Golden motes began to coalesce on the corpse of the Yovashi. Morgan could see that they were larger than the motes on other creatures he’d killed and more numerous. They swirled around, forming three distinct streams, the widest flooding toward Morgan, another nearly as large flowing to Issa, and a final, thin stream swirling toward Darran. Morgan braced himself as the influx of Energy slammed into him, much more than he’d felt before, even from the huge, naked rat creature.

***Congratulations! You’ve achieved level 8 base human. You have 10 attribute points to allocate.***

***Congratulations! You’ve completed a Quest: Don’t let the Yovashi eat the surviving people in its larder - 4/4. Reward: Four escape talismans, two Energy-rich natural materials, two Advancement Orbs.***

Morgan blinked rapidly, reigning in the Energy euphoria as he read the messages. Wiping the screen away, he saw that swirling blue light was coalescing at his and Issa’s feet. He stepped back, watching, and the lights condensed and faded, leaving behind a blue, wooden box, inlaid with complex, silver lettering that he couldn’t read. The box was about a foot square, its lid clasped with a silver latch.

“A System treasure box. I’ve only heard my elders talk about these, never seen one myself,” Issa said, leaning close. Darran had put the shield aside and was scooting himself over. Morgan could see that his stump had scabbed up quite a lot, clearly healed a bit from the Energy he’d absorbed.

“Did you two have a quest?” Darran asked.

“Yeah, we did,” Morgan replied, gesturing to the box, “Issa, why don’t you do the honors.” Issa smiled and leaned over, flipping open the silver latch and lifting the lid. The inside of the box was lined in a silky, blue material. The first things Morgan noticed were the two glowing, golden marbles hovering near the center of the box. They looked exactly like the one that he’d woken next to. “Those must be ‘Advancement Orbs’?” he asked, looking at Issa.

“Yes, they are!” Darran was the one who spoke up, not Issa. “Each one will grant a level’s worth of Energy to the person that touches it. Too bad you can’t store or carry them without activating them. Imagine what a high-level cultivator would pay for one!” Darran sighed wistfully, scooting into a sitting position and adjusting the belt he had tied around his stump. Issa looked at Darran with narrowed eyes.

“Don’t get any ideas, Darran. Morgan and I will decide what to do with these rewards,” she said, edging herself sideways between the man and the box.

“I’m not a fool! I know you both saved my life, and I know you could kill me if I tried to grasp at your rewards. I just wanted to see, that’s all!” Darran looked genuinely offended, and Issa relaxed.

“All right, just give us a little space,” Morgan said, trying to soothe the tension a little. He leaned over and closed the box. “Listen, we need to go over this a little later. Right now, there’s at least one other survivor down there that is probably terrified, hurting, and wondering what the hell is going on up here.” Morgan pulled Issa to the side a little and whispered in her ear, “You watch the box; I’ll go down there and get the Fairy lady.”

“Fairy… oh you mean the Ghelli,” Issa’s cheeks reddened, “Yes, Morgan! I’m sorry! I can’t believe I was so focused on our rewards. Go help her!” Issa sat down on the box, grinning savagely at Darran.

Morgan started walking down the slope into the darker, colder, charnel pit portion of the Yovashi’s lair. He could surmise that their reward box was worth a lot, and he figured he was probably risking losing it by leaving it with Issa, but he also felt he could trust her by now; they’d both saved each other’s lives several times. When he was near the pile of old bones and corpses that he’d woken up near, he looked to where he remembered the Ghelli woman to be but didn’t see her. He called out, “Hello? It’s safe to answer. The Yovashi is dead.”

“It is?” A blonde-haired head poked out from behind a pile of bones, antennae quivering. “Thank the gods!” She nearly sobbed with released tension. Morgan hurried over to her and held out his hand but stopped himself.

“I’m going to grasp your hand to lead you out of this dark pit, okay?” he said, remembering that this woman might not be able to see in the dark as clearly as he currently could.

“Yes, thank you! But, please, my two sisters are in here somewhere, also. I know they aren’t dead, but I don’t think they’re conscious.”

“Well, that explains the four out of four,” Morgan muttered, leaning forward to hold her hand and pull her to her feet. She was exceedingly light, to the point that Morgan could barely feel her weight when she stood, though he could tell from the tension on his fingers that she was pulling herself up. She was tall, maybe close to six feet, but extremely thin. She had many bruises and scrapes, but her only real injury appeared to be her mangled wing. “Come, I’ll lead you up near my friend, then I’ll look for your sisters.”

She nodded, and Morgan started to walk with her, but then he had a thought. Why was he still creeping around in the darkness? The Yovashi was dead. “Actually, hold on a minute.” He reached into his dimensional pouch and pulled forth a lantern, then pulled out a piece of rough flint that he and Issa had been using to make sparks. He set the lantern down, opened the glass, and dragged one of the rusty daggers he’d looted along the flint to spark the wick to life. Glorious light bloomed in the dark, horrible pit.

“Oh, Gods of the Wood!” the woman whispered, looking around. Her already pale skin blanched further as she took in the bones and cold, dead bodies.

