Zach’s eyes snapped open. He was back on Vera.

He proceeded to eat breakfast and spend the next couple hours training with Lydia while Elmarud began his Jumaitish practice nearby.

Zach already had three different kinds of spells under his belt, or at least, he knew how to cast them. Linear, quadratics, and absolute value spells. Linear and absolute ones were easy. With just those two spells, he could create fireballs, fire spears, and exploding fireballs. Quadratics were more difficult but he had more flexibility. He could create and throw multiple fireballs at once, or create a fire spear and rotate it so it was more like a slashing effect. In fact, that was exactly what he had done against the swarm of spiders in Snowy’s nightmare. However, for the upcoming dungeon raid with Saya and Jacob, he felt it wasn’t enough.

“Lydia?” he asked. “What if I cast these spells using the light element?”

If his gaming instincts were right, then the light element was associated with healing, perfect for the support role that he had to fill now.

“That’s a good question,” she responded. “Light spells don’t actually do damage. They are only useful for healing or inflicting non-harmful force.”

“Non-harmful force? I see... So what if I used an absolute value spell on you right now?”

“Well… I’d be healed of any injuries, but I’d also be thrown backward from the explosion of energy. If you want to heal me without doing that, I’d suggest a linear spell. But if you’re trying to push an enemy away, I’d suggest an air element spell so you don’t heal them in the process.”

“Great! What happens when I use it on myself?” Zach asked.

“What?” Lydia was flustered. “You can’t do that. I mean… There's a certain restriction with the light element that says one can’t use light magic to heal themselves unless it’s their strongest, or equally strongest, affinity. That’s why parties bring multiple healers. It’s not just for redundancy. It has bothered tacticians for ages because of the rarity of those people who can heal themselves. Besides, you have an affinity for all the elements, but if your strongest isn’t light, then it doesn’t matter, so don’t waste your mana.”

Zach smiled with a somewhat smug expression.

Dungeons and Towers II was a single player game. It wouldn’t make sense to limit players from healing themselves.

He brought his hands forward and drew in the air with a golden energy, the light element! With a sharp movement, he finished the spell with a V-shaped line, setting the fuse of the explosion to the minimum.

“Lydia, didn’t I already tell you? I have an affinity for all the elements.”

Lydia realized what he was saying and dropped her jaw. “You mean they’re all perfectly equal?”

“Yep.”

Ka-boom!

Zach’s health points returned in full! Unfortunately, he also went flying away, crashing into the ground after about a football field’s distance and rolling, losing that health again.

Disoriented, he lay on the ground while regretting his choice of spell, but at least he knew what the light element did.

…

After lunch, Lydia had to go to work. She ended her magic lessons, leaving Elmarud and Zach alone in the city.

‘Time for phase two.’ Zach thought. “Hey, Elmarud, did you figure out your werewolf transformation?”

Elmarud shook his head. “I didn’t think it was a good idea to try it in the city.”

“That’s okay. I actually have an idea about that. Can I get on your back?”

“Uh… Sure.”

Zach clambered onto Elmarud’s huge form and grabbed onto one of the many pelts that made up Elmarud’s coat.

“Hey, I think I remember slaying this one,” he accidentally said aloud. “You’re pretty good at skinning things. A-anyway, I’m going to try activating my fast-travel function now.”

“Are you sure? The last time we tried this, it didn’t work.”

“Yes, but this time I’m riding you.”

“What does that have to do with-”

[Fast-travel]

A crack appeared in the space in front of them and then…

Wap!

Zach and Elmarud were both deposited on the other side of the rift.

“Aha! Hahahaha. Hah!” Zach laughed. “So it does work on my steed! How convenient! Okay, Elmarud. You can transform now.”

Elmarud was a little confused, so Zach explained everything to him. “We’re back in the Stutter Forest. We should get going and see if we can make it to Kosk before night. By then, I should have enough mana to use fast-travel again.”

Once he understood, Elmarud took off most of his clothes and activated his transformation. There was the sound of bones rearranging themselves as hairs grew and thickened all over his body. Soon, the form of an enormous beast appeared.

Zach approached cautiously.

Fortunately, Elmarud had an intelligent glint in his eyes as he flexed his body. “My thoughts aren’t as sharp in this form, but I can hear and smell better,” he growled.

Zach let out a sigh. “I’m just glad you can be reasoned with.”

Elmarud tried to change the subject. “Don’t we have to get to Kosk by nightfall? Get on my back. We can move much faster.”

Zach held up a hand. “Maybe in three or so miles.”

“Why do you want to wait?”

“Uh...” Zach quickly made an excuse. “If you carry me everywhere, how will I improve?”

“Oh!”

Thus, Elmarud started to develop a misunderstanding of Zach’s work ethic.

After about three miles of running separately, Zach made a satisfied expression and finally let Elmarud carry him.

“Woooooaaaaaaaaa ahahahaa!” Zach yelled from Elmarud’s back.

Because of that misunderstanding, Elmarud pushed himself to run faster than he normally would and they arrived in a fraction of the time. They could see the city of Kosk in the distance, but for some reason, Zach decided to stop there for the day and not get any closer.

Zach dismounted and Elmarud transformed to put his clothes back on. Suddenly, Zach held out his arms.

“What is it?” Elmarud asked. “Do you need something from me?”

Zach made an awkward expression. “Uh. Yeah. I have one last thing to test. Can you let me carry you as I activate fast-travel again?”

Thus, there was a hilarious scene of a boy holding a huge man in a princess-carry as both of them were sucked through a rift.

