Morgan led the way through the doorway, which opened into a wide, stone hallway. This tunnel was made from tight-fitting stone blocks rather than the carved stone of the level below. Just a few feet from the doorway was an alcove highlighted with lantern light. In the alcove were a small wooden table and a crude wooden chair. As they grew nearer, Morgan could see that the table held a short rusty knife and a block of cheese with prodigious mold growths colonizing its rind. He shrugged and put them both into his pouch. The pouch seemed to be able to hold a lot, considering the wolf corpses he’d pulled out of it, so he was determined to pick up anything that might be of use down the road. He looked at Issa, and she nodded, and they both continued on their way down the tunnel.

The tunnel continued for a good thirty feet, then branched to the left. Unlike the tunnel on the first floor, there weren’t regularly spaced lanterns, and it was very dark. Issa cast her night vision spell on Morgan again, assuring him that she could keep it going for a long time, now that her Core was back in one piece. The spell required some level of light to work, but even the bit of light coming from the lantern back in the alcove lit the hallway like daylight. Peering around the corner, Morgan could see another fifty feet of hallway ending in a door similar to the one leading to the stairwell. “Seems pretty straightforward.”

“Yes, but go quietly,” Issa whispered. Morgan nodded and proceeded toward the door. When he was about five feet from it, with Issa right behind him, he started to make out sounds. Deep, grinding voices, words indistinct through the wooden door, and the sounds of wood scraping on stone conjured visions of large men scooting around in chairs. Morgan studied the latch on the door and saw an iron lever that lifted a bolt out of a similar iron bracket mounted to the stone wall. He felt he could depress it quietly if he were careful, so he motioned Issa to back up a bit and then carefully pushed on the latch. It scraped ever so slightly, but the minute noise was lost amongst the racket coming from the other side of the door. Centimeter by centimeter, Morgan pulled the door slowly open until he could see through the crack with one eye.

The room beyond the door was brightly lit with lanterns, once again. Three Urghat were in the room. Two of them were sitting at a crude, wooden table throwing carved stones and arguing about the results. They were drinking mugs of something - beer or some other alcohol if Morgan had to guess. The third Urghat, shorter than the others Morgan had seen, but half again as wide and with bright orange fur, was wrestling with a barrel, trying to pry the top off it with a bent and rusty knife. Morgan gently closed the door but held the latch open. He leaned close to Issa’s ear and whispered, “Three Urghat. I think they might be drunk, though, and we might be able to get the jump on them.”

“One second,” Issa whispered back, her breath hot on his ear, “I can hasten your attacks for a few seconds. When you feel it, strike fast; it won’t last long.” Morgan nodded, and Issa reached her hand to his shoulder and very quietly started muttering something that he couldn’t make out. A moment later, he felt a flare of Energy enter his shoulder from her hand, and it seemed to flood into his heart. He felt his eyes dilate, and, taking that as a signal the spell had worked, he yanked the door open and burst through, spear poised to strike.

The Urghat reacted to his entry, but it was like they were moving through thick syrup. By the time the brindle coated Urghat with his back to Morgan had started to stand up, Morgan had already jammed his spear into his back three times. Brindle’s attempt to stand was cut short, and he fell to the ground, bleeding out. Morgan was already moving past the falling body, driving his spear at the other seated Urghat, a hulking, gray-furred fellow with two prodigious lower tusks.

Tusks roared and managed to lift his big, wooden mug, knocking Morgan’s spear aside and splashing some kind of watery alcohol all over him. Meanwhile, Issa had breached the door and flashed forward, trying to hit Orange-fur with her axe. Orange-fur howled, ducking the blow, and counterattacked with his big, iron knife, but he stumbled over the barrel he’d been trying to open and sprawled on the stone floor in front of her. For just a beat, everyone breathed and looked around the fight scene. Still under the effects of the haste spell, Morgan recovered first and stepped to the side and back, giving himself a little room to maneuver. He then tried another thrust at Tusks. The big Urghat didn’t dodge, but he had on a thick, leather vest, and Morgan’s fire-hardened spear finally met its match; it failed to pierce the armor and skidded past the Urghat’s side. Tusks grabbed the spear and shoved it down with all his might, snapping it against the tabletop.