“C’mon, let's head up; there’s less of this up there. My name’s Morgan, by the way.”

“Thank you, Morgan. My name is Tiala,” she said, and Morgan noticed she didn’t let go of his hand, even though she could see now. With the lantern making his Nightvision almost painful, Morgan smiled and led the way up the slope to the flat area where Issa was waiting.

“Issa, this is Tiala. She says she has two sisters still unconscious down there. I’m going to go look for them,” Morgan said while he rustled in his pouch for another lantern.

“Hi, Tiala, I’m Issa and this is Darran. Sit down here, and I’ll give you some water,” Issa smiled to the Ghelli and laid out one of the furs she and Morgan had looted from the Urghat. Darran nodded to Tiala but didn’t speak. Morgan lit the other lantern and headed back down the slope to conduct the unsavory task of looking through the charnel for the surviving Ghelli sisters.

Morgan searched the pit, going from pile to pile. Before he found Tiala’s sisters, he found the source of the cold. There was a pool of water near the farthest wall, almost obscured by bones and offal, but it gave off waves of cold air. Morgan stretched a hand out toward it, but the cold became painful, and he decided he’d rather not have a finger frozen off. Continuing his search, he looked around the edge of the pool, seeing a pile of fresher-looking corpses. There were seven bodies, most were Ardeni, like Issa, but two had the gossamer wings of the Ghelli, and Morgan carefully extricated them. Both appeared to be dead, but Morgan could detect a faint pulse in each of the female Ghelli’s necks upon closer inspection. Neither looked good, though. One was missing a hand, and the other had severely broken legs. Their faces and exposed body parts were purple with bruises.

Morgan carefully carried the Ghelli sisters up to Tiala one by one. When they were both lying on a fur near their sister, he sat down heavily near Issa, happy to be done with that unpleasant task.

“Now, what are we going to do?” Darran asked.

“What do you mean?” Issa replied.

“I’m crippled, those two are nearly dead, and their sister is too distraught to be of any use,” Darran huffed, indicating Tiala, who was weeping and gently stroking the face of one of her sisters.

“Don’t be so cold!” Issa hissed.

“I’m not trying to be, but we’re stuck in the depths of the Crucible, and I don’t know how we’ll get out in this condition!”

“Well, I think the System had a plan for that,” Morgan replied. Darran shut his mouth and looked at him, hope in his eyes. “Part of our reward for killing the Yovashi were some ‘escape talismans.’ I’m assuming those will get you out of here.”

“Truly?” Tiala said, wiping at her eyes, “You’ll give them to us?”

“Well, I will. We got four, and so two are Issa’s to use or give away.”

Issa looked at him and smiled, “I wouldn’t leave you here alone with one of these people, Morgan! Not after all we’ve been through.”

“I was hoping you’d say that!” Morgan grinned. He stood up and motioned for Issa to stand up from the box and then opened it. Light flooded out from the two Advancement Orbs. Nestled around the orbs, in the blue cloth, were four silver-colored amulets, each the size of a small coin and containing the same pattern of strange writing. There was also a small square of orange-red metal and a fruit the shape and size of a plum but shaded in blue and bright greens, its stem still protruding with a pointy green leaf hanging off it. Morgan carefully extracted the four amulets, being sure not to touch the Advancement Orbs.

He knew what he was doing would be viewed as foolish by many. He was in a dangerous place, having already nearly died several times. He held in his hands a literal opportunity to “escape,” and he was going to give it away. Not only that, but he was allowing Issa to risk her life as well. Looking at the pathetic survivors, though, he knew what he was doing was right. The System might seem like an emotionless, all-powerful entity, but Morgan felt like it had an agenda. Why would it give them four amulets and not six? Because it wanted Morgan to have to make a tough choice. Just like when it gave him the quest to help Issa. It tied a penalty for failure to him accepting the quest. It was like it was trying to get him to be selfish, and he didn’t want to give in. It was becoming a point of pride for him. Still, he handed two amulets to Issa, then handed one to Darran and one to Tiala.

Issa didn’t hesitate, carefully clasping her two amulets around the necks of the two unconscious Ghelli. Morgan was about to ask how to activate them when the air shimmered, and the two women were simply gone. He closed his mouth with a click.

“Thank you so much, Morgan and Issa! I will never forget what you’ve done for my sisters and me! My people live in the Umbertide Woods. If you’re familiar with the area, seek me out, and my family will repay you!” Tiala wiped tears from her eyes, slipped the necklace over her head, and three seconds later, she was gone.

“I also will take my leave. Thank you very much for not taking advantage of my, our, weakness. You both showed honor in this hellish place. Issa, I am from the Evundi clan. I hope to repay you and Morgan if you ever make your way out of here.” Issa smiled and nodded.

“Good luck, Darran,” Morgan said, reaching out a hand. Darran clasped it and smiled, and Morgan felt good knowing that a handshake wasn’t just a human thing. Darran put the necklace on, waved one more time, and then he, too, was gone. Morgan sighed and then spoke, “What a nightmare. I wish we were on our way out of here, too.”

