Did you know that parallel universes exist inside the Omniverse Engine? It was a bit of a shock for me when I found out about different versions of me being even more idiotic than I was, but I guess that’s just what happens in a realm of infinite possibilities.

The only good thing I’ve learned is that they can’t really impact each other. Which is a good thing because some parallel universes can be downright weird. Most of them are relatively tame and seem to be a spin-off of my home universe with a few key choices changed, but in some of them, everyone speaks in pig Latin, or they have wars over the correct way to pronounce gouda cheese (which… There should only be one way. Trust me, I was just as confused as you are).

So why do I bring this up now? 2 reasons. The first reason is that the last chapter spawned a whole slew of them. The second reason? Well, I just wanted to leave you with the thought that they can’t impact each other, but boy, are they are a thing that the System likes to use as fodder for dreams…

----

While the party ran back to the village to get a good night’s rest, I decided to put my new summon through its paces.

“Well, we already tested your speed, and it’s abysmal,” I said to the ever-silent dave. “So, I guess we see what else you can do. Can you climb?” It didn’t move at all. “Right, why am I asking you? Follow me.”

The dave hopped obediently behind me as we walked over to a tree.

“Okay, now climb this tree!”

The dave hopped up onto the side of the tree and began inching its way up.

“Well, you still aren’t going to win any records for speed, but your climbing is above average since most mobs we’ve seen can’t climb at all.”

The dave just continued climbing. And climbing. And climbing.

“Okay, come down now!” I shouted up to the slime monster.

It obeyed by immediately letting go of the tree and plummeting to the ground. It impacted pretty hard and kicked up some snow around it.

“Either you have resistance to fall damage, or you’re completely idiotic and will do exactly what I say no matter the consequences.” The monster’s silence spoke volumes, even though that was no different than before.

Well, at least I have experience dealing with an idiotic machine that will always do exactly what I tell it, even when I tell it to do stupid stuff. Thanks, programming.

“Jump as high as you can,” I directed Dave.

It jumped directly up into the air and came about even with my head.

“That’s… Actually pretty impressive for a body length to high jump ratio. Good job, Dave.” I was hoping that it would respond to my praise a little, but it still just sat there.

Okaaay then. Moving on. What else to test? I thought a bit. Wait, is there any interpretation of my orders, or does it just do them exactly as I say? I mean, when I told it to come down, it just jumped, but I had no idea how it would climb the tree, and it did it anyway.

“Fly,” I commanded the dave. Dave sat there and looked at me. I could tell it was confused. Don’t ask me how I knew since daves have no facial expressions (or any expressions at all, really).

Okay, no impossible commands, or it just doesn’t do anything. “Pretend to fly,” I said. It then jumped into the air and wiggled its slimy body in a way that looked kinda like it was trying to flap wings. At least, if you stood on your head and squinted really funny. I mean, that’s kind of interpreted, right?

“Stop,” I said. The dave flopped to the ground and just sat there.

I should probably test the basic functionality first, I guess. I snapped my fingers. “Oh! Let’s test resummoning.” I checked my MP first to make sure I was above 50 and then cast my spell again. “[Summon Dave].”

A light green ball of ooze plopped from out of my hand to the forest floor… Right next to the other one.

I gasped. “Wait. I can have more than one out at a time?! This changes everything!” I looked back and forth between my new minions. “The real question is, are you both still named Dave?” There was no response as expected.

“If you are named Dave, jump,” I commanded them both.

Both orbs of slime jumped into the air at the same time.

“Okay… Can I rename you?” I pointed at the newer dave on the right. “You are now Dave1.” Let’s try this again. “If your name is Dave, jump.”

Only the older dave jumped.

Well, if anything, I can at least make squads of daves if I need to. I frowned. Unless they despawn. Actually, yeah, I bet they despawn after a bit. There’s no way this game would let me have a spell with permanent summons. That would be completely OP.

I looked back down at the daves, “Well, let me know when you disappear, okay?” I paused. “Laugh at my joke, my minions!”

They still just sat there looking at me.

“Right, no vocal cords… Can you make any sound at all? Uhh, I mean, make the loudest sound you can!”

Both daves hopped away back towards the tree and started climbing it. What are they doing? I watched in idle fascination as they reached the top of the tree and then jumped off it. They both hit the ground with a loud splat, even though they had a bit of snow to cushion their landing.

Unfortunately, the fall was too much for the original Dave, and he vanished into a puff of smoke.

I facepalmed. “No, no. That’s my fault. I should’ve seen that coming, you little suicidal maniacs.” I eyed Dave1. “Well, at least I can continue my testing with you.”

