Kass was captivated by the stone she held, unable to take her eyes off of it. She figured it was probably the most expensive thing she had ever held, not including Whisper of course, but he didn’t count. She continued to rub her thumb over its smooth surface, deep in thought.

After a few minutes, she spoke. “Are you sure I can’t use this for my own shields?”

“It is not something anyone has achieved, according to my knowledge. Not only would it cost a fortune and prove difficult to keep active, but the stone would also become very unstable and possibly volatile.”

“Well…maybe when I get stronger I’ll find a way to do it.” she closed her hand around the triangular stone one last time, and then stored it away. She focused her gaze on the tunnel in front of her, looking at its rough, natural walls.

It wasn’t very big, just wide enough for her to be able to walk without having to turn to the side. The ceiling was low, however, and she would have to crouch slightly to get through.

“Good thing I’m not claustrophobic...I think…” She wasn’t, as far as she knew, but just looking into the small tunnel made her nervous. The image of getting stuck with creepy crawlies all around her wasn’t a pleasant one.

“I should probably use my class point before we go in there. Give me a second.”

She summoned the runed book and opened it to her class page, confirming she wanted to spend her free point. The dice materialized above the book like they always did and she grabbed them, preparing to cast them. Before she did, she paused, however, an idea coming to mind.

“What if I tried to get a luck bonus before I rolled these? Do you think it would have any effect on the results?”

“I see no harm in testing the idea.”

“Yeah, you’re right, we have time, and if it helps us get through this then it will be worth it.”

Kass canceled the use of her class point and instead began casting Gambler’s Way. With the new stats added from Emelia’s Blessing as well as the bonus two points from her Scholar’s Necklace, her intelligence was sitting at fifty nine. With five hundred and ninety mana and a cost of only twenty-five mana per cast, she figured she could try around twenty times before risking a headache.

Probably not a good idea to have my mana that low anyways. Maybe fifteen or something.

The dice bounced off the sides of the invisible box and then settled. Knight, axe, fool’s.

Buff Gained: +1 Strength and Dexterity - Duration: 55 seconds.

The next three casts netted similar results, and Kass just skipped over them and moved onto the next.

Axe, axe, moon.

Buff Gained: +12% mana drain with physical attacks, +21% Attack speed - Duration: 14 minutes 12 seconds

That could come in handy in a fight. She mentally filed away the information, still looking for patterns in each of the buffs she received with specific rolls, and then continued on her search for more luck.

She came across a few other interesting buffs, like increased body weight and even underwater breathing, but after twelve tries she still hadn’t seen anything that had to do with luck. Well, thirteenth time’s a charm.

Moon, fool’s, fool’s. Shit.

Debuff Gained: -14 Intelligence, Chance of Temporary Paralysis 4% - Duration: 11 minutes

Wow that’s terrible. Chance of paralysis...that’s messed up. She waited out the eleven minutes unable to override the debuff. She had expected to become paralyzed at some point, but nothing ended up happening. The short wait did recoup a few of her missing mana points that she quickly used again once the window disappeared.

She reached fifteen tries without any luck stat bonuses showing up, and decided she’d try a few more times since she had some extra mana from waiting.

The seventeenth surprised her.

Crown, crown, crown.

Buff Gained: +23% Chance to Find Rare Items, +12% Chance of Persuasion, +3 Charisma - Duration: 4 hours 12 minutes

Holy. This buff is incredible. “I think this is as close as we’re going to get to extra luck today. Besides, I don’t want to overwrite this one.”

Kass brought up her class page again and respent the point, bringing the dice back into existence. This time she didn’t hesitate and cast them into the invisible dice tower.

Skull, moon, moon.

Reward

Mage’s Staff: Decrease Cast Time and Increase Spell Power, Slightly

Slime in a Jar: Not a Pet

Artificer’s Gloves: Makes You...Better With Your Hands

Select One

Mage’s staff could come in handy, but I imagine it would have to be in my hands to work, and I doubt switching to it during battle would be easy. Slime in a Jar…? No idea. And lastly, artificer’s gloves, which might be good too, if I were an inventor…

“What does it mean by Slime in a Jar? The description just says ‘Not a Pet’...why would slime be mistaken for a pet?”

