Winston stood in the mouth of the tunnel with Josh and the rest of his friends packed in around him. They all looked down on the ancient ruins of Tezem with slack-jawed expressions. They’d taken the little side-tunnel around the main door and come out into a huge dimly lit cavern. The floor fell away below them and went down at least thirty-meters into a small city. A set of stone steps lead down from the main stone door only a few paces away. The steps connected to the city's main thoroughfare that ran at least a mile off into the distance. The buildings were all made of dried earth but the outsides had been shaped into precise geometric shapes. Small ramps lead up the sides and split off into various rooms but all the ramps were exactly the same width and looped in odd ways. Combined with the buildings odd shapes and exquisite precision it made for a breath-taking scene. In the very center of the cavern, stuck to the ceiling, was a large yellow crystal. It had been broken and several large chunks of it had apparently come off and fallen into the city below. It shown with a dim yellow light that only barely illuminated the carven.

To his human eyes the aesthetics were bizarre but he could see they’d been crafted with meticulous care. That was only part of the reason he was so slack-jawed though. The city was teaming with kobolds. Not hundreds, or thousands, but tens of thousands of the creatures filled the large space.

“Now what the hell do we do?” Asked someone from behind Winston. “There’s no way we can fight all those.”

“We’ll have to find someplace with a choke-point. Limit the numbers they can fight us with.” Josh said decisively.

“Dangerous.” Winston said. “Unlike you guys, I guarantee some of them can do magic. And a few fireballs thrown into an enclosed space will do for most of us.”

“Can’t you do magic? Asked Kevin.

“Yeah, really crappy magic. I’m a priest and a pretty crappy one of those honestly. I don’t have any healing spells.” Winston explained.

“We’re still going to have to do it any other way and we’ll just get swarmed. Let’s head for that first building on the left. We’ll push through the kobolds and climb the ramp that leads up to the roof. We’ll hold there and it’ll keep us from being in an enclosed space.” Josh said, pointing with his axe.

“Lets move!” Josh cried, he hopped from the tunnel there were in over to the main stairway. Then charged down with his shield raised. The rest of his friends must have been used to his leadership because they charged out right after him. Winston, not wanting to be left behind, called to Bog and ran after them.

The kobolds were taken completely by surprise and more than a few were trampled as their group sprinted through them. It was obvious they were just civilians. None had weapons and they wore little except loin-clothes or a few cheap trinkets as jewelry. It wasn’t until they reached the bottom of the stairs and neared the ramps that they met some real resistance.

Five kobolds had stepped forward to block them. They wore leather armor and held crude swords, but their physique was a step above the normal kobolds. Josh didn’t even slow down. He just hid behind his shield as he shouted.

“PIERCING CHARGE!” His shield lit up with golden light and formed into a rough wedge in front of him like a massive cow-catcher on the front of an old steam train. He barreled forward and the kobold’s line was split easily as the rest of the group followed behind him.

They climbed the oddly twisting ramp at a run only stopping when they reached the top of the building they’d chosen.

“Alright, we’ll hold here for now.” Josh said. He wasn’t out of breath at all, none of them were but Winston supposed that was what you got with a group full of melee fighters. He walked over to the edge and looked down. The city was seething like an anthill someone had kicked over. Kobold’s were running everywhere and the air was filled with the sound of frightened and angry hissing.

The civilian kobolds were running away while groups of more fierce looking kobolds were forming up and heading there direction. Winston really wished their group had a mage, or at least a few archers. Even someone with a short-bow and a few arrows would really help out.

The first group of warrior kobolds was already heading up the ramp. They looked a bit ragged and Winston decided they were probably the ones who’d tried to stop them at the bottom of the ramp.

“Get ready. Here they come.” He said. Even if his magic was crappy he didn’t have much reason not to use it here. He had the high ground and a free shot. It was basically just a chance to level his skills. Even if he couldn’t really hurt them, holding his magic back wouldn’t help that much.

He circled his arms in dramatic gesture before pushing his palms forward. Fire erupted from his hands and he tried his best to push the flames out and down towards the kobolds. Sorcerers had a harder time with long distance attacks than wizards. Each wizard spell was basically fire and forget. Once they knew the runes to get a particular spell effect that was it.

A sorcerer could manipulate their mana directly and create whatever they wanted. Giant flaming trident? No problem. You’d need apprentice level Mana manipulation to be able to give the trident any real substance but a sorcerer was only limited by their imagination and skill levels.