What else do I need to test? Well, I would like to know how much damage they deal and how much HP they have, and how complex the orders I give them can be. And can daves damage other daves? I shrugged. I had an entire night to waste while I waited for the party; I was just happy I had something to do for once.

----

Jake woke up bright and early, just like he had gotten used to. He yawned and stretched, then put on his clothes all the while the [Berserker’s] snores echoed out of the other room. Should I wake him up? Jake thought. Nah, it can wait a bit. We aren’t in a huge rush. Jake thought about the fact that he accidentally trapped Titus in the boss room. On second thought, maybe we should get him out sooner rather than later.

He was moving to go wake Garrett up when he heard a knock on the door. “A visitor?” He tried to locate each of the party members really quick. “Ah, Emilia. I wonder what she wants?”

Jake opened the door to the elven [Ranger], who was standing there a bit sheepishly. “Good morning, Jake, I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“Nah,” Jake replied. “I actually just woke up. What’s up?”

“I was actually wondering if you had a minute to talk-“ Emilia was interrupted by an extra loud snore from the other room.

Jake shot a glance in that direction and chuckled. “Sure, let’s take a walk and talk then.”

They walked in uncomfortable silence until Jake finally breached it again. “So, did you need something? It’s not like you to visit, especially this early in the morning.”

“Right, I should stop wasting your time and get to the point,” Emilia said as she stopped walking.

I mean, I wouldn’t go that far, but it would be nice for you to get there eventually. Jake decided to not voice that aloud since she was obviously struggling.

“Well, the first matter is that I would like to apologize. I really shouldn’t have shot that arrow at Titus, even if I do think he’s the [Demon Lord].”

“Apology accepted,” Jake said slowly. “But you really should be giving that apology to Titus. He’s the one that you almost killed.”

Emilia sighed. “That will be difficult.”

“Why is that?”

“I can’t forgive him for bringing monsters to attack the town.”

Jake was confused. “That’s what this is about? There were no casualties, even if Garrett was a bit close. I guess I don’t understand what the big deal-“

“BEAR ATTACKS ARE NOT A JOKE, JAKE!” Emilia shouted, and fury glowed in her eyes even as she started tearing up. She turned away from Jake, started wiping at the tears ineffectually, and muttered. “No, don’t show weakness, Emilia.”

“Tears aren’t weakness, Emilia. Tears are a part of life. You can’t just stop yourself from feeling your emotions, or you’ll stop yourself from experiencing one of the things that makes you fundamentally human.”

“Wow, I didn’t expect you to get philosophical,” Emilia chuckled lightly.

“Well, I may have stolen that from my therapist. Doctor Williams was a pretty smart guy.” Jake put a hand on her shoulder. “Look, I’m not going to pry, but I think you need to talk to someone about this.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Well, I did what I could. Jake thought as he took his hand off her shoulder.

She turned to face Jake. “Because I don’t know who I would tell. Unlike everyone else in the party, I don’t have someone to talk to. You and Garrett have each other. Sam and Lindsey are inseparable. Andrew never lets Tim leave his sight. But who am I supposed to confide in? Megan?” She gave an imperious laugh. “She’s still a dirty [Thief], and I’m expecting her to [Backstab] us as soon as she has a good opportunity. That and I think she’s been [Sneaking] off to see Titus, so even those two criminals have each other now.”

Jake thought about that for a second. Wow. She’s right. The party is fragmented, isn’t it? Instead of a group, we’ve been acting more like pairs of people who work together. Well, except in combat. Combat’s been fine. But how much do I really know about Andrew and Tim? Or Sam and Lindsey? Jake realized he was getting off track. “Well, I’m not qualified to be a therapist, but I would be more than willing to listen.”

Emilia nodded slowly. “I would like that.”

“Not out here, though,” Jake said as he realized they were still very much standing in the outdoors with snow falling. “Let’s go back to my place, and I’ll kick Garrett out for a bit, then we can talk, okay?”

She nodded, and they walked back together.

“One sec,” Jake said as he went in alone to rouse the still snoring [Berserker]. “Hey, Garrett. Get up.”

“Who’sa, wha?” Garrett answered as Jake shook him awake.

“I need you to get dressed and clear out for a bit. Emilia’s in the other room.”

That woke him up. “Oh, ho ho? A rendezvous with a girl this early in the morning, eh?” Garrett rubbed his eyes even as he needled Jake. He was about to keep going when he saw the look in Jake’s eyes. “Oh. Something serious came up.”

Jake just nodded. “Yup.”

