Orrin watched the blinking cursor.

Select your reward_

“Orrin? You okay?” Daniel spoke from behind him.

“Give me a second,” Orrin responded and concentrated.

What kind of reward can I ask for? He thought. Maybe a way home?

Nothing changed on the prompt. The system had always seemed to respond to his thoughts before.

How about a skill or spell upgrade for free? More ability or stat points?

A list began to appear

Upgrade one spell or skill

Increase Strength Stat + 5

Increase Constitution Stat + 5

Increase Dexterity Stat + 5

Increase Will Stat + 5

Increase Intelligence Stat + 5

+10 Ability Points

“Daniel? We need to chat,” Orrin called over his shoulder. “Alone please.”

“What’s the matter?” Madi stepped forward. “Are you alright?”

“You two don’t have to plan every step alone, you know,” Jude also walked back, having dunked his hammer in the water to clean the fish guts off. “We are a party after all.”

Orrin considered it. Madi, Jude, and Brandt would have more information about this world and the possible rewards for a quest than Daniel. But telling them would let them know something was weird with his system.

This is the second time I’ve seen this Administrator Access line. Did I somehow tap into the system when we came through?

Orrin tried thinking about an ability to go home. He thought as hard as he could about magical gateways and even an automobile with a terrible driver. Nothing happened.

“Maybe. Thanks guys,” he finally responded to Madi and Jude. “But I think I really need Daniel.”

They grumbled but moved away as Daniel got close.

“Did it ask you for a moniker too?” Daniel asked gently.

“What?”

The question was so unexpected to Orrin that he started to laugh.

“You think,” he said between laughter. “I’m a hero?”

Daniel frowned a bit. “I was kind of hoping yes.”

Orrin stopped laughing at the suddenly haggard look on Daniel’s face. “You don’t have to shoulder all the pressure, even if I’m not a [Hero]. But we’ll talk about that later. Look.” He waved the third message with the errors to Daniel. Except, it didn’t budge.

“What are you trying to show me? Is it the [Map]? That doesn’t work remember?”

“No,” Orrin tried again. It still didn’t work. “Piece of shit system. I unlocked a reward for the tenth level quest. Some kind of administrator access error popped up and now it’s letting me pick a reward.”

Daniel was silent. “What?”

“Exactly!” Orrin waved his hands around. “This happened when we got here the first time, but I forgot between surviving, and the tree vine monster thing, and saving you. But this time...” he trailed off.

“Can you get it to change your class to [Hero] too?”

“What kind of dumb ide-“

Change class to [Hero].

NOTICE- Administrator Access is denied to [Hero] class. Administrator Access will be rescinded.

“What the fuck is going on?” Orrin almost screamed.

Daniel waved back Jude and Brandt, who had started to walk back towards them.

“What happened?” Daniel asked as Orrin started walking in circles.

“You put the idea in my head and now I can change to a [Hero] but I’ll lose administrator access, whatever that is.”

Daniel’s face lit up but then he frowned again. “I wonder what that admin access is. Do you think you could override Brandt’s quest too? Make all of us heroes?”

“I don’t know Daniel.” Orrin wanted to pull his hair out. “I don’t know what any of this means.”

“Should we ask them?” Daniel nodded over his shoulder.

Orrin looked at the rest of the party, waiting patiently by the ice door. Brandt and Jude were trying to act like they were having a conversation, but both were casting surreptitious glances their way. Madi wasn’t trying to hide it and was staring them down.

“I don’t know. What if they want to kill me because it’s something like blood magic again?” Orrin was spiraling.

“Orrin, you’re losing it, man. Cast that anti-anxiety spell on yourself.”

Orrin took a deep breath and cast [Calm Mind].

Okay. Okay. I can create a reward. Daniel got about a hundred ability points worth of skill upgrades as his reward at level ten and I can get ten. That’s fine but stats outweigh ability points in rarity. So ability points are out. Skill upgrades I can buy with ability points, which I’ve already ruled out. I’m NOT going to change to another class. I kind of like my class. Maybe I wish I had something that did more damage or targeted more monsters at once but-“

Upgrade [Lightstrike] to [Lightstrikes]- cast unerring beams of light that hits multiple targets (up to five) for 10 HP damage. 5 MP

Good to know that exists.

“Thanks,” Orrin said to a patiently waiting Daniel. “That helped.”

“Of course,” Daniel punched his friend in the arm. “I was thinking. If you can do this, what else could you do?”

“Like what?” Orrin rubbed his arm.

“I don’t know, like hack the system and get us home?” Daniel asked expectantly.

“Nothing comes up for that.” Orrin shook his head. “And I’ve tried before searching everything for a way home. Still nothing. But it did just tell me about a better targeting spell. I can hit multiple targets and deal more damage.”

“Not worth it,” Daniel said. “You are a buffer and healer. You start slinging spells around, and you might as well be any other mage. Better to stick with what you are. You make everyone around you better and keep them going.”

Orrin felt himself blush at Daniel’s words. “So stat points then?”

“I was thinking more ability points. You could get more spells to the next level. Imagine if you could cast [Utility Ward] at third level.” Daniel’s eyes twinkled at the prospect of wielding Gertrude unhindered.

“Don’t be selfish. More Will means more mana. I can just cast strength on you then.”

“Sold!” Daniel almost jumped up and down.

Orrin went back over his options. He tried to think of anything else that he could pick, but the big ticket item of going home wasn’t giving any results.

Increase Will Stat + 5

Orrin felt his mana pool grow. A small warmth growing in his chest before the feeling dissipated.

“Should I put my extra points into Will or Intelligence?” he wondered aloud.

“Strength all the way,” Daniel joked. “But shouldn’t you spread it out a bit?”