Issa took advantage of her downed foe and brought the axe around from her initial swing, up over her head, chopping down with a grunt. Orange-fur tried to scamper out of the way, and he partially succeeded, but not enough - the heavy axe cleaved into the back of his knee with a grinding, wet crunch. Orange-fur howled and frantically rolled to his back, brandishing his knife to keep Issa away. At the same time, Tusks finally launched himself out of his chair, diving straight at Morgan. Morgan felt like his perception of time was returning to normal because Tusks was on him before he could get out of the way. The Urghat crushed him against the wall, and Morgan was trying to shove him off and to the side when Tusks bit down hard on his right shoulder, sinking his teeth into his flesh and growling with a wet, savage delight.

“FUCK!” was all Morgan could think to shout when he felt those tusks enter his shoulder. He groped around with his left hand, trying to find something to hit the Urghat with, but there was nothing; he felt helpless. The brute was at least twice his weight and much stronger than he was. Tusks just kept growling and shaking his head back and forth like a terrier killing a rat, and Morgan could feel his vision start to go dark from the pain. He reached his left hand up in desperation and gripped the Urghat’s thick, furry neck. Meanwhile, the Urghat started to drive its fists into Morgan’s body, punching while it bit deeper and deeper into his shoulder.

Morgan dug his fingers through the fur on Tusk’s neck, and desperately he pulled. He could feel the strength leaving him, his breath strained and ragged, his arm like lead, his whole body screaming in agony, but through it all, he felt something enter his hand from the Urghat’s neck - Energy. Once he felt that first trickle, he grabbed onto it and pulled even harder. It was like a dam broke, and Energy flooded into his arm and down into his core. He kept pulling, and the Urghat stopped shaking him and opened its mouth. Suddenly the Urghat wasn’t trying to pummel him; it was pushing against the wall, trying to get away from him. Morgan dug his fingers in with renewed strength and pulled. In a desperate panic, the Urghat managed to shove away from Morgan and fall, sprawling into the table, knocking it over.

Morgan pushed away from the wall and stretched. He rubbed his shoulder, noting that the punctured, shredded skin was already mending and scabbing over. He took a step toward the big Urghat as it struggled to get up, but then an axe sprouted from its head, and it collapsed. Morgan looked at the other end of the axe to see Issa, grimly yanking it out and preparing another strike if needed. The Urghat didn’t move, though, and Morgan took several deep breaths, noting the silence. Golden motes collected on the corpses, and, this time, Morgan could see a stream of them flowing not only to him but also to Issa.

***Congratulations! You’ve achieved level 5 base human. You have 5 attribute points to allocate. You’ve learned the skill Backstab - Basic, You’ve learned the skill Energy Drain - Basic.***

Morgan grunted and said, “Status.”

Status

Name:

Morgan Hall

Race:

Human - Base 1

Class:

—

Level:

5

Core:

Vortex Class - Base 1

Energy Affinity:

9.2

Energy:

204/204

Strength:

10

Vitality:

10 (12)

Dexterity:

8

Agility:

11

Intelligence:

17

Will:

10

Points Available:

5

Titles & Feats:

Human Champion

Skills:

System Language Integration - Not Upgradeable, Spear Mastery - Basic, Stealthy Maneuvers - Basic, Backstab - Basic, Energy Drain - Basic

“I leveled!” Issa said, smiling brightly, her sharp teeth on full display.

“Hah, great! I did too. Fuck me, though; that was harrowing. That bastard was ripping me apart like a rottweiler with a rabbit,” Morgan groaned as he rubbed at his tender shoulder. “Hey, is there any way to see what exactly my skills do?”