“Gotcha. Give me a minute, and I’ll be out of your hair.”

The [Berserker] headed out, Jake honestly wasn’t sure where, and then the [Hero] and [Ranger] sat down across from each other.

“Before we start, I just want to say don’t feel like you’re pressured to tell me anything here, okay?” Jake said. “Only tell me what you want to.”

Emilia nodded. “Thank you, Jake.” She bit her lip. “Where do I start?” She gathered her thoughts for a few moments before speaking again. “I mentioned a bit about my father, right?”

“I think you said that he was like a corporate bigwig or something?” Jake tried to remember what she had said so long ago. “And I think you also called him a sociopath.”

Emilia sighed. “Right. Well, he wasn’t always like that. In fact, while my mom was still alive, we were actually a pretty happy family.”

Jake waited a bit but then decided to prod her gently. “What happened?”

“Well, it was back on one of the camping trips that we used to take. Some of the time, dad would take his bow and arrow, and he would try to hunt a bit while we were out there.” She paused her story. “He’s actually the one who taught me how to shoot. I never did get a chance to go hunting with him, though.” She trailed off.

“Because of what happened on the trip?”

Emilia nodded and refocused. “Yes, right. Well, the trip was going pretty much like normal. Dad had even managed to shoot a deer, and mom had offered to clean it back in camp.” Her voice got softer. “And that’s where everything went wrong.” She looked like she was trying to remember something. “Did you know that there are only 11 bear attacks a year in the US? And that they mostly only happen if you go into their territory or threaten their young?”

“Uh, no. I had no idea.”

“I didn’t either. Not until the third type of attack happened. The one where the bear attacks for basically no reason at all.” Emilia clenched her fist. “My dad and I went out on a walk in the woods when we heard her scream. He raced back, but by then, it was too late.” She paused, and some tears started to show.

Jake didn’t know what to say, so he kept it simple. “I’m so sorry, Emilia.”

“Me too.” She managed to keep her voice in check and continued. “The bear was tracked down and killed because they determined it was dangerous. That was little comfort, though. It was hardly going to bring my mom back. And after that… My dad changed. He threw himself into his work, and we rarely spent time together. Well, except when he was trying to teach me how to run the business.”

“Wow, so in a way, you lost both of your parents too,” Jake muttered.

“Yes, and that’s why I can’t let Titus get away with sending those monsters to attack the town.” Her gaze turned as hard as steel.

“I understand that,” Jake said slowly. “But I still think that killing him is a bit much, even if he is the one who did it.”

She sighed. “And I do too now that I’ve had more time to think about it. I was just so angry yesterday…” She trailed off. “I think you might be right that there’s something about Titus that provokes people. I don’t remember the last time I was that livid.” She looked at her hands. “Also, I think I’m still just not used to this world.”

Jake cocked an eyebrow. “How so?”

“You all keep mentioning how things are like video games you’ve played or anime you read, but I don’t have any of that background. And I guess shooting something with my bow and having it not bleed just… Seems fake to me. I know that isn’t a real excuse for almost killing someone, but … It’s hard to process that’s what I did. Especially since we likely wouldn’t even be having this discussion if Titus had a bit more HP when I shot at him.”

“Huh,” Jake said. “I thought you were adjusting better than that.”

“I’ve been able to deal with having numbers tell me how healthy or tired I am. I’ve been able to deal with being stuck in middle-age accommodations even though I was used to first-class everything back home. But… I just… Don’t feel like I belong with the rest of you.”

“Well, I think that is on me, at least partially. This party is supposed to go off and save the world together, but I’ve let us get away with not being there for each other.” He looked her in the eye. “For you specifically, I wouldn’t mind if we had chats like this every once in a while. If you have something that you need to get off your chest, I want to be there for you.”

“I think I’ll take you up on that,” Emilia murmured. “Thank you.”

Jake smiled. “As for the rest, I’ll need to see about breaking down the silos. Know any good team-building exercises?”

The conversation turned a bit less serious after that, and Emilia did, in fact, have a few management pointers that she gave Jake. As much as Jake hated that management tips were relevant to being the [Hero], he decided to take them anyway.

It was no longer early in the morning when they finally finished their talk.

“Well, I think we should get going. We still have to rescue Titus. Again,” Jake said as he sighed.

“Actually, Jake, if you don’t mind, I think I’d like to sit this one out.”

Jake cocked his head. “Why’s that?”

“I have a lot to think about, and I don’t know how I will react if I see Titus again. I would rather not deal with him today.”

Jake nodded. “Okay, I think we should be fine without you, but let’s make sure the party’s okay with that.”

