The behemoth lumbered towards them. Sam was right when she said this thing might be slow. The floor vibrated each time one of the massive legs came down to propel the creature toward them. Alec ran to the left side of the cavernous room. He hadn’t noticed before, probably because his mind was screaming at him to abort, but the room was gigantic. There was an underground lake here, stretching into the darkness. Hundreds, if not thousands, of the small silver fish swam peacefully within it. Stalagmites littered the floor, some standing taller than the beast. Glowing moss illuminated the room. It wasn’t much light, but it was enough to make out the giant chasing him.

“To the side!” He dove to the side as Sam shouted, narrowly avoiding getting impaled by a sharp lance of stone.

“It has ranged attacks!” He shouted to no one in particular, as he dove behind a larger stalagmite. It was big enough that the crab would have to go around it to get to him. He heard Sam let out a scream of anger and chanced a look back toward her location. She was behind the beast, on its left side, bashing her weapon into its rear-most leg. Small cracks spread from the impact sites. It was a testament to both how strong her weapon was and the strength of the beast’s shell.

The giant crab turned toward her, spinning more quickly than Alec would have expected. Alec ran forward as Sam braced herself and swung her weapon at a large claw flying at her. A loud crushing sound reverberated around the cavern as she was sent flying back.

Samira Watter has taken 42 damage.

While the creature was occupied. Alec arrived at the same leg that Sam had been attacking. He hacked at it with all his strength and speed. Three deep cuts bled freely as he danced back to avoid the leg that came crashing down at him. He saw Sam running back toward the beast, heading to its opposite side. He kept an eye on the giant as he ran back toward the stalagmite. He saw as another spear of stone as it formed in front of the creature’s maw and shot toward him. It was easy enough to dodge the ability when he saw it coming, and he dove back behind the stalagmite. He rushed to the opposite side and peaked around the corner.

Sam had run behind the creature to the leg they had been attacking. She swung her mace and Alec smiled when the leg shattered. This time, Sam was smart enough to mimic Alec, as she immediately rushed away. She made it to her own stalagmite as a stone spear shattered on the floor beside her. Taking the opportunity afforded to him from the boss facing away, Alec ran to the leg opposite of the one the just destroyed. He got in another three swings before running off again. They beast was turning slower now, giving him more time to get away. As it turned toward him, he saw Sam rushing out to repeat the maneuver that had destroyed the last leg. Her mace smashed repeatedly into the leg. As it exploded into chitinous splinters, the crab gave a bellowing roar. Alec thought it was a scream of frustration until several crusterra warriors emerged from the lakeshore. Five of them scuttled toward the fighting as Sam reached her hiding spot.

Alec thought it over for a second before running toward the oncoming crabs.

“I’ll take care of these! Take out another leg if you can.” He yelled at Sam as he reached the first crab. He had been running in a serpentine pattern, expecting a shot from the boss. His sword flashed out, taking a leg off the smaller creatures with each swing. He danced around, even as stone spears flew through the air, one impaling a crusterra to his side. He wasn’t trying to kill them; he simply needed to immobilize them and get back to the fight. He was on his third crab when he heard another loud crunch. Sam had taken another leg. The boss’s movements were far slower and less agile now that they had taken three of its ten legs. He moved to the fourth warrior and began swinging his weapon.

He was running back to the boss after disabling the last crab when he saw Sam take another leg. This was on the side that already had two taken out. The creature collapsed onto its stomach, its remaining legs no longer enough to support its enormous bulk. The collapse caused the ground to shake and dust to fly out from beneath the giant. Alec was forced to a knee as the floor shook, barely remaining upright. Sam wasn’t as lucky, as he saw her get thrown to the floor before he was blinded by the cloud of dust.

Samira Watter has taken 67 damage.

A pained yell accompanied the notification. Alec was once again running forward as the dust cleared. Sam was stuck to the floor, impaled by a giant leg in the right side of her chest. Alec screamed in rage as he shot forward, removing the limb from the creature’s body in a series of swings. The creature was immobile now, only one remaining leg on this side of its body. It had lost its ability to rotate itself toward them and was facing away from them, making its ranged attack useless.

Alec knelt over by Sam, using his trait to identify her.

“Wow, you really do have a lot of health.” He said as he assessed her wounds. Sam tried to speak but blood burbled from her mouth instead. She was having trouble breathing as well.

“I’m going to try something. Everything’s going to be fine.” Despite his panic, his words came out smooth and calm. He was surprised to see Sam’s body relax at his words. She simply laid her head back against the floor and radiated a sense of calm. It was almost absurd enough for him to lose his focus.

