He'd pick up his armor before dinner, and tomorrow morning, he would have a quick delve down to the twenty-seventh floor of the Dungeon to get a feel for what he would be dealing with during the wave.