The letters on the podium flowed and swirled, before suddenly glowing gold.

Correct

In truth though, you are not quite correct. I am merely her Angel

Since I am representing her, you are technically correct since I can be considered her presence on this planet

You have passed the room of riddles and earned a Glacial Key

Good luck on the Quest

Michael had no idea how fortunate he was. For each riddle the trio had a total of three guesses they could make. If they got the first guess wrong, one of the many different traps on the walls would be activated. If they got the second guess wrong then one, or three if you annoy Hels Angel enough, of the capture Monsters would be released. Either of the first two punishments were a trivial matter for the three dungeon divers. If they had at any point gotten the third guess wrong however, only death would have awaited them.

When Michael had entered the room he had noticed a portrait of a rabbit but had quickly dismissed it when confronted with all the other obvious traps. This was a mistake, one that he would never realise he had made. The rabbit in the painting was not an ordinary rabbit, nor was the painting actually a painting. The Painting was a seal, containing and suppressing the terrible might of the Caerbannog Rabbit. The Caerbannog Rabbit is a terrible monster that originate in an unusually twisted mind and, with the sudden introduction of Mana, grew to become a terrifying killer. There is only one such rabbit in existence as even the System wouldn't want more of these monstrosities to exist. It used Monsters to help beings all over the universe reach their true potential. The Caerbannog Rabbit would simply kill everything and everyone.

Instead of feeling lucky, Michael simply felt relieved that he didn't have to answer any more riddles. Grabbing the key that materialized on top of the podium the trio walked out.

Looking down the corridor at the endless rooms waiting for them Michael turned to his two companions and said "I don't know about you two, but I'm about done for the day. Want to head back to the Safe Room and rest for the night?"

Hazel simply nodded and started walking back. Jelly still couldn't fully understand the Human language but got the gist and followed Hazel. It didn't really want to rest but it had started to value its companions, or their fighting power at least, and it was willing to accept these delays in exchange for their help. It knew that somewhere in this place there was a powerful source of Ice Mana, its very being called to consume it, but it also knew it would need this human and bear to attain it.

The group had discovered the Safe Room a while back but, after a brief look round, had decided to continue with the dungeon and come back later. The room was likely the biggest oddity in the entire dungeon as, unlike every single other room, it wasn't scaled for a giant. The room wasn't a particularly impressive room, but it was perfect for the three of them and had likely been modified to fit their needs as they entered the dungeon. The room had a fire pit in the center, various chairs and rugs strewn around it that would fit both human and beast alike. Near the right wall there were three beds, a single bed, a large collection of pillows and what looked like a fluffy snowbank. Near the left wall there was a stream of water, cool and refreshing, running from a large pool set in the far-left corner of the room, down the length of the left-hand wall and out the room under the wall the door was in.

Once the three had entered the room a timer just to the side of the door started counting down from 23 hours 52 minutes and 18 seconds. The timer was one of the last things they had discovered the first time they were here and was one of the reasons they chose to continue with the dungeon. They didn't know what would happen when the timer hit zero, but it was likely that they wouldn't be able to use the room any longer.

After they entered Michael set up a fire. Ever since he got the Endless Quiver he'd taken to keeping stacks of wood in his inventory just in case, a good thing as there was apparently no wood available in the dungeon. Once the fire had risen to a nice roaring blaze he sat down on one of the various chairs and brought up his Status sheet, looking over the progress he had made since entering the Dungeon.

Status

Name

Michael Volker

Age

33

Class

Ranger lvl 15

Class Experience

2,450 / 98,700

Profession

Treasure Hunter lvl 10

Profession Experience

100 / 14,400

Path

Boundless Adventure

Race

Mana Attuned Human

System Credits

3,458

Tier

2

Health

535 / 535

Mana

1149 / 1149

Health Regen

49.2 per min

Mana Regen

201.3 per min

Attributes

Unassigned Attribute points : 0

Strength 34 Agility 37 Vitality 34 Dexterity 37 Perception 64 Magic 73 Luck 26

Affinities

Nature 59% Water 32% Fire 25% Light 19% Life 10% Ice 10% Skills Utility Beginner Camping lvl 9 Beginner Cleaning lvl 4 Beginner Climbing lvl 6 Basic Cooking lvl 7 Beginner Exploration lvl 10 Beginner Herbalism lvl 6 First Aid lvl 6 Basic Fishing lvl 5 Identify lvl 3 Beginner Mana Manipulation lvl 8 Basic Skinning lvl 8 Beginner Tracking lvl 10 Beginner Trading lvl 5 Crafting Basic Alchemy lvl 7 Basic Construction lvl 3 Basic Leatherworking lvl 3 Basic Trap Making lvl 4 Basic Woodworking lvl 6 Fighting Dupli-Cast lvl 6 Novice Dodge lvl 6 Novice Stealth lvl 9 Novice Throwing Weapons lvl 6 Novice Unarmed Combat lvl 4