“I know, Morgan, I also do. At least I chose to come to this place. I can only imagine how you must feel, being thrust into it the way you were.” Issa laid a hand on his arm. Reflexively, Morgan reached an arm around her and pulled her into a hug. She didn’t resist and put her arms around his waist, and they stood that way, taking comfort in each other’s presence for several moments.

“You know, Issa, I never thanked you for coming to help me when I was down in that pit. I have never felt so alone and lost. When you whispered for me to ‘shhh,’ it was like hope came to life in me. I’ll never be able to repay you.”

“Don’t be silly, Morgan. How do you think I felt when I was being eaten alive, and you saved me? I’ll make you this promise: you’ll never owe me anything, but you can always depend on me!”

Morgan smiled and squeezed Issa tighter, “I’m lucky I ran into you, Issa. You can always depend on me too.” Reluctantly, Morgan stepped away and gestured to the blue box. “We still have some rewards to deal with. What level are you, Issa? Is that rude to ask?”

“It’s not rude among friends, but, yes, don’t ask that of everyone you meet!” Issa laughed. “I’m level six now.”

“Alright, I’m eight. Let’s each take one of the Advancement Orbs?”

“Well, if you took them both, you’d get your class choice. It might be beneficial for us both if you gained a strong class. Though, if you wait and get some other gains before you hit level ten, you might get different or better class choices. It’s the classic dilemma about advancing quickly or advancing thoroughly.” Morgan thought about what Issa said and then nodded.

“Yeah, I’d feel better if we shared the reward, anyway. I’ll get to ten soon enough.” Issa nodded, and they both stretched out their hands to one of the Advancement Orbs. Warmth flooded through his fingers and rushed up into his body.

***Congratulations! You’ve achieved level 9 base human. You have 15 attribute points to allocate.***

“Now for the last rewards. ‘Energy-rich natural materials’?”

“Yes, when Energy is very dense in a place, certain minerals and living things take on the Energy, evolving into more powerful variants of their original form,” Issa replied. Morgan nodded and reached into the box to lift out the strange, orange metal. It was about the size of a deck of cards but many times heavier. He could feel a humming potential in the metal, but he didn’t know how to describe the feeling more than that. Issa looked at it in his hand and said, “That looks like Amber Ore. I don’t know much about it, but Artificers greatly value it. My father is an Artificer, and I think I remember him crafting a small bit of ore like this into an arrowhead for our Grand Hunter.”

“Okay, what about the fruit?” Morgan asked, reaching in and lifting out the blue and green fruit. It was soft, and a rich, sugary scent wafted into his nostrils. He started to salivate involuntarily. Issa sniffed it, licking her lips.

“You eat it, Morgan. I don’t know what it does, but it must be beneficial to come in a System treasure box.”

Morgan hesitated, but then he decided to go with his urges. He handed the Amber Ore to Issa, and then he bit into the fruit; in two bites, it was gone. “I’m sorry, Issa, I couldn’t resist…” he started to say, but then he was transfixed by a warm, almost hot wave that rolled out from his stomach through his whole body. He felt like someone was pouring hot water on him, methodically moving from his stomach to his extremities, over and over. His vision became obscured by a dark curtain and kaleidoscopic lights. When the feeling subsided, he realized he was lying on his back, breathing heavily. “What the hell…?”

“I think you upgraded your race!” Issa said, kneeling next to him.

“Uh. Status,” Morgan croaked.

Status

Name:

Morgan Hall

Race:

Human - Base 2

Class:

—

Level:

9

Core:

Vortex Class - Base 1

Energy Affinity:

9.2

Energy:

240/240

Strength:

10

Vitality:

15 (17)

Dexterity:

8

Agility:

13

Intelligence:

20

Will:

10

Points Available:

15

Titles & Feats:

Human Champion

Skills:

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

“Yeah, base two,” Morgan said. “I’m sorry, Issa, I feel greedy.”

“Don’t be! This Amber Ore will be very valuable. My father will be able to make big gains in his Artificer class using it, and the wealth he accrues will allow me to buy other treasures that can help me in similar ways.”

“Oh, ok, good. So, what does improving one’s race do for a person?” Morgan asked, trying to note any differences.

“Oh, it was amazing to watch! If you could see yourself, I think you’d notice a difference! I think you’re a little taller, your hair has more luster, your eyes too! I’m not joking,” she said, as Morgan looked at her like he thought she was making fun of him, “In my village, there’s a Hunter with a Base 9 race, and he’s nearly six inches taller than anyone else, and his features are amazing! His eyes could pierce your soul, his hair is the yellow-white of the sun, and his skin…” she trailed off, her cheeks starting to blush.

“Haha, easy there,” Morgan laughed, “don’t need you to start spouting poetry or something.”

Issa growled and punched his shoulder, saying, “Well, the important thing about advancing your race is that it lets you continue to level. There are points where you’ll reach a cap and be unable to level because your body can’t contain the Energy required.”

“Gotcha, thanks for explaining,” Morgan said as he clambered to his feet. “Well, what now?”

“I know where the stairs are to the next level,” Issa replied, grinning widely.