Alec was studying his lore book in the workroom when Master Swanson entered.

“It’s time boy.” He yelled as he walked over to one of the smaller workbenches. He motioned Alec over and put a small box on the bench. “Took a little longer than I’d have liked, but they came in this morning. You’ve proven your worth thus far. You’ve done what has been asked of you and done it well. I’ve yet to hear you complain about a single thing as well, which is extremely pleasing. You have learned faster than I expected, and you are far past the point I started that worthless piece of… my last apprentice on mixing powders and unguents. These are the skill gems I promised you when you became my apprentice. With them, we can put you on the next step of your training.” He opened the box to reveal two multicolored faceted crystals. They had an inner glow that caused lights to dance on the surfaces around them. “To absorb one, simply pick it up and select yes when the notification asks it of you. I will leave you to it, as I now need to get ready for the next stage of your training. I should be ready in an hour or so.”

Alec picked up the first crystal and watched as the lights danced around it. It had a slight warmth to it that he hadn’t expected. Inside, he could see an interesting fractal. He looked at the other and saw that it had a different fractal inside. Curious.

//Skill Gem

Rarity: Common

Skill: Mana Sense

Effect: Channeled

Cost: 2 mana/sec

Range: 5 ft

Description: Allows the user to see the flows of mana around them.//

//Would you like to Enhance this item?//

//Skill Gem

Rarity: Common

Skill: Imbue Mana

Effect: Channeled

Cost: 5 mana/sec

Range: Touch

Description: The user may guide his mana into an object.//

//Would you like to Enhance this item?//

He selected yes on the second gem.

//Select the property you wish to Enhance.

Effect

Cost

Range//

//Enhance: Effect

Current Effect: Channeled

You can change effect to Active for 1000 experience points.

You can change effect to Passive for 1000 experience points.//

//Enhance: Cost

Current Cost: 5 mana/sec

You can decrease the cost by 1 mana/sec for 1000 experience points.

You can increase the cost by 1 mana/sec for 1000 experience points.//

//Enhance: Range

Current Range: Touch

You can increase the range by 1 ft for 1000 experience points.//

You can decrease the range by 1 ft for 1000 experience points.//

This was something Alec would have never thought of. Once again, new options popped in his mind for his future. At this point, he had so many paths available, he would need to sit down and plot out his goals. He absorbed both skills and checked his character sheet.

//Name: Alec Montaine

Age: 16

Level: 3

Experience: 6/1450

Condition: Perfect

Health: 104/104

Health Regen: 5.25/min

Mana: 58

Mana Regen: 2.375/min

Physical

Strength: 9

Endurance: 6

Perception: 6

Agility: 7

Constitution: 7

Mental

Magic: 5

Intelligence: 12

Wisdom: 7

Fortitude: 6

Willpower: 6

Attribute Points available:0

Traits:

Enhance: Spend experience points to modify the properties of an object or entity targeted by the user. May not be used on self. Object must be under the ownership of the user. Sentient beings must give their consent. Non-sentient beings must be under the control of the user.

Cost: Variable Experience Points

Skills:

Mana Sense

Rarity: Common

Effect: Channeled

Cost: 2 mana/sec

Distance: 5 ft

Description: Allows the user to see the flows of mana around them.

Imbue Mana

Rarity: Common

Effect: Channeled

Cost: 5 mana/sec

Range: Touch

Description: The user may guide his mana into an object.//

He activated mana sense and looked around. Nothing had changed. He then activated imbue mana. He watched as his hands lit up in a white colored cloud tinged with a light blue. He pushed the aura away from his hands, and it dissipated as it left his skin, disappearing into the air. He canceled both skills, not wanting to waste his mana before he learned what his master was going to teach him today.

-----

An hour later, Alec was sitting next to his master at the main workbench. Several bowls of various ground herbs filled the space in front of him.

“Take the duskbloom and silvertip grass and set them in front of you.” Master Swanson commanded. This was part of a test, Alec realized. Fortunately, he had been very serious about his studies. He grabbed the silvertip grass but began to panic a little when he couldn’t find the duskbloom. It would be a purple and brown dust after his master had ground it in his mortar and pestle. Alec felt shame as he couldn’t identify it in any of the bowls.

“I cannot find the duskbloom, master.” He admitted, his eyes on the floor.

