Felicia wanted to show me how to hunt for newts, so we headed down to the river.

“You can find newts anywhere along the river, but theres a couple of deeper pools that they like to gather in,” she said. She pointed ahead of us, and I could see where the stream got deeper. The water was pretty clear, it looked about a meter deep here. I could make out darting movement along the bank and, more clearly, the brightly coloured forms of the iridescent newts. It looked like I could reach in and grab some, but I had the feeling that it wouldn’t be that easy.

Felicia took out some sort of fine net. She needed to assemble it, attaching the conical net to a flexible wooden hoop that she’d been carrying in a more tightly curled configuration.

“Here’s how this works.” She tied her skirt up, leaving her lower legs bare. “One of us goes upstream and makes a lot of splashing and noise. The other stands downstream with the net. The lizards flee the noise and run into the net.”

“Sounds simple,” I said. “I take it Kyle normally did the splashing?”

She nodded. “Its not quite like fishing, the newts can go on land to escape, so some of them do. Theres also a risk of getting bitten - the splashing role is more dangerous in that regard, but you only need to worry about the poison bites, and we have the antidote.”

“It seems less dangerous than Idnuls,” I agreed. “I think I’ve got some ideas about how to flush them out, so how about you manage the net?”

“Great! Just let me get set up.” Felicia moved downstream a few meters and then waded in, carefully bracing the net in the water. “Go ahead!”

I carefully contemplated the deeper section, planning the spacing. I cast a [Static Image] on either side of the stream, of an Idnul Lizard, half in the water. They looked a little odd with the way the water flowed through them, but it seemed to have an effect. There was a change in how the newts darted about, but they didn’t make a run for it yet. Then I put another [Static Image] in the water upstream, of the bigger Ilan Lizard.

That got a reaction. A good number of newts dashed downstream, with none of them making for the bank, my other illusions proving enough of a deterrent. The whole flock moved downstream at speed.

Felicia shrieked, scooping up the net and dashing toward the bank, laughing.

“That was scary! There were so many!” she exclaimed. She held the net upright, full of small struggling forms. “Can you hold this?”

I did so, and she brought out a small club. I held the net against a rock, and she carefully clubbed each one to death.

Your party has killed 11 Lesser Galcan Newts.

Your share of the XP is 22 XP

Your party has killed 2 Iridescent Galcan Newts.

Your share of the XP is 60 XP

“Thats about about twice as good as our normal haul!” she exclaimed. “That illusion technique is great!” She turned the net inside-out and delicately removed the corpses from the netting. “The lesser lizards are worth 2 copper each, but the iridescent ones are worth a silver.”

“Wow, thats a lot of silver for not much effort.”

“I know! I think we’ve fished out this pond though, we should move on to the next chamber.”

“Sure.”

We packed up our haul and headed downstream. Felicia explained that there were 5 chambers to the first level, and four of them were arranged in a circle with the stream flowing through each one. There was some kind of spatial magic that made the stream flow around in a loop, always going down. You could go around either way, but down was easier. The final chamber was reached from the furthest chamber from the entrance. The passageway to each chamber was guarded by an Ilan Lizard.

“The guardians spawn whenever the group that kills it goes down to level 2.” Felicia said, “Which makes it a bit of a gamble as to whether they’re there or not. That Level 4 group went through this morning, but I’m pretty sure they went down already.”

“So it should be guarded?”

“Probably, unless some other adventurers are messing around on this level. Do you think we can take it?”

“I guess?” I’d fought an Ilan on my own, but that was while invisible. Still, there were two of us and my blade skill had gone up. “I’ll try a different trick this time - I’ll put something over their head so they can’t see. When that happens, we rush it!”

“Sounds good,” Felicia grinned.

It wasn’t long before we reached the passage. It was guarded, a big lizard standing right in our way. It saw us coming and hissed like steam kettle.

“Ready?” I said, and cast my spell. [Static Image]

The Ilan’s hissing turned into a startled raspy shriek as we ran forward to attack. Unlike [Blind], I couldn’t make the darkness follow the movement of the target, so it was only a matter of time before it moved out of it. Before it could though, we attacked.

You have inflicted 26 damage!

The lizard thrashed around but all it accomplished was to get out of the darkness. Felicia and I struck again.