Orrin thought back to all the fights they’d been in so far. He had the Regen and mana potions. He also had blood cycling in an emergency, although that would likely knock him out.

“I think full Will for now,” he decided. “If I don’t run out of mana, then it doesn’t matter how much the spells cost...right?”

Before he could question himself further, he threw all ten stat points into Will.

Name: Orrin

Class: Utility Warder

Level 10 (40/1000)

Ability Points 12

HP: 90

MP: 380

Strength: 9

Constitution: 9

Dexterity: 9

Will: 28

Intelligence: 11

“That should help a bit,” he said with a smirk.

“How many points did you get for level ten,” Daniel asked as they looked over at the rest of the group.

“Ten.”

Daniel punched him again. “You fucking cheat.”

“What should we tell them?” Orrin worried, as he saw Madi standing with her hand on one hip.

Madi was pissed. She’d respected her party members’ request for some privacy, but she was furious at being excluded.

As soon as a smiling Daniel and Orrin joined them at the door, she demanded an explanation.

“We shouldn’t have secrets in here,” she started. “Especially since we have to watch each others’ backs. I get level ten is a big deal, but we’ve been pretty open and-“

Orrin cut her off. “You’re right. Sorry. I just freaked out a bit because something happened.”

“Are you going to tell us or claim it’s another [Hero] only thing? Because the hero’s party is supposed to be a team.”

“My class unlocked other rewards for the level ten quest.” Orrin said. He’d argued that keeping the reward skill tied to his unknown class would make the most sense. Daniel had been all for telling them all about the Administrator Access part, but Orrin had wanted to wait. He’d research himself first.

“How is that possible?” Jude stepped forward curiously. “I’ve never heard of anything like that. Although, to be fair, I’ve never heard of a locked reward before either.”

“It said something about Utility Warder unlocked rewards and I got to choose,” Orrin lied. “But Daniel had the thought that maybe Brandt could share his Quest blue box with me and maybe I could do it again?”

Brandt raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “I’ll show it to you to sate your curiosity. But I would like to get into the next safe room before too long. It’s been a long day.”

“We could kill some more carps first,” Daniel chimed in.

“No. We got Orrin to level ten. There will be more enemies and experience in the next room.” Brandt waved his hand around and then held it out to Orrin. “Here’s the completed Quest.”

Orrin opened Brandt’s quest.

Quest Complete

Obtain Level 20

Reward: [Hero Kit Level 3] Unavailable reward

Unlock other rewards? He thought uncertainly.

Unlocking Limited Reward Set for Non-Administrator_

Increase Strength Stat + 3

Increase Constitution Stat + 3

Increase Dexterity Stat + 3

+5 Ability Points

Holy fuck it worked, Orrin thought.

“Fuck, he did it,” Brandt echoed. He looked up with near glistening eyes. “Stat increases? Thank you.”

Orrin shrugged. Daniel was already sharing the level twenty quest with Jude and Madi.

“I’m guessing it gives you the option of half a normal level of ability points or half a stat increase.” Orrin explained. “I got some other weird options, but ended up just increasing my Will.”

“You really should keep that kind of information more private,” Jude admonished. “You never know who could use that kind of stuff against you.”

Orrin felt touched. Jude was giving him reconnoitering advice.

“Let’s get off this floor,” Daniel suggested.

Jude grabbed half a fish carcass and dragged it along. They made their way inside the door and began to set up camp. This would be their first night actually sleeping in the Aqua Chambers.

Brandt still demanded a watch rotation. “Although nobody is supposed to be allowed inside, it does happen that people can slip in. Monsters never enter the safe rooms though, unless it’s a dungeon break.”

“The guards said nobody was supposed to enter for a week,” Daniel argued. “Do they let people in or are we talking about thieves and the like?”

“No sanctioned group will enter for a week. But they also said a group had been in here for two weeks. Likely, they are near level ten. That’s the normal timeframe. Honestly, the fact that we are at the third safe room on the first day is astounding. The fastest run I’ve ever been on. The fourth and fifth floor are mostly unavoidable fights, but the sixth floor is a long one. I’ll explain more about that later. But to answer your question Daniel, yes. Guards will let in assassins for a price. It’s actually common for a party to go missing in a dungeon and for families to point fingers at each other over old grudges. But actual assassinations in the dungeons are rare.”

“Why?” Orrin asked. He was pulling apart one of the chickens and making a stew out of it, much to Madi’s dismay.

“Imagine trying to get through the first two or three floors alone,” Brandt smirked. Then frowned. “Well, I guess you wouldn’t have a hard time. I’m sure some families would pay a lot of gold for you to lead a killer into a dungeon.”

“No thanks.” Orrin chuckled. “I don’t need that kind of guilt on my conscience.”

Jude gave Orrin a serious nod.

“So what’s on the next floor?” Daniel asked.

“It’s a hallway with multiple doors,” Brandt explained. “With large rooms beyond every set of doors. If you open a door, you get pulled into a fight. If you win, the door disappears. You win three times and the safe room door appears at the end of the hall.”

“Any traps or ways I can cheat it?” Orrin asked.

“Not that I know of,” Brand replied. “But I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to surprise us.”

Orrin handed out the stew. He also pulled a loaf of bread out and Jude moaned.

“I could kiss you,” he dug the bread slice into his stew.

“So Orrin...” Daniel started after he finished eating. “I totally didn’t listen to you the first time around when you explained all the math for your spells and stuff. But doesn’t increasing your Will make your spells hit harder?”

Orrin nodded.

“If you don’t want to do more math and figure out how high your buffs work now, I’ll happily take a few practice swings with Gerty before bed.”

Orrin chuckled and obliged his friend. His mana would reset after he slept anyways.

Increase Strength, level three x 5.

“Orrin, my strength just went up by fifty-five points!”

Brandt dropped his bowl. “What?”