Spell

Boulder Throw lvl 4 Chilling Touch lvl 3 Intermediate Regeneration lvl 1 Wizard Arrow (Upgraded skill) lvl 4 Class Maglavin Archery (Upgraded skill) lvl 1 Soul Bond lvl 2 Vine Trap lvl 6 Poison Spores lvl 3 Spell Arsenal (Upgraded skill) lvl 3 Power Shot lvl 3 Healing Sap lvl 2 Executioners Mark lvl 2 Profession Treasure Scan II lvl 4 Analyse Treasure lvl 2 Lock Picking lvl 1

Looking over the sheet Michael felt satisfied with the progress he had made, that and the new format for his skills. Speaking of, he'd managed to get to level 15 and 10 of his Class and Profession respectively in the last few rooms and he was psyched to pick his new skills. He could've picked a Treasure Hunter Skill when he got to level 9 but he decided to wait until the third layer of skill options were revealed at level 10. Opening up his Ranger Skill space he found the two new skills waiting for him.

Walking over to the new skills he placed his hand on the first one, a packet of information entering his mind.

Final Strike

Bow Magic Skill, Active, 250 Mana Cost, Cannot be chosen if First Strike has already been chosen.

Charge your bow with Mana and launch a devastating final strike on a wounded enemy.

Michael's eyebrows portrayed his surprise, a fascinating thing as his mental self didn’t even have eyebrows until he raised them. He’d been expecting a lot from the skill, it being the offshoot of the Executioners Mark, but this was quite interesting. The cost and the ‘Devastating’ descriptor showed that the skill was likely quite strong but what really surprised him was the restriction. Going over to the next skill he had a hunch what the skills name would be, and it was proven correct.

First Strike

Bow Magic Skill, Active, 250 Mana Cost, Cannot be chosen if Final Strike has already been chosen.

Charge your bow with Mana and launch a devastating first strike on an unsuspecting enemy.

Michael smiled. “Hah! Looks like someone just copy and pasted the description and switched Final and First around. Lazy bugger.”

Despite the humor Michael really didn’t like this turn of events. He definitely preferred the First Strike option but choosing either one would forever limit him to that branch of the skills. Michael liked his freedom, his Path proved that beyond a doubt, and the lack of flexibility, of freedom, didn’t sit well with him. How could he still be a ‘Boundless’ adventurer if he accepted these bounds.

Sighing, Michael calmed himself down. He was getting worked up over nothing. Even if the choice locked him into a path he was bound to like the path if he liked the skill that led him there. Besides, he didn’t have to choose one of those skills right now, he had plenty of other options. Besides First and Final Strike he had Power Draw, Multi Shot, Blood Bond, Pack Leader, Infusion, Nature Warrior, Camouflage and Power of Nature.

The trigger happy idjit inside him who loved colorful explosions wanted him to take Power of Nature, the spell enhancing skill, on the basis that stronger spells gave bigger explosions. It didn’t help that the fourth level of his Wizard Arrow gave it explosive effects. Fortunately, Michael wasn’t in the habit of listening to that side of him ever since the events of July 4th, 2007. His Pinky had never quite felt right after that day, especially after he had to regrow it in the Tutorial.

Since Level Thirteen Michael had been giving the skill selection a lot of thought. While he had left the possibility of choosing one of the newly available skills he had figured out what skill he would choose if those skills weren’t desirable.

In the end he was an archer that focused on piling as much damage as he could into one shot. The best skill to take right now would be one that would further increase the power of his shots without being just another active skill. The best choice, was Power Draw.

Choice made, Michael was booted out of the skill space. Finding himself back in front of the fire, a dozing Hazel next to him, he pulled up the information for his newest skill.

Power Draw

Tier 2, Level 1, Common Bow Skill.

-5 Mana Regen.

Passively empower every shot, increasing the arrows damage by 1% for every second it is held at full draw, up to 5 seconds. Amount of damage gained is increased with every level.

Michael sighed, he'd been hoping for a more impressive increase in power but at least the skill was passive. He'd likely have to incorporate longer draws into his fighting strategies but in the end it would be worth it. A 50% increase in damage at level 10, coupled with the Power Shot/ Now that would be one heck of a powerful arrow.

Moving on, Michael dove into the skill space for his Treasure Hunter profession, the main event. He had kept a hold of the skill point he got at level 9 for a very specific and potentially wonderful reason. After he had taken the Treasure Scan II Skill, which replaced his mark one Treasure Scan skill, he had discovered two tendrils of light disappearing into the fog, denoting the presence of two potential skills. The first would likely be Treasure Scan III, if the skills followed the pattern, but the second might be something actually worth getting excited about.