“Ah, you misunderstand. It is referring to the monster archetype of Slime.”

“Oh...right, now that makes more sense,” she said as she remembered the general information that was uploaded into her brain. “Why would anyone want to put one of those in a jar?”

“Hmm, some slimes can be useful for cleaning up certain things like blood, metals, and even carcasses. There are other types as well that could possibly be dangerous, given the right situation.”

“So what do you think would be better to get, the slime in a jar of the artificer’s gloves? I already decided it was a no on the mage’s staff.”

“Are you planning on becoming a crafter of any type in the near future?”

“Umm...no?”

“The gloves could fetch a decent price if you are looking for value, though the slime could come in handy. If only we knew the type contained within the jar. Are you sure about the staff?”

“I’m not sure about anything right now...I hate all of these decisions...I feel like I’m always going to make the wrong choice and it's going to get me killed because of it.”

The blade didn’t respond to her complaining. After another minute of stewing over her options, she finally made a decision.

“I’m going with the slime. If you think it could be useful then that’s our best shot. The gloves are probably the better choice in the long run, but I need things that can help me now.”

She selected the slime in a jar option and confirmed her decision. The jar materialized on the floor in front of her just as a new window popped up.

Jar of Black Slime - An enchanted jar that imprisons a black slime. The slime can be recalled to the jar if within 50 yards.

“Jar of black slime...what does black do? I only know about acid, blood, and the variations of metal slimes.” she asked as she picked up the small jar. It was only half the length of her hand tall and even less than that wide.

“How fortunate, black slimes are simply stronger versions of the acid slime, increasing their corrosiveness as well as their mobility. ”

“Huh, should we try it out?”

“Hmm, a dangerous idea, but since you plan on using this slime at some point, it would be wise to understand it better.”

“Yeah, probably…” she wasn’t sure if she wanted to anymore. Kass looked at the tiny jar in her hands again, and then shrugged. It’s so small. What’s the worst that could happen?

She began unscrewing the lid slowly and pointed it away from herself, remembering the firearm safety class her dad made her take. She definitely didn’t want the slime popping out onto her. After only a few turns, she felt the pressure pushing on the lid and doubted she could have held it back without her newfound strength.

Straining slightly to hold it on, Kass took a few steps back and aimed across the room. She took a deep breath, and then mentally counted to three.

One...two...three!

She lifted her hand from the jar, taking the lid with it, and watched as a mass of black goo the size of a baseball shot out of the small container, making a loud slurping sound as it went. It only flew around twenty feet before smacking against the floor with a wet slap.

Kass gasped as the goo suddenly doubled in size, and then tripled. It swelled rapidly to the size of a basketball and still it kept growing. The ground beneath it sizzled slightly, and she just watched until it finally stopped expanding. Holy shit…

The slime now rose up to her knees in height and was nearly the same in width, having easily grown over ten times its original size. She watched as it inched forward towards her, moving at a snail's pace, and leaving behind it a trail of ooze that etched into the stone.

“Well, it’s not very fast, but that was pretty impressive to watch it grow.”

“Do not be fooled, this type of slime can move faster than that.”

The blade was right, she realized. When she looked away from the thing it sped up considerably, and then slowed down again when her gaze returned. Well that’s not creepy… She took a step back, away from the slime as it slid towards her.

It sped up suddenly, moving with rapid speed towards her. She stumbled backwards away from it, but it closed the distance and then leapt at her, springing off the ground and flying at her face. She dodged to the side, at the last second, and the slime flew past her, smacking into the ground once more.

Not a second later it lunged again, forcing Kass to sidestep so she wouldn’t get hit. What is this thing, the description was right, definitely not a pet… She ducked a third attack, watching it soar over her head. “Alright, that’s enough,” she said, pointing the jar at the black ooze and willing it to return.

She had no idea if that was the right thing to do, but it felt right, and she definitely wanted to get rid of the thing for now. The slime halted its movements almost immediately, and Kass watched as a chunk of it broke off and floated towards the opening of the jar.