Winston had no ranks in mana manipulation so his flames just wanted to disperse right as they came out of his hands. It let him create large swathes of low-powered flame at close range, but that was basically all he could do. To get stronger flames and to extend the range he had to compress and control the mana as it left him.

Winston gritted his teeth and threw his will into his spell. The flames coming from his hands started to creep outwards, first five feet, then ten. He felt something click in his mind and the next five feet came easily. He had to push again to get it to twenty but that was far enough. The kobolds started to hiss angrily as the flames washed over them but they kept charging. His spells were still too weak and extending them out that far was sucking up lots of mana.

He sighed and stopped his flames. The kobolds gear was slightly charred but they seemed more angry than hurt. He sighed as he stepped back from the edge. He really needed to practice magic more.

The kobolds made it to the top of the ramp and ran into Josh’s friends. They’d arranged themselves into two rows and were fighting with more discipline than Winston had expected. Josh held the center of the formation with his heavy armor and shield. While the others hacked at the kobolds with whatever weapons they had. They’d obviously been fighting together for quite a while and worked as a seamless team. Winston understood why Josh had started playing. That kind of coordination likely would transfer to the football field.

Things seemed to go alright for the first few minutes, but fighting was hard work and everyone got tired, even in a video game. The first group of kobolds had died but more had come behind them and even more behind them. Rib, the barbarian finally got caught and he yelled as he fell backwards with a bleeding stump where his left hand should have been. The careful and disciplined line collapsed. Kobolds swarmed onto the roof and Winston finally joined the fight.

“Shield of Faith!” Winston cried. He poured a good half his mana into the spell. Making a massive transparent shield that took up half the ramp. It let the left side of the line stabilize while everyone else tried to deal with the kobolds that were on the roof. They had three people and one bird to fight off at least eight of the foul lizard-like creatures.

As worried as Winston was, Bog seemed to be in heaven. She hadn’t had a chance to vent in a long time and she happily stomped, rammed, and clawed at the kobolds. Winston put his staff in his pack and released his claws before diving in. He caught a dagger in the side but grunted and gutted the offending kobold with his claws. Two more went down from Josh’s friends and Bog knocked a third over letting Winston claw his throat open. Winston felt his shield break and he took another wound as he called to Bog and rushed to fill the gap.

The next minute was a mess of red-scaled bodies, slashing claws, and stabbing swords. Winston took a half-dozen minor wounds before someone took his place in the line. Bog was pushed out soon after with a broken wing and a cut on one leg. The line was back up and holding again but they couldn’t keep this up.

He’d wanted to save the rest of his faith points incase the line broke again and he needed to plug it with another shield. They were desperate though and it was the priests jobs to buff. He pulled out his staff again and started to channel his faith. He poured it out over all his allies holding the line and cast his spell.

“Armor of Faith!” His faith condensed around the six figures fighting. He’d never tried to use it on more than one person before. The effect seemed to have been diluted a bit, since each person only got a breast-plate. Usually they got a full suit of armor with helm when he used it but he supposed it was a good trade-off. He hadn’t had enough faith to give everyone armor.

The armor seemed to help, but it didn’t let anyone regain stamina or health. Things were not good. Winston was already light-headed from blood loss and he wasn’t the worst injured Everyone in the group and numerous wounds and one was missing his hand. He’d likely have to respawn to get that fixed. Just as the line was about the break the kobolds finally stopped coming. A pile of corpses lay on the ramp and as combat ended they dissolved leaving behind money and items.

[Elemental Magic Skill Increased!]

[Current Rank: Novice V]

[Elemental Magic Has Reached Skill Cap!]

[You Must Spend a Skill point to improve it further]

[Fire Magic Sub-Skill has Increased]

[Current Rank Novice V]

[Fire Magic Has Reached Skill Cap!]

[You Have Learned A New Skill!]

[Mana Manipulation]

[Mana is the fundamental energy of all magic. Learning how to alter and control mana in its fundamental form is the discipline of mana manipulation. It is a requirement for almost all advanced magic.]