…

At dinner, Zach appologized to Lydia.

“I’m sorry, Lydia.”

“What for?”

“Elmarud and I arrived at Kosk a few hours ago, so I need to take tomorrow off to complete the Histowire’s quest, but I should be back before dark.”

“Alright. That’s fine. It is the Histowire, after all,” Lydia nodded, then stopped herself. “Wait. You and Elmarud? I thought your fast-travel gift only works for you.”

“It turns out, it works on things I carry or ride too,” Zach responded.

“I see. Then in that case, I’ll use the extra day to prepare some training materials,” she said. “Plus, now that I know you can use the light element too, I need to refresh my basics so I’m not teaching you the wrong stuff.”

Zach nodded.

‘It looks like I’m starting the main quest tomorrow - er - in a few days.’

As he went to sleep, he chose a generic nightmare dungeon , one that he had already done some research on, and went inside. There, he obtained a set of weapons, right where the description from the game wiki said they would be, and spent several hours leveling up his [Penny Drop] skill to level 2, and unlocking two more skills for weapons Agatha didn't have time to train him on.

[New skill: Parallax]

{Parallax (level 1): An axe specific skill that does more damage the higher the user’s litheness. Requires 2 mana to activate. +1 litheness and +1 power per level}

[New skill: Return Throw]

{Return Throw (level 1): A boomerang specific skill that throws the weapon while guaranteeing it will fly back toward the user. Costs 2 mana to activate. +1 intelligence and +1 power per level}

Unfortunately he didn't actually clear the nightmare, spending all his time on skill leveling and not interacting with the nightmare’s resident whatsoever, so he would have to come back later.

[Zach: Level 15]

[Health: 190/190 Stamina: 80/80 Mana: 33/33]

[Classes: {Dreamer}, {empty}]

[Titles: The Wrathful]

[Stats:]

- {Litheness: 31}

- {Constitution: 32}

- {Power: 42}

- {Will: 30}

- {Intelligence: 34}

- {Consumption: 26}

[Points For Distribution: 0]

[Abilities: Dreamwalk(level max), Novice of Dagger (level 1), Internal Mana Manipulation(level max)]

[Skills: Return Throw(level 1), Parallax(level 1), Penny Drop(level 2), ...(15 more)]

However, with this, he was prepared for his dungeon raid with Saya and Jacob, and the main quest later.

Meanwhile on Earth, a platoon of Chinese soldiers looked at the portal. A commander gave a quick word of warning.

"Remember, the enemy won't fall until you shoot them on the head, not on the chest. Anybody who forgets will pass for a harsh situation. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir. We won't dare to commit the mistake," the soldiers responded.

"Then, let's go!"

The soldiers rushed into the portal. The inside was some kind of forested area, with lots of pine trees and bare ground where they could easily see the enemy milling around.

A soldier named Tang Lee was in the vanguard. He calmly shouldered his rifle and took aim. At some approaching figures who staggered toward them like drunk men. Together, he and his fellow soldiers didn’t hesitate to drop them.

Afterwards, Tang Lee knelt down to examine one of the bodies.

The flesh was far more ghastly than the news reporters made it seem. The skin was black and papery, while the flesh underneath wasn’t red, but green. By all reasoning this thing shouldn’t be alive, which was crazy because he just killed it.

“Let’s go,” he told the soldiers nearby.

The platoon entered stealth mode and marched through the forest. After a while, they came upon a hill, where they could hear citizens screaming for their lives on the other side.

Tang Lee followed the captain’s orders. He dropped to his stomach and crawled up to the top, taking in the situation.

The area was bowl-shaped. A stone obelisk towered above everything from the center while countless more of the twisted enemies moved around like ants. Next to the obelisk, however, was a particularly eye-catching one.

It wore a red cape but the skin and muscles were completely gone, leaving bare its brilliant white skull and shining bones. Purple flames blazed inside its skeletal sockets.

Suddenly the skeleton laughed, gesturing for it’s servants to bring forward the next victim.

Two of them lulled forward with someone struggling between their grip. A regular Chinese man pleaded for his life while looking around wildly.

“Please let me go! Don’t turn me into one of those things! I have a family!”

“Chut, chut, chut. Cremslalin frovet,” the skeleton said in an unknown language.

A skeletal hand shot forward, the tip of its finger showing a razor sharp edge. It pressed the finger into the forehead of the Chinese man and began to cut. Upward the finger went until it reached the top of the head and continued over. Then it thrust the finger into the base of the skull, killing the Chinese man instantly. The man’s screaming cut off as his body went limp. On the inside of the skull, the skeleton twisted its finger around and carved something on the inside, the blood spilling out with every wiggle. When it was done, it drew the finger out. Then a dark energy condensed on the still bloody fingertip. It pressed the dark energy to the outside of the dead man’s head and waited.

Tang Lee suddenly realized what kind of creation process he was witnessing. He checked to see if the digital camera on his helmet was still recording. It was.

Suddenly, the Chinese man, who had clearly been killed, twitched and began moving again! With a motion of finality, the skeleton inserted a stone object and pushed it deep into the skull.

The obelisk behind them suddenly flashed. With a wave of its hand, the skeleton casually waved for the next victim to be brought forward.

Tang Lee shuffled backward with a pale face and retold everything to his leader.

The nearby soldiers who overheard the conversation grit their teeth.

“Get the RPG. Blast the unholy bastards back to hell,” the captain said while gesturing toward the man carrying their largest gun.

[End Chapter 29]