The entrance to the cave leading to the deep-down and Harry's mushroom farms had a sign in front of it. Milo couldn't read the dwarven runes, but the picture of dead birds and little swirls above them was understandable: Bad air. Milo could smell an awful pong coming up from the cave, but it wasn't worse than what Harry's farm normally smelled like. Hopefully Harry's bath time had generated some bad smells that were now gone. Milo slipped past the sign and began his descent.

There were pockets of bad air, but the upward draft was clearing them. Milo stopped to fortify himself with a small cheesy snack now and then to help him keep climbing and ignore the smell. Finally arriving at Harry's farm, he was happy to find the air much better down here. The stench seemed to be coming from a manure pile near the entrance, and once past he could breathe easily.

"Milo, you're back! Just in time for dinner." The voice was Harry's, but the person talking was different. Gone were the layers of filthy clothes. Instead, he was wearing loose pants and tunic. His enormous feet emerged from the pants. Long arms ended in huge mis-shaped hands. Hair and beard that had been huge bushes were trimmed neatly back to reveal a smiling face. Where the first Harry was round and swaddled, this creature was nearly seven foot tall and on the thin side. His blue-grey skin looked rocky and hard.

"What did that that thing you ate do to you Harry?"

Harry looked down at himself and then smiled. "Hah! it fixed me! I was shriveling up more and more. I had a terrible case of terra magicae defectus. Even covering myself in layers of earth, worms, and grubs couldn't keep up with the drain. I turned to an all mushroom diet, and that slowed it. But I really needed a huge boost to get back to normal.

"And this is normal?"

The new Harry nodded. "Sure is. You mean to tell me you didn't know I was a troll?"

"That's wasn't mentioned at the guild hall when i took the job."

Harry smiled, “Probably a good thing. Hard enough getting help down here. Telling people the boss is a troll might make it tougher. But hey, grab a seat, I'm back to my cooking. I made a nice stew of giant beetles and some portabella."

Milo wasn't picky about food. He'd eaten food cubes for most of his life. The crunchy beetles in a creamy mushroom sauce were delicious.

=*=

Milo was creeping carefully through the caverns towards the mushroom caverns, when he saw movement. Something large had been moving along the wall, but now he saw nothing. He stayed very still, using both Hide and Skulk to hopefully go unnoticed until he knew what the creature was. He saw movement again in the center of the cave. A fat beetle about a foot long was moving slowly along the tunnel. A creature appeared near the wall and lunged. Large claws slammed into the beetle, raising it up to a mouth with two flanking mandibles. Two bites and the beetle was gone.

Milo got a good look at it before it faded away, its armored carapace blending into the side of the tunnel

Giant Cave Mantis Level 2 ambush, camouflage

Milo had been looking forward to testing his new spells out on a myconid guardian, and was tempted to try his hand on this stronger opponent. Could you ambush an ambusher? Milo saw movement again, as another beetle came wandering along the cave. Were they migrating? Or just heading for a snack at Harry's farm? It was obvious where Harry had gotten last night’s dinner.

As the mantis pounce on the beetle, Milo tossed a skull towards the creature.

Exploding Skull: Level 0 Bonemancy

The spell allows the mage to imbue a great deal of mana into a skull, turning it into an explosive device. Less versatile than a fireball, it makes up for it in damage. Base Damage: 60+10 per level of Bonemancy+(0 to 40 additional damage)

Mana Cost: 50

Milo had 350 total mana. 100 of that was from his INT and WIS bonuses. Another 100 came from the gift of a freed spirit. That meant he could throw 7 of these bombs before running out of mana. Assuming he had a good supply of skulls.

The mantis had been focused on the beetle. As it pounced, the skull landed between its four legs.

BOOM!

You have slain Giant Cave Beetle x2

You have injured a Giant Cave Mantis for 85 points of damage minus 10 points of armor mitigation. Health 125/200

Giant Cave Mantis is not happy with you!

The mantis was thrown back against the wall by the explosion. The beetle in it's claws was shredded, as was another that had been crawling behind it. The mantis recovered quickly and ran forward on its 4 legs, raising its claws to attack.

Milo tried out his second new spell.

Bone Spike: Level 0 Bonemancy

The spell allows the mage to shoot a spike of sharpened bone at an opponent.

This is an aimed spell. Base chance to hit is 50%+5xBonemancy Level+5xINT.