Going over to the first of the newly revealed skills Michael was unsurprised to find Treasure Scan III, but he was pleasantly surprised by the description.

Treasure Scan III

Treasure Detection Skill, Active, 200 Mana Cost

Send a pulse of Mana into your surroundings, obtaining regularly updating basic information of the nearest Treasures within Range.

If Michael was right then the skill would keep updating him as to the location of Treasures he detected, a very useful inclusion as the initial information he got only included a direction and distance. Michael prided himself on his excellent sense of direction but it was easy to lose track of a location if there was more than one or if he ended up fighting a monster, which had happened a lot.

Treasure Map

Treasure Detection Skill, Passive, -10 Mana Regen

Unlock the ability to occasionally loot a Treasure Map from a slain enemy, leading to a nearby treasure.

Looking over the skill description Michaels had very much mixed feelings. On the one hand the skill was a great way to increase his Treasure Hunter levelling speed as it offered another avenue to find treasure. That being said, even if he got a treasure map there was no guarantee that he’d be able to follow it or even read it. If the System used symbols he didn’t recognize, which was highly likely, then he’d have to go through the trouble of deciphering the map before he could even begin to try and follow it.

A bit disappointed at the new detection skills he looked over at the other newly available skills, the ones that had become available when he chose Analyze Treasure.

Magical Restore

Treasure Inspection Skill, Active, Variable Mana Cost

Use Mana to restore an item to its original condition.

Michael was shocked. The skill was amazing, a cure-all for item durability. The skill seemed to be too good to be true, so Michael had to assume there was some sort of catch. Either the skill had a ridiculous cooldown, or the Mana costs might be sky high for even the most basic of skills, or maybe he had to do some sort of blood sacrifice. Whatever the catch was, Michael chose to move on to the next skill. It’s not that he wasn’t willing to do a little blood sacrifice, he just didn’t need the skill right now.

Magical Dismantle

Treasure Inspection Skill, Active, Variable Mana Cost

Use Mana to break an item down into its constituent parts.

Michael stared at the skill for a while, weighing up various things before ultimately nodding, blood sacrifices might actually be worth this skill. For someone like him who had recently found a lot of loot that he could neither use nor keep the skill was perfect, even if it required morally questionable actions.

Skill chosen, he was once again booted out of the skill space before he could see what new skills were unlocked. As soon as he was back in front of the fire he pulled up the description for his new skill.

Magical Dismantle

Tier 2, Level 1, Uncommon Treasure Inspection Skill

Variable Cost, 2hr Cooldown

Use Mana to dismantle an item into its constituent parts with a 5% chance of success. Chance of success increases with each level.

Michael felt somewhat relieved, there was no blood sacrifices or losing limbs involved, there was just a very small chance of success. Still, he was a little suspicious. A five percent chance was still a lot for something that could dismantle anything. He felt there had to be some other catch, something that would only be obvious when he used the skill, the cost being his prime suspect. Michael pulled out a common Health potion that he had recently gotten and activated Magical Dismantle.

The skill drained 100 points of Mana, a large but manageable amount. Activating his Mana sense, he found the Mana flowing over and through the potion. The potions shape shifted and molded, like a lump of wet clay, as the Mana altered the basic fabric of the potion. The various different parts of the potion started to separate, the skill looking like it was going to work despite the low success chance, when the various parts suddenly blackened and exploded.

The explosion knocked Michael backwards off his chair and flat onto his back. He lay there for a second, dazed and confused, before Hazel suddenly slammed on top of him with a mental shout of [Danger!]. Jelly leaped over from where it had been sleeping and searched for the threat, its Mana empowered and ready for action. Both companions had been sleeping when the explosion occurred and hadn’t seen what caused it. All they saw was Michael lying on his back and not moving, apparently having just been attacked by an unknown enemy.

[Dad, what’s happening?!] Hazels message came with a sense of urgency.

Michael was too embarrassed to answer, but the silence could only stretch on for so long. Hazel stood up, and slowly looked down at the human below her. Michael avoided her gaze.

[Father, what did you do?]

[Umm, I may have been testing out a new skill. It may, uh, have exploded.]

Hazel stared at him for a few seconds, watching him squirm under her gaze. Then she simply walked back to the rug and plopped back down. Michael propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Hazel but she had her back turned.

[Hazel? Are you okay?]

Silence was the response.

Michaels eyes widened, [Oh dear lord, are you using the silent treatment on me?]

The silence continued no different than before, yet now it seemed deafening.

[Oh come on! Who even told you about that move?]