You have inflicted 25 damage!

Finally able to see us, the Ilan struck back, biting at me, but I twisted away. Felicia stabbed him again, and I managed the finishing blow.

You have inflicted 19 damage!

For killing a Ilan Lizard, you have earned 30 XP

We stood triumphant over the corpse, grinning at each other.

“Kyle never let me fight these,” she confessed. “Its exciting!”

“Yeah,” I said. This is the first time I’ve fought one when I was visible. Scary. Hang on though… As the adrenaline faded, something started bugging me about my combat notifications. Shouldn’t I be doing more damage now? My dagger skill went up…

Looking at my logs, I could see that my effect totals had gone up, but my damage… went down if anything. I must be getting some bonus when my target can’t see me. That would make sense.

“Katherine?” I heard Felicia say, and I realised I had zoned out for a bit.

“Sorry, I was just checking my logs for something.” I said. “Shall we move on?”

We repeated our fishing trick, this time netting 5 silver between us and 140 XP each. Fighting the next chamber guardian went just as easy, and I gained a point of [Dodge] and [Illusion Magic] from it. A [Dodge] of 3 took my base Effect Level to 18, and I was pretty sure that meant that a lizard probably couldn’t hit me anymore. Feeling confident, I proposed that we keep doing this around the ring and then call it a day.

It proved a good decision, as our catches on the next two caves were even higher. We caught 6 iridescent newts at the next cave, and 5 on the one after that. We were raking in both XP and money. Felicia hit level 3 after the third cave, and I reached it after fourth. Of course, we only celebrated Felicia’s Level, but I felt relief that reality had caught up with my lie.

We talked about Ability development on the way back. Felicia was disappointed that she didn’t have enough for another point of Intelligence. Since she didn’t have [Calculate] she couldn’t really tell how the cost system worked, just that it cost X points, and she didn’t have that many. After getting her numbers from her, I was able to re-assure her that after she got her next block of Ability points from her two previous levels, she’d have enough. Also warn her that if she bought one of her cheaper stats, she wouldn’t have enough until next year. An Intelligence of six was a requirement for [Healer] so she decided to wait.

As for me, I also wanted to wait. Maybe it was vanity, but I wanted Charisma at 10. More importantly, I had to decide on spells. [Greater Invisibility] was now available, which meant that I didn’t have to worry about the lesser versions any more. [Blind] seemed like a useful combat spell I could cast when fighting in a group, but since I had more points, I went for [Improved Blind] which covered hearing and smell as well.

I brought up my full [Status] again.

Name

Kandis Hammond

Profession: Phantasmal Artificer Level 3 [Unspent Ability Points] 88 Age 24 [Unspent Skill Points] 4 Abilities [Unspent Development Points] 9 [Strength] 3 [Unspent Spell Levels] 0 [Agility] 3 [HP] 180/180 [Finesse] 3 [Stamina] 240/240 [Soul] 3 [Mana] 360/360 [Intelligence] 4 [Charisma] 9 Skills [Body Development] 2 [WM: Dagger] 3 (4) [Stamina Development] 3 [Deceive] 2 (4) [Perception] 2 [Charm] 2 (3) [Identify] 2 [Conversation] 2 (3) [Scribe] 2 [Dodge] 3 [Calculate] 4 [Jump] 1 [Mana Sense] 2 [Climb] 1 [Mana Development 2 (3) [Run] 2 [Illusion Magic] 3 (6) [Stealth] 2 [Creativity] 1 [Memorise] 2 [Disguise] 2 [Bargain] 1 [Intrigue] 1 [Advanced Mathematics] 2 Unlocked Skills [Enchanting] [Research] [Teach] [WM: Axe] [Thrown] Traits [World Walker] Level prerequisites for Professions are overridden. +1 bonus to all stats [Gift of Tongues] All languages are understood. [Female] +1 bonus to Charisma [Silent Casting] Allows you to cast spells without a chant [Subtle Casting] Allows you to cast spells without gestures [Disease Resistance] You are more resistant to disease of all types.(Upgradeable) Spells Mana [Static Image] Creates an unmoving image of a single object not more than 1 cubic metre in volume. (upkeep 1/hour) 5 [Light] Creates a light that can be moved, brightened, or dimmed. (upkeep 1/hour) 5 [Unseen Sound] Creates a sound from a source you designate. (upkeep 1/hour) 5 [Simple Invisibility] People and Creatures are unable to see you. (upkeep 3/hour) 15 [Disguise] Modify your appearance and clothing as required (upkeep 3/hour) 15 [Conceal Mana] Hides a casters mana from others (upkeep 2/hour) 10 [Greater Invisibility] Invisible to all senses, can be cast on others (upkeep 6/hour) [Improved Blind] Blocks sight, sound and smell from reaching one target (upkeep 4/hour)