“Yes! I can’t believe you didn’t know this, but just look at the skill on your status screen and ask what it does in your head,” Issa said while she wiped the blood off her hands and axe on the orange fur of the Urghat she’d killed.

“Hey, it’s been, like, a day since I learned about the System. Cut me some slack. Can you make sure nothing sneaks up on us through that other door while I try to figure this out real quick?” Morgan replied, once again studying his status screen.

Issa nodded. “Yes. Better that you know what you’re doing before we meet more like this.” Morgan didn’t reply because he’d studied his spear mastery skill and “asked” what it does, and now he had a new window in front of his eyes:

**Spear Mastery - Basic: You’re learning the forms and movements needed to kill things in the most efficient way possible. You know the basics about keeping enemies at bay and piercing their vitals.***

Not anything he didn’t already suspect, but it was good to see his suspicions confirmed. The System was actually putting knowledge in his head beyond what he figured out through his actions. Just like with the System language. He concentrated on his other skills:

***Stealthy Maneuvers - Basic: You’re on your way to becoming one with the shadows. Moving without tripping on twigs or debris, you could inspire a cat with your surefootedness.***

***Backstab - Basic: Woe to the foe that lets you approach from behind unnoticed. You know just where to strike to cause the most damage, and, as you advance your skill, you gain the ability to land devastating combinations of strikes before your enemy can react. Energy cost: 25, Cooldown: Short.***

***Energy Drain - Basic: Prerequisite: Vortex Class Core. You expend some Energy to forcefully pull the Energy from a foe you’ve made physical contact with, using that Energy to restore your health and vitality. Energy cost: 50, Cooldown: Long.***

“Issa, what’s a cooldown?” Morgan asked after reading about his skills.

“Using skills is taxing on your mind, Core, and body. The System limits how often you can use some skills to balance those factors. At least that’s how my mentor explained it to me,” Issa quietly replied as she held her ear to the other door.

“Why is it so vague? Short? Long? What’s the difference?”

“I really don’t know. I learned how often I could use my skills through trial and error, but I’ll tell you if you improve your skills beyond basic, the cooldown will change, even if it still says ‘short’ or whatever,” Issa answered.

“One more question: According to the System description, some of my skills use Energy, but I always seem to be at full Energy when I check, even after a fight. What gives?”

“Well, you’re looking at your status after you’ve consolidated the gains from your vanquished foes. You must have expended less than you gained. Not surprising, as these three were not trivial foes.”

“Hmm, give me a couple more minutes; I’m going to spend my attribute points,” Morgan said as he studied his status sheet again. He looked at Dexterity and Agility and “asked” in his mind what they did, wanting to clarify something:

***Dexterity is the measure of your fine motor skills relative to other Energy infused beings.***

***Agility is the measure of your physical prowess and speed relative to other Energy infused beings.***

Right, so agility seemed like the skill he would need for fighting and moving around, while dexterity was more about doing things with his hands like, what, watchmaking? Morgan shrugged and put three points into intelligence to bring it to an even 20 and two points into agility. He figured being able to sneak around and move quickly during combat had served him well so far, so he might as well keep pushing his agility.

Status

Name:

Morgan Hall

Race:

Human - Base 1

Class:

—

Level:

5

Core:

Vortex Class - Base 1

Energy Affinity:

9.2

Energy:

204/240

Strength:

10

Vitality:

10 (12)

Dexterity:

8

Agility:

13

Intelligence:

20

Will:

10

Points Available:

0

Titles & Feats:

Human Champion

Skills:

System Language Integration - Not Upgradeable, Spear Mastery - Basic, Stealthy Maneuvers - Basic, Backstab - Basic, Energy Drain - Basic

Morgan noticed his maximum Energy had gone up with his stat increase, and he assumed it was from the intelligence gain. Good to know. “All right, Issa, you keep listening for a minute, and I’ll check this room for loot.”