Soon more pieces broke off and began filling the small container in her hands that somehow had enough space to fit the thing into. Not like I should be surprised by that considering I’m carrying everything I own inside a magical coat.

In just a few seconds the slime was back inside the jar and she screwed the lid back on tight. “Thanks for the heads up, that thing really can move,” she said as she shook the jar. “Oh hey, can I store this thing or will being in a pocket dimension kill the slime off?”

“A good question. The slime will survive due to the nature of the enchantments placed on the jar, but you are correct in your thinking that living things should not, and in most cases, cannot be placed within a pocket dimension.”

“What do you mean by cannot?”

“The life essence within each living creature would prevent you from doing so. This is the way the universe protects the living from those that can manipulate certain magics or, like you, open a rift between dimensions. This way, another being cannot simply will you into their own pocket dimension without your consent. Which I highly advise against doing, ever. This is also true for those that control things such as blood or water, making it difficult for them to control that which belongs to you, though for some very strong mages, it would still be possible.”

“That sounds awful…”

“Indeed, though the stronger you become the greater your resistance to such things becomes as well.”

“At least there’s that, which is how this entire world seems to run. A place where only the strong survive…”

She stored the jar of slime away and summoned her partially chewed nutrient brick. My jaw is going to be huge if I keep eating these things. Ha… She laughed at the thought and then sighed, “think it’s about time we leave this place? I kind of like not having to run for my life every second of the day…”

“It is time, you must continue to grow stronger, and we must leave this place behind to seek the assistance of others.”

“Yeah...I know...easier said than done.” Kass took one last look around at the crypt that had temporarily become her home. It was an awful place, truly, but somehow she felt a connection to it, and it would be hard to leave it behind knowing only more danger awaited her through the tunnel.

I’m as ready as I’ll ever be...let’s go K, can’t stay here forever. She stepped into the necromancer’s room and then ducked into the small tunnel, pushing her orb of light ahead of her to light the way. Off to another adventure I guess. Get stronger, help Whisper, get home. She sighed again, If only it were that easy.

Soon the crypt disappeared behind her and she focused on the path that lay ahead. The tunnel narrowed slightly as she moved deeper in, but her frame was still small enough for her to move through without having to turn to the side. She held Whisper out in front of her, having realized earlier that it would be almost impossible to draw the blade in such tight quarters if she needed to.

“Whisper? What are people like here on Arkos?” she asked quietly as she crept along.

“What do you mean?” replied the blade.

“Well, I know there are different races here that don’t exist where I’m from...but, I guess what I mean is are people friendly here? Do elves and the other races get along with humans?”

“Hmm, it has been many hundreds of years since I have spoken to or interacted with another person, but I imagine that people act in similar ways here as they did in your world. There will always be those that are good and kind, and there will always be those that are wicked and cruel, of any race. Though I believe the good almost always outweigh the cruel. As for your second question, many wars have waged between the races throughout the history of Arkos, and for many different reasons. As far back as I can remember, before the...darkness arrived, there existed a time of peace and prosperity.”

“Yeah, where I’m from there are plenty of wars too, but for the most part the world is at peace, even though it always seemed like that could change in an instant.” She said, stepping over a rock that jutted up from the floor. “Are there more humans than any other race? I think that’s how most fantasy stories were told from back home.”

“Yes, humans are prolific breeders that expand rapidly. Though the Brightlands were once only a home to elves, thousands of years ago, until humans discovered the land by accident. Then came the explorers, looking for wealth and treasure throughout the new land. This caused many wars between the two races, lasting for a hundred years before the humans were able to push back the elves through sheer numbers.

“The dwarves came later, brought by the humans as slaves. They are a people of talented craftsmen and powerful warriors, though they too were defeated by the humans in the past. The Brigh...urh...aghh…-” the blade cut off mid sentence and Kass immediately stopped her movements.

“The darkness, I sense it...close…” strained Whisper, but she had already guessed the reasoning and was preparing to cast her buffs.

“Well, I guess it’s time to get back to work…”