Looking good, at least for a start. I still wasn’t in a position to take on Reynard, but there was a decent chance my illusions would fool him now. I really needed to think about spending those Development points. The problem was that there were so many things to spend them on. I probably wasn’t going to take another profession at this point, but there were spell-casting traits, extra spells, skill bonuses, physical traits… so many choices.

Getting back into town, I persuaded Felicia to let me take care of selling our harvest. She was reluctant as she’d been the one to do this before, but I pointed out that I had [Bargain]

Competency in [Persuasion] demonstrated, Level 1 awarded.

Was that really the first time I persuaded someone since coming here? Oh well, no complaints. Selling the lizards went well. I didn’t have the [Bargain] skill to overwhelm the (experienced) merchants, but just having the skill made a big difference. I got a 50% price increase on our [Average] quality corpses, which was most of them, thanks to Felicia’s careful clubbing technique. Calculation came in handy too… it must be incredibly annoying dealing in multiple small items with people who can’t multiply.

“Oh, you have [Calculate]?” the man said, after I added up how much he owed us. “That makes things easier.” His face relaxed somewhat from the pained look he’d gotten when he realised he wasn’t going to get the same prices as before. “And [Bargain] as well, are you a merchant yourself?” He made a complicated shape with one hand, bending his middle fingers over his thumb with the palm up.

“No, but I have a background in… something similar.” I glanced down at his hand. “Is that the sign of your secret society?”

He flushed, “Ah, no, no, just a Guild recognition sign. Heres your money. 30 silver and 6 copper, as agreed.”

“Pleasure doing business,” I said. I quickly arranged the coins into 4 piles. 15 silver and 3 copper twice so that Felicia could easily see, then handed her her share. She had the presence of mind to squeal after we left the store.

“This is more than Kyle and I made working together!”

“This is just the start,” I said. “Now we can start planning for the next Dungeon level.”

“What, really?” Felicia asked, shocked. “But they say the boss is really dangerous…”

“Not right away,” I reassured her. “We’ll get more information first. But the first level isn’t a challenge anymore - I don’t think even the Ilan lizards can hit us.”

“I guess…”

“And did you notice how the XP went down when you hit Level 3?”

“I hadn’t?”

I sighed. “I’ve got to teach you how to calculate.”

“I’ve got the skill unlocked, but I’m saving my points.”

I considered. “I’ve got something I can try. Don’t know if it will work, but it won’t cost you skill points. Anyway, the thing is, we need to go after higher threat level monsters if we want to keep gaining levels.”

“I suppose… its scary though.”

“Thats why we’ve got to prepare.” I told her. “Get some armour, maybe some better weapons… Lets head back to the Guild for now.”

Felicia followed me back to the Guild. Looking over the tables, I saw what I’d hoped to see, and dragged Felicia over to Sean’s table.

“Hi guys,” I said. “Are you busy? We were hoping to get some advice.”

All four of them were at the table, Nina and Evard on one side, and Sean and Eric on the other. Nina smiled at me, but it was Sean that spoke first.

“Of course, we’ve always got time to guide pretty young adventurers like yourselves. Take a seat!”

They shifted a bit closer and we each took a seat on one of the benches. Felicia sat next to Nina, and I was next to Eric.

“Everyone, this is Felicia, Felicia this is Nina, Evard, Sean and Eric,” I said, pointing to each in turn. “Sean, don’t bother, she’s got a boyfriend.”

“I- what, I never said-“ Felicia spluttered.

“Oh great, this is starting again, and I’m in the middle,” said Eric with a chuckle.

“I don’t even want to know what you think you’re implying,” I said, loftily. “We’ re here on serious business. We’re thinking of attempting the first level boss.”