Base Damage: 30+5xINT+10xBonemancy Level

Note: This spell requires a small bone spike to cast. If no material component is available, the spell will use a bone chip from the casters body, and inflict 10 points of health damage.

Mana Cost: 25

Aiming wasn't difficult. The mantis was pretty much right in front of him. The small bone spike, part of a carved rib bone from an animal, raced away from Milo and punched into the bugs carapace.

Bonespike spell does 45 points of damage to Giant Cave Mantis. Health: 80/200

Giant Cave Mantis hits you for 30 points of damage. You avoid the second claw and are not grappled. Health: 220/250

Ouch! The mantis slashed down at Milo, who failed to dodge entirely. He tried to move away, but the mantis was adept at chasing prey and kept up with him. Milo took another small slash, dropping his health to 190. Enough of this. He attacked with his tail, his left claw, and Shadowblight.

The mantis kicked aside his tail, blocking with a front leg while his claw skittered across the hard carapace doing little damage. But his weapon punched straight through the carapace, leaving a leaking hole. The Cave Mantis was down to 40 health, and desperate.

Giant Cave Mantis hits you for 20 points of damage.

Giant Cave Mantis hits you for 20 points of damage.

Your health: 150/250

You are grappled!

Giant Cave Mantis prepares to bite off your head! Yummy!

Both claws came down and caught Milo between them. He struggled as the Mantis lifted him up and its head started to move forward. In desperation he put his weapon in front of his face. The mantis's head impaled itself on the main spike, and the haft of the weapon slammed back into Milo's forehead, giving him a massive headache. And then the bug slowly toppled over, Milo still stuck in its claws.

You have slain a Giant Cave Mantis! You earned extra EP for fighting a creature over your own level.

You have gained 150 points in Bonemancy.

You have earned 50 EP in Dodge.

You have earned 150 EP in INT

You have earned 50 EP in AGI.

That had been too close. He hadn't been prepared for the mantis's speed or its grapple attack. But still, he had won.

He sat down and enjoyed a nice piece of of cheddar to give a boost to his healing.

Name: Tallsqueak Milo

Class: Scout

Race: Were-rat Human

Level: 1

EP: 1535

Boss EP: 750

Total: 2265/3000

Heritage: None

Base

Per Level

From Stats

From CSP

Total

Health

100

100

200

Stamina

600

100

700

Mana

100

50

100

+100*

350

Stat:

Rank

Cap

EP

Bonus

Total

STR

0

5

0

0

0

DEX

2

5

515

2

4

AGI

2

5

650

2

4

CON

0

5

0

0

0

INT

2

5

515

2

4

WIS

1

5

50

0

1

CHR

0

5

0

0

0

PER

1

5

55

2

3

COR

0

5

0

0

0

RAD

0

5

0

0

0

CSP earned

20

Cronk-15, Malskitter -3, FreedSouls-5,

CSP to Foundation

0

CSP to CS

23

CSP Saved

0

Skills

Stat

Level

EP

P/S/T

Bonemancy

INT

1

150

Primary

Skulk

WIS

1

50

Primary

Climbing

AGI

1

50

Primary

Dodge

AGI

1

250

Primary

Small Blades

DEX

2

450

Primary

Tail Fighting

DEX

1

50

Primary

Mining

STR

0

Primary

Acrobatics

AGI

1

50

Secondary

Throw Sharp Thing

DEX

0

Secondary

Fleet of Foot

AGI

2

300

Secondary

Weak Claws

DEX

0

15

Secondary

Sense Danger

PER

0

15

Secondary

Forage

PER

1

35

Secondary

Skinning

DEX

0

Tertiary

Manipulate Locks and Traps

DEX

0

Tertiary

Hide

INT

1

50

Tertiary

Identify

PER

1

5

Tertiary

Open

0

Tertiary

Open

0

Tertiary

Mechanic

INT

2

315

Crafting

Bone Carving

DEX

0

0

Crafting

Skrimshaw

DEX

0

0

Crafting

Rune Lore

INT

0

0

Lore

Core Skills

Skill

Costs

Rank

Max Rank

Spent

Smugglers Stash

3/5/10

2

3

8

Jumping Jack

2

1

1

2

Whip Tail

2

1

1

2

Unseen Tail

3

1

1

3

Invisible Tail

3

1

1

3

Bonemancy

5

1

1

5

Total

23