Name : Samira Watter

Age : 16

Level : 7

Experience : 8825/10150

Condition : Wounded, Internal Bleeding

Health : 181/290

Health Regen : 7.75/min

Mana : 34

Mana Regen : 1.875/min

Physical

Strength : 15

Endurance : 8

Perception : 5

Agility : 5

Constitution : 21

Mental

Magic : 5

Intelligence : 6

Wisdom : 5

Fortitude : 7

Willpower : 8

Attribute Points available : 0

Traits :

Body of stone : Your body has a deep affinity with the earth. Your natural armor will increase with your level. Every 10 levels adds 5 natural armor. Your health is increased by 15%.

Cost: None.

Skills : None

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

Alec took his sword and cut the leg to just above her wound. He left enough of the leg to get a grip on. He tried pulling at the leg, receiving only a grunt of pain from Sam for his efforts. He wasn’t strong enough to remove it from the floor.

“I need you to remove the leg, can you do that for me?” He asked, still surprised at his calm demeanor despite the panic rising in him.

Sam simply brought both of her hands to the spike of chitin in her chest. She grunted as she pulled at it. For a second, nothing happened, and Alec was afraid he was going to have to lift her off of the leg instead. That would increase the likelihood of her bleeding out before he could do anything. Just as he was beginning to despair, the leg came free in a spurt of blood. As quickly as he could he used his trait again, at the same time reaching into his pack.

//Enhance: Health

Current bonus Health: 0

You can add 1 point of bonus health for 1000 experience points.

You can restore 1 point of health per 15 experience points.//

Alec poured every experience point he had into her as he applied healing unguent to her wound. It wouldn’t be enough to heal the gaping puncture wound, but it would stop a lot of the bleeding. A cloud of mana enveloped her body as he rolled her onto her side and applied the rest of his unguent to her back. The bleeding had lessened by a large degree, but she still had a puncture wound through her lung. Her breath was ragged, and blood frothed at her lips. It wasn’t enough. He looked at her health several times over the course of a few seconds. He was trying to gauge the amount of health she was losing. If he was right, she was losing around five to six health per second. If this kept up, she would be dead in just over half a minute. He had healed her for 113 health, but she was currently at 209 and it was falling fast. If he was going to save her, he needed more experience points.

Alec grabbed his sword from where he had lain it on the floor. He turned around while standing. He ran just behind the bosses one good leg, severing it with a series of strikes. He then started hacking his way into the beast. He wasn’t satisfied simply cutting at the beast’s shell. It took about ten seconds for him the open a hole large enough for him to step into. He didn’t stop cutting. He went deeper into the beast with every swing, muscle and tissue parting before him. Finally, as he stabbed deep into the beast in anger, he felt something quiver and burst. He was pushed out of the wound by the sheer pressure of the liquid that shot forth.

You have slain a level 10 Crusterra Queen.

Due to the level disparity within your party, your experience gain is reduced.

You have gained 1892 experience points.

Alec rushed back to Sam’s side, pulling her head into his lap. He healed her and checked her status repeatedly over the next couple of minutes. He was only able to keep the healing up as long as he did because of the lessening bleed effect combined with the healing unguent’s acceleration of the body’s natural healing. Her breathing had evened, and her mouth no longer let forth bloody bubbles. He checked her Character sheet again.

// Name : Samira Watter

Age : 16

Level : 8

Experience : 10825/14200

Condition : Severely Wounded, Healing Exhaustion

Health : 34/303

Health Regen : 9.25/min

Mana : 34

Mana Regen : 1.875/min

Physical

Strength : 15

Endurance : 11

Perception : 5

Agility : 5

Constitution : 21

Mental

Magic : 5

Intelligence : 6

Wisdom : 5

Fortitude : 7

Willpower : 8

Attribute Points available : 0

Traits :

Body of stone : Your body has a deep affinity with the earth. Your natural armor will increase with your level. Every 10 levels adds 5 natural armor. Your health is increased by 15%.

Cost: None.//

Skills : None//

Alec took a breath and then let it out in a sigh of relief. Her bleeding had stopped, and she was stable. At some point, she also put all three of her attribute points into endurance. Smart girl.

He sat there for several moments simply brushing her hair with his hand. She had fallen asleep at some point, the healing too much for her. Alec winced at a pain in his back. He reached around and felt something wet. He withdrew his hand to find it bloody. He didn’t remember getting hit during the battle, but it made sense in all the chaos. He checked his character sheet to see that he was missing 53 health. He was so worried about Sam that he didn’t notice he had been bleeding himself. That could have ended very poorly, especially as he only had 104 points of maximum health. He wasn’t nearly as sturdy as she was.