[Current Rank: Novice I]

[Shield of Faith has Improved]

[Current Rank: Beginner IV]

[Hand-To-Hand Has Increased]

[Current Rank: Novice IV]

[Taming Has Increased]

[Current Rank: Beginner III]

Winston frantically closed all the message as an odd hissing chant started. It echoed oddly in the large room and Winston walked over to the edge of the roof to look down into the city. The kobolds down there had mostly retreated but the ones left around the base of the building were jumping and waving their arms around as they chanted. A massive kobold was walking down the main street Winston’s direction. He had the same red-scales and reptilian faces the other kobolds, but he was nearly the same size as jason crocodilian avatar, almost seven feet tall with muscles that stood out under his scales.

As he got closer Winston could see more and more detail. The sword was at least five feet long and was full of pits and chips. It made the weapon look even more vicious and with the dim light and eerie chanting Winston had to admit he was intimidated.

“Boss monster incoming.” Winston said aloud.

“Alright, keep it together boys. Last hurdle.” Josh said. His words seemed to perk everyone up and Winston wondered if he had some sort of leadership skill or if it was just his charisma. Either way it was effective and everyone got back into position as the boss started up the ramp.

“I’ll keep him occupied. The rest of you circle around to flank. He seems to be a standard bruser, probably with some kind of AOE cleave attack so keep on your toes.” Josh continued as everyone formed up and got ready to fight again.

As the giant kobold finally got to the roof Josh banged his axe on to his shield while Levi, their battle master, shouted.

“Rallying Cry!” Red light blossomed around the fighters as they all stood more straight. The kobold swing it’s massive sword and Josh raised his own shield to block. The rest of the fighters fanned out around the boss and Winston fell back. This fight was out of his weight-class. It was best to leave it to the professionals.

Once the fight was underway the other fighters rushed in and started to activate all their best abilities.

“Heavy Blow!”

“Swift Strike!”

“Axe Flurry!”

Light of half a dozen colors flashed as the kobold was bombarded. It roared in anger and green light flared as its sword swung in a crescent. Energy rushed out and Josh’s fighters were all blasted backwards and away. That left Winston and Bog as the only ones standing and the kobolds angry black eyes turned towards them.

“That’s not good.”Winston muttered. “Bog Fowl Charge!” He cried as he ran away.

More green light flared, this time around Bogdonna as she bolted forward at triple speed. The kobold hissed and swung his sword but Bog reacted almost instantly. She leapt into the air, blue light rippling around her as she activated another skill. She jumped again as if the air had turned solid, clearing the sword swing and crashing into the kobolds face and chest light a meaty poultry missile.

This time it was the kobold who was knocked backwards. Everyone of the rooftop accept Winston was now scrambling to get back up. The fight had turned into a giant mess and Winston could do little but stand back and watch.

The fight got uglier from there. Someone dove forward and hacked at the kobolds legs drawing blood but taking a vicious pommel-strike for his trouble. Winston head the guy’s teeth shatter and he slumped to the ground spitting blood.

That turned the tide however. Against five opponents and with a bum leg, the boss couldn’t keep up and a minute later someone finally opened its throat. The boss collapsed and the rest of the group wasn’t far behind.

“There’s no-way we can finish this dungeon like this. What is it you’re looking for?” Josh asked. His blonde hair was plastered to his head with sweat and he was covered in wounds.

“I need a sun crystal.” Winston said, pointing to the dimly glowing crystal in the ceiling. I’m not sure if I need a whole crystal or just part of one. If its a whole crystal we’ll have to go farther into the dungeon. If it’s only part we might be able to find a chunk down in the city.”

“Either way we can’t go now.” Josh said with a sigh. “Set up camp here. We’ll need the extra regen bonuses. We’ll rest and hour or two then search the city. Hopefully we’ll find what we need and can leave.”

“What did the boss drop?” Someone asked.

Kevin walked over and picked through the pile of loot. “Healing potion, decent quality but wont help Rob with his hand. Around 200 gold, pretty weak haul there.” He muttered to himself. “A few gems, nothing to good except, oh this is a fairly nice ruby. Still, not great and looks like the broken hilt of his sword as a crafting drop. Maybe 1000 gold total, still pretty crappy split 7 ways.”

“Six ways.” Winston said, refuting him. “I’m just here to get my quest done. Its for my class upgrade at 20. That’s all I want from here, unless we find some interesting plants.”

“Even six way it’s still pretty sucky.” Kevin replied as he divided up the loot. While he did that Josh stood up and walked over to the edge of the roof.

“Looks like most of the kobolds pulled out of the city below. We should be able to search it without too much trouble. Let’s rest up then start looking.”