That sobered them up. This was a group that took adventuring seriously.

“I can’t really recommend that,” Edvard said. “Its way too early at level 2-“

“We’re level 3!” Felicia interrupted.

“Oh, congratulations. Hmm, thats better…” Edvard paused, thinking it through.

“Not in a combat class though,” said Nina. “Casters?”

“Illusionist.” I said, keeping my grimace to myself.

“And Healer!” said Felicia. “Well, I’m not a Healer yet, just a Witch until I get my Intelligence up.”

“Oho,” Sean said. “Those are rare classes in a dungeon.”

“Support classes,” Evard stressed. “Don’t get me wrong, they’re great to have in a party, but-“

“You need to have a fighter off some sort to support.” Nina finished.

“Oh, we will!” said Felicia. “Kyle’s a fighter, he’ll be part of the group.”

“Huh, then maybe…” Edvard ran his fingers through his beard. “Maybe its doable. You’d need-“

“Advice about what arms and armour to get?” I interrupted.

“What?”

“Look,” I said. “I get that we’re just starting out. But first level isn’t a challenge anymore, so while we’ve started making silver, we’re not getting the XP we need to grow. We need to start investing in gear before we get to the next level, and I’d like some advice on what to get. There are so many options, I don’t know where to start.”

Eric laughed. “I guess we’re not your mothers after all. What did you want to know?”

“Well to start with… we’re both dagger users. What should be be looking at for more damage?”

“A bigger weapon?” suggested Sean. “I’m very fond of mine.” I gave him a look, and he laughed. “But if you want to stick with knifes, you need to ask the expert.”

We all looked at Edvard. “Hmph. Daggers are all about skill, and speed - which is a skill. The weapon itself doesn’t make such a difference like it does with a sword. Let me take a look.”

We handed over our knifes. “About what I expected, Average quality, no specialisations. These are fine.” he shrugged. “You can buy something like this for 2 silvers. could pay a bit more for a slightly bigger weapon that would still fit into small bladed, something with a proper guard that would help you parry better. Maybe 3 silvers total, get you to +15 damage.” He handed the weapons back. “Or you could pay more for a Good quality weapon - ten to fifteen silver. Good quality daggers run from about 15 to 22 damage.”

“So a 50 percent damage bonus?” I asked. Edvard hesitated, looking over to Nina, who nodded. Another person without [Calculate]! I should start a school.

“I guess so,” Edvard continued. If you really want to spend the money, you can upgrade to silversteel. Generally you only find Good quality ones, they go for 50 silver and can do up to 30 damage. Theres darksteel as well, but that isn’t about damage.”

“What is it about then?”

“Darksteel is dark - it doesn’t reflect light at all, nor does it make a sound. And it halves the value of steel armour it goes through.”

“A metal for assassins then?”

“Yeah, its not any better against the monsters here. Its only so common here because its dropped at the Oakway dungeon. Anywhere else you could expect to pay 100 silver for a darksteel dagger, but around here you can get it for the price of a silversteel one.”

“Is that dropped locally as well?”

“No, but theres a bunch of dungeons near the capital that drop it. Trade tends to be either towards or away from Dorsay, so its traded in most places throughout the Kingdom. Other areas have their own local steels, but its rare to find them outside of the capital or the local area.”

“Huh.” I kind of wanted to drill down into the trading details, but I had other priorities right now. “So if the bonus that quality or silversteel gets you is percentage based, that would explain why its more useful for bigger weapons.”

“Uh…” I’d lost Edvard at that point, and Felicia as well, but Nina was still with me.

“Yes.” She turned to Felicia. “The bonus for a +10 dagger is only 5, but the bonus for a +40 sword is 20. Thats a lot more.”

“Indeed,” said Evard. “It is worth upgrading if you’re a dagger user, but not that worthwhile. Its better to have a lot of cheap ones, at least for me.”

“Why a lot?”

“Thrown weapons, for one. Also, my profession allows for dual wielding.”

“And extra stabbing, don’t forget that!” Sean chimed in.

“Yes, skills that allow for multiple attacks work best with small weapons.”

“Multiple attacks…” I said. Thinking back, all my fights so far had been trading blow for blow. “How do you get those?”