He scooted his pack under her head and stood up. That was too close. He could have lost Sam, died, or both. He promised himself that he would not go unprepared into danger again, no matter how small it seemed.

He knew the victory was thanks to his trait. His sword being able to slice through the beast’s chitin, even when Sam struggled to crack the things shell with her prodigious strength and blunt weapon, was an edge no normal person would have. The armor Sam wore, which had to have absorbed an enormous amount of damage for her to still be alive, was in the same vein. Seeing the hole in that armor had shaken him. It had seemed impregnable to him, but that just went to show how little he truly knew.

He turned his thoughts from that dark path, forcing himself to look around the cavern. His eyes rested on a literal treasure chest sitting where the boss’s body had been. He hesitated, not wanting to open the chest without Sam after she had literally almost died for it. He didn’t know how long she would be asleep though and decided to go ahead and see what that fight had gotten them. He reached out and opened the chest, identifying the items as he removed them.

The first was a glossy headed spear.

Chitin Spear of the Queen

Rarity: Uncommon

Condition: Pristine

Durability: 15/15

Damage Type: Stabbing

Damage: 24

Material : Hardened Chitin

Weight: 5.2 lbs

+3 Strength

Piercing – Weapon is more effective against armored foes.

A spear fashioned from the leg of a Queen Crusterra. The tip is enchanted, allowing it to pierce through many hardened metals.

The next item was a thicker, harder piece of Chitin. He didn’t bother identifying that as chitin would be too heavy and prone to shattering to use as a material.

The third item was something that excited him. He picked it up gingerly as he identified it.

// Skill Gem

Rarity: Uncommon

Skill: Rock shard

Effect: Active

Cost: 10 mana/cast

Distance: 60 ft

Description: Materialize and shoot a shard of stone.

He put the shard away and grabbed the spear. He was heading back toward Sam when he noticed a pedestal with a head-sized crystal sitting in the middle of the cavern. He looked around to ensure all the monsters were taken care of. They were not, as the crabs he had disabled earlier were still flailing their remaining legs in the air. He walked over and finished them off, earning back a small portion of the experience he spent today.

He made it over to the crystal. Blue and brown swirls danced in its depths under his mana sense. They swirled and formed intricate patterns. It was like watching clouds pass in the sky as they formed one shape after another. He lifted his hand up to touch the surface of the sphere. It was more solid than he had expected. He doubted a blow from his sword would even scratch it.

You have defeated the crystal’s guardian.

Would you like to claim the dungeon crystal?

Note: If you claim the crystal, the current owner will have 24 hours to intercede. If the owner is unable to force you to give up your claim, you will become the new owner.

Current Owner: Lord Richard Rheene of Brennan

Alec hastily selected no. He was unaware of this possibility, but he wasn’t stupid enough to try and take the dungeon from the local lord. He stepped away from the pedestal and went back to Sam. He removed the chainmail from her sleeping form and put it in in the bottom of his bag. He then used his knife to fashion a litter of sorts out of the spear he received and some of the chitin they had collected. It wasn’t pretty, or comfortable, but with her armor she shouldn’t feel a thing.

A portal had sprung up after they defeated the Crab queen, so Alec didn’t have to take her far. They arrived on the other side of the portal, and Alec ignored the waiting party and began dragging Sam to his master’s house. He had to calm down a guild runner who was calling for a healer, explaining that she was suffering from healing exhaustion. The man nodded and allowed Alec to continue. He promised himself that he would never let Sam know what a struggle it was to get her home and put her in his bed. He wasn’t suicidal.

After he had gotten her in bed, he sent a courier to her house to let her parents know that she wouldn’t be home until the morning, as she was recovering from a healing. He sighed before checking his character sheet. He didn’t regret spending all that experience on Sam. It had just been so much.

// Name : Alec Montaine

Age : 16

Level : 4

Experience : 316/2700

Condition : Perfect

Health : 104/104

Health Regen : 5.25/min

Mana : 58

Mana Regen : 2.375/min

Physical

Strength : 10

Endurance : 6

Perception : 6

Agility : 8

Constitution : 7

Mental

Magic : 5

Intelligence : 13

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 sighed again. At least the last crabs had given him a little bit back.

He made a bed on the floor. It reminded him of his bed in the leant-to, and he fell asleep quickly.