“Very good!” Master Swanson bellowed. Alec’s jaw dropped as the man smiled. It was like watching the sky turn green rather than blue, it just didn’t happen. “Was really hoping you wouldn’t choose one randomly. Would’ve been terribly awkward after I praised you for your studiousness just now. Two lessons here, boy.” He reached under the workbench and pulled out a bowl of duskbloom, placing it in front of Alec. “First, always be honest. You are my student, and you are not required to know everything just yet. That is my job. Second, never, and I mean never use something unless you are absolutely sure what it is. You did well admitting to me that you were having trouble, and even better not choosing any of these in duskbloom’s place. I would have let you mix them without saying a word. Best way to learn a lesson at your age is to fail. This,” he grabbed a bowl of dried orange and pink lumps. “is what my last apprentice chose. The gas it released when he mixed it with the silvertip grass gave him diarrhea for days. It was highly amusing.” He moved the extra bowls to the side of the table. “The next step is to mix the two ingredients together and then add a small amount of water to turn it into an unguent. The important part here is to imbue your mana into the powder as you add the water and stir the concoction. Your mana acts as a catalyst to release the magical properties of the ingredients. This is why you had to wait until you had the proper skills. If you were to do this without them, you would just get a sticky substance that does nothing.”

He took the powders that had been premeasured, poured them into a small round tin, and stirred them together using a small wooden spoon. He grabbed a small beaker of water, also premeasured, with his other and and slowly let the water drip into the mixture. As it did, his hands lit up with an azure hue. Alec watched as the mana left his master’s hand. It drifted down the spoon and into the gel-like mixture. It continued to do so as it was stirred, several colors flaring from within the mixture, only to subside and fall under the control of the blue aura. When the beaker was empty, the stirring stopped. Master Swanson put a lid on the tin and set it on top of a stack of other unguents that he had done that day.

“It’s that simple. Now, I know it looks easy when I do it, but I’ve done this thousands of times. I’ve prepared ten bowls of each ingredient along with ten beakers of water. All the amounts are correct. I simply want you to practice imbuing your mana into the mixture and activating the magical properties of the ingredients. Don’t rush. Take your time and feel it out.” He left after saying this, allowing Alec to learn on his own from this point. That was one reason Alec enjoyed being mentored by his master. It allowed him the freedom to learn things his way, rather than being required to learn the same way someone else did. People were different and not everyone learned the same way. Alec quieted his mind and got to work. How hard could this be?

-----

Sam slammed her mace down on the last of the four crabs that guarded the stairway down to the second floor of the dungeon. Her time thus far had been laughably easy, given her new gear. One solid hit with her mace was enough to put a crab on the floor, if not kill it outright. Rarely had she needed to hit one more than twice. She had cleared every room she came across to this point. She was mostly sure she hadn’t missed any. If her count was right, she had killed 24 of the little buggers. She had gained two levels and followed her normal point allocation. She put two points in strength and four into constitution. She knew she would have to add some points elsewhere soon, but she would do this as long as she could. She would do everything she could to protect Alec. To be his strength. His shield. She steeled herself as she pushed on to the second floor.

-----

Alec laid his head on the table. This was hard. He had been through three tins with no success. His mana would meet resistance when passing through the spoon, eventually stopping. This would cause it to lose some of its blue hue. The blue, he had decided, was mana. His master’s aura had shone azure, with not a hint of white. The deep blue/purple cloud that appeared when he used his trait reinforced this idea. His trait somehow turned experience into a mana much more powerful than anything else he had seen to date. He didn’t know if the trait allowed him to see the mana it used, or if it was just so potent that anyone could.

Alec waited for his mana to regen. It took roughly twenty minutes for him to refill his pool when it was emptied. Each time, his head would ache, and he would be unable to focus. It would go away after he gained ten percent or so of his mana back but hitting zero over and over was starting to take its toll on him.

He mixed the two ingredients into the tin, stirring with the wooden spoon. He took the next beaker of water and began dripping it slowly into the mixture. He activated his skills and pushed his mana down the spoon. This time, instead of expecting the skill to do all the work, he pushed. Instead of dying out midway down the spoon, his aura continued past it, and into the mixture. As his mana spread throughout the slowly congealing mass, it found pockets of what he could only describe as latent mana scattered throughout the ingredients. He could differentiate the ingredients based on the feel of that mana. He pushed his mana again, forcing it into a pocket of latent mana. His mana fed into the slumbering, latent mana as it tried to force it awake. When it succeeded, Alec almost lost his focus. The latent mana awoke with a literal bang as it exploded with energy taken from his mana. He repeated this with each speck of mana he could find in the mixture. As the last drop of water hit the unguent, a notification popped up in front of him.

//Congratulations. You have created your first healing unguent. As it is the first time you have crafted this common recipe, you receive a bonus of 100 experience points.//

//You have crafted a weak healing unguent.