“Profession, mostly.” Evard said. “Theres some traits, but its much cheaper to get the profession.”

“Switch to Rogue after you get invisibility, you’d be practically an Assassin!” Eric said.

“I’m not going to be an Assassin!” I protested.

Evard shrugged. “Its a valid build for dungeon delving. Good for solo delves.”

I made a face and protested some more, but I had to admit that was the path I was on. Although I wasn’t planning on switching professions just to get better at stabbing.

“The thing is,” said Evard, “If you’re attacking twice as fast, you wear out the dagger twice as fast as well.”

“Weapons wear out?” I asked, surprised.

“Not quickly,” Evard replied, “But daggers wear out faster than most weapons, especially if you use them more.”

“I guess it would be annoying to drop a large amount on a weapon, only to see it break.”

“You can repair them, but you need a better smith than the one that forged it, or it will drop a quality level.”

“So moving on to armour,” I asked.

“Ah, my time to shine,” said Sean. “For armour, it depends on if you have the skill or not.”

“Theres a skill?”

“[Armour Use]. It reduces armour penalties and lets you parry with your armour.”

“Wait, parry with armour? I thought that it took a weapon to parry. Not that I’ve been doing anything other than dodge. Is that another skill?”

“No it comes under [Weapon Mastery]” Evard told me. “You’ll want to keep dodging, at least while you’re using a single dagger. With two daggers, you’ll get a small bonus to parry, even if you can’t attack with both.”

“OK, so armour parry?”

“When you’ve got hard armour, you can use that to block a blow, just like you would with a sword.” Sean gestured at Nina who had hard leather armour strapped to her forearms. “It works best with gauntlets or armour on the arms, but you can do it with any armour in principle. The main advantage is that even if you fail the block, you get the full benefit of your armour. Oh, and [Armour Use] also makes it more likely that an attack will hit the armour, instead of a gap.”

Now I was starting to get lost. “So everyone needs [Armour Use]?”

“No. Soft armour doesn’t have much in the way of gaps, and doesn’t have encumbrance until you get to chain mail, so [Armour Use] isn’t going to do much for you if thats what you’re wearing.” He pointed to Eric, who was wearing what amounted to leather clothing. “I don’t think [Armour Use] even unlocks for leather does it, Eric?”

“Nope.” Eric said. “I’ve got it unlocked, on account of having worn chain before, but I’ve never gotten it.”

“Casters generally go for either no armour, relying on their team, or light soft armour, for a bit of extra protection.” Sean continued. “Nina’s a special case.”

I looked at Nina who explained: “I have tougher than normal skin, almost as good as leather, and I wear these vambraces-” she held up her arms, “-to block more damaging attacks.”

“Quality bonuses?” I asked.

Sean shrugged. “Generally not worth it for leather-crafting, hard or soft. Metal reinforced leather benefits from skilled crafting, and theres all sorts of things a skilled metalworker can do with armour. And before you ask, darksteel is popular for armour as it doesn’t make any noise. Its not any more protective than steel, though it is immune to the darksteel armour piercing effect. Silversteel is as well, and it negates a lot of other metal qualities.”

“Oh,” Nina interjected. “Don’t forget there are enchanted options for cloth and leather once you get rich. Thats why casters don’t often go for the armour skill, they plan on getting enchanted robes.”

“I think I’m almost as lost as I was before,” I complained. “There are so many options.”

Sean smiled. “For the boss, leather will be fine. If you don’t want to get the skill, get some leggings, jacket and gloves out of leather and you’ll be fully protected. That should see you through the boss and the second level as well. Your current boots are workable, but you want to upgrade to a steel reinforced pair as soon as you can. They will stay with you unless you go full steel - as the smart people do.” Sean was the only steel-armoured person at the table, so this last bit was greeted with a round of jeers.

“Thats going to set me back… 50 silver? I only have 15!”

“Then you need to just keep farming the first level,” Sean said sympathetically. “Just be patient and don’t take risks until you’re fully prepared.”

Felicia giggled, then blushed when everyone looked at her. She’d been pretty quiet so far, somewhat overawed by the Level fours.

“What is it?” Sean asked.

“Oh, ah, its just that you told Katherine to be patient,” she said. “I don’t think thats going to go down well.”