You receive 10 experience points.//

“Yes!” He whooped, standing from his chair. “Master, I have crafted my first unguent!” He said, while knocking on his master’s door. It opened, and Master Swanson walked out of his room and over to the desk. He looked the tin over, smelled it, and dabbed a finger into it. “Good. Make sure to cap the tin as soon as it is finished to ensure it stays fresh as long as possible. Four tries? Very good. You learned to add pressure to your mana then? It is a very important step that one needs to learn on their own. Our world is not a passive one. You must have power to create or destroy. There is no room for the weak minded. As alchemists, we bend the very will of our materials to suit our desires. Finish making these into unguents, and then you may go for the day. I suspect you will be wanting to spend more time with that friend of yours? Don’t run off with her in the middle of the night and we will have no problems.” At this, he returned to his room, closing the door behind him.

Alec continued making unguents. Each time it got a little easier. Now that he knew to pressure the mana into activating, he was able to do it without straining himself as much. He still had to wait until his mana filled after every attempt, but it was worth it, as he had gained another sixty experience when he was finished.

He decided to head to the portal square to wait for Sam to finish her dive. He left the shop and started walking that way, enjoying the blue sky and cool breeze. He hoped she wasn’t having too much trouble alone.

----

Sam was having the time of her life. She swung her mace at another of the giant crabs, hitting its pincer at the point where it separated into the upper and lower section. Chitin crunched as the crab lost the ability to open and close its claw.

Sam was forced to adjust her tactics when she arrived on the second floor. The crabs here were bigger, stronger, and faster. She had trouble stopping them from getting ahold of her, and when one had gotten her by her dominant arm, she was unable to get the leverage and strength behind her swings to do much damage. The crab’s grip was like iron, but it couldn’t pierce the chainmail sleeve around her arm. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, as her arm was being crushed by the strength of the claw. She had to stop and think for the first time since entering the dungeon. The creature got its other claw around her waist and was attempting to pull her toward its mouth. Her attention was arrested by the tiny limbs grasping at her from the beast’s maw. She could smell a putrid stench flowing forth from its depths. She started to panic but quickly pushed that feeling down. She brought the mace out wide before bringing it across her body and into the claw holding her arm with everything she could muster. Then she did it again. And again. On the third strike, the joint that held the two pieces of claw together exploded in a spray of chitin. The crabs grip slackened, and Sam pulled her arm free. Taking her weapon in both hands, she brought it down on the beast’s undefended shell. It took several swings, but the monster eventually began dissolving into a blue mist.

Since that fight, Sam had started targeting the same joint she had destroyed on the crab that had almost eaten her. She would wait for a beast to reach for her and then swing with everything she had. More often than not, she would hit at or near the point she was aiming for. Even a bad hit would decrease the usefulness of the thing’s limb, allowing her to try again. She would then repeat the process on the second claw. When she was done with these, the creature was all but helpless against her, only able to bring up its claws to defend against her strikes. Which they didn’t. Viscera would fly in all directions as she beat at the monster until it disappeared.

After finishing off the last of the three monsters in the hall she was in, she collected the loot. It was the same as she had gotten on the first floor, with the addition of what she believed were the things’ eyeballs. She walked into the next room and immediately crept back into the hallway. Inside, she had gotten a brief look at a crab three to four times the size of the ones she had been fighting on this floor. There was no way she was going to be able to tackle that alone. Sighing, she collected her loot into her extra pack and headed back to the first floor. It was time to leave.

-----

Alec was sitting on a bench, head resting against the wall behind him, when Sam came through the portal. She looked as if she had just come from a bath. Her hair was damp, her skin clear, and her leathers looked to have been rinsed in a river. She looked at him and laughed.

“I was a bit of a mess, so I stopped at one of the pools on the first floor and cleaned up a bit.” She explained. Alec laughed, surprised that she was relaxed enough within the dungeon to stop and take a bath on her way out.

“That’s a bit dangerous don’t you think?” He asked her. He didn’t want to nag her, but he was concerned for her safety. It would be a tragedy if she were killed because she was caught unaware.

“Nah, only things still alive at that point were the fish. I didn’t go very far into the water either in case there was something hiding in it. I was dirty, not stupid.” She smiled at him again. The trip into the dungeon really seemed to have struck a pleasant chord with her.

“Made it to the boss. Giant crab. About four to five times the size of the ones on the first floor. No way I could have taken it alone, so I collected what loot I could and made my way out.” They spoke as they made their way to the appraiser.

They made just over eight silver from her dive. She had also hit level seven. Alec was impressed. He was even surprised as she started talking about her next dive. Most people stopped when the hit level five and could join parties travelling into the forest.

“I think I would also like an extra weapon. I know you have already done so much for me, but today taught me several things. I think a nice two-handed sword would allow me to slice through those crabs with ease.” Her voice was wistful, as if she were imagining sitting on a relaxing beach with a cold drink in her hand rather than fighting her way through a dungeon filled with beasts that wanted nothing more than to eat her. Oh well, he thought, to each their own.