The party met up and agreed to give Emilia the day off since she wouldn’t help against the boss anyway. She decided to take a walk in the forest since she could actually do that without getting attacked by wolves now.

The remaining 7 party members took off into the woods at a leisurely pace and soon reached the dungeon.

Jake took the lead once again, and they were soon approaching the first room. Crud. I didn’t think about this, but this could be rough without Titus here. We might need Lindsey or Garrett to help tank, and I don’t know if they’re over their fear of spiders-

Jake’s thoughts were cut short by a ridiculous sight. He burst out laughing.

“What is it?” Sam asked.

“Take a look at what claiming the obelisk did to the spiders,” Jake replied.

Sam walked up next to Jake and finally saw what he had laughed at. It turns out that not only had the black-furred red-eyed wolves turned into white-furred blue-eyed ones, but the spiders had also undergone the same transformation.

Throughout the entire room, Jake and Sam could see dozens of spiders trying in vain to hide with their bright white exoskeletons.

“Are they still hostile?” Tim asked.

Jake frowned. “I think so? I believe setting it to training mode means that they’ll attack, they’ll just try not to do lethal takedowns.” Jake thought for a moment. “I guess we could have someone go check?” He looked at the other 2 melee fighters who were trying not to show their terror. He sighed. “Don’t worry, I’ll go.”

Jake walked cautiously into the room and tried to aggro a single spider. He was successful, and soon enough, one jumped at him. He took that as his sign that they were hostile and sliced it out of the air before making a quick retreat back to the party.

“Well, I take it we terminate them from outside the room instead this time?” Tim offered.

“Yup,” Jake nodded. “Casters, go ahead and start blastin!” Jake almost felt bad as [Mage Bolt] after [Mage Bolt] was sent into the room and spider after spider dropped dead.

Soon enough, no spiders were left.

“Alright, so how do we deal with the stalactites?” Jake asked.

“Hmm, do we even have to?” Garrett replied. “I’ve never seen them come into any of the tunnels, so we could just run past them. It would be a lot faster than trying to have Sam and Tim [Fire Bolt] them down, and it would save on mana too.”

The party agreed with the plan and decided to try just sprinting across the room. There were several close calls, and one stalactite actually managed to clip the [Berserker], but it was a complete success.

Garrett tried to wave off Andrew’s offer to [Heal] him since it was only 12 damage, but Andrew finally convinced him when he reminded the [Berserker] that he could use [Cast from SP]. Completely healed up and ready, the party followed the same game plan for the next two rooms. [Mage Bolt] from outside the room, and then run past the stalactites.

Just like that, all that was left was the boss.

“I wonder if Titus’ll be surprised to see us back so soon,” Jake asked.

“Maybe, even with him, it would have taken-“ Garrett answered but trailed off and pointed. “Hey, what’s that?”

Jake looked forward and saw Titus’ slime. “Huh. Titus must have left his slime at the entrance for some reason.” The party kept walking towards it.

“Dave,” Tim corrected.

“Yeah, you’re right. His slime named Dave.”

“You mean, his dave named Dave,” Tim corrected again.

Jake sighed. “Look, I understand the system has recognized that as their name, but there’s no way it’s catching on. They’re sentient balls of slime. Therefore they are slimes. End of discussion.”

Tim was about to argue further when the slime began hopping up and down.

“What’s it doing now?” Jake asked as he got closer to examine it. Then he noticed another slime some ways behind it that was also hopping up and down. “What? He can have two of them?” Maybe that’s not such a terrible spell, after all.

“It worked!” They heard a shout from the boss room. “It worked! I can’t believe it! Wait, I need to go check first. Maybe it was a false-positive?”

“Titus? Is everything okay?” Jake called out.

Titus came running over to the tunnel. “Yes!” he shouted and grabbed the second slime, and hugged it. “You guys have a combined IQ of 10, and you may be near-suicidal-“ Titus paused and saluted nowhere. “Rest in peace Dave, Dave13, and Dave18.” Then he continued, “But you can still follow orders! And you can even recognize commands like jump if you see an adventurer! The possibilities! I could make an entire relay system out of you and send messages across the world!”

“Titus.” Jake started calling out to the [Half-Demon]. “Hey, Titus!”

Titus rubbed his chin. “Wait, they have a [Message] spell for that here. Darn. I guess I’m not revolutionizing communications with daves. Oh! But I could build a computer out of you! The latency would be a bit bad, but maybe I could improve that later on? Oh, and there’s probably the despawning issue. I guess it would still work for prototyping? Ooo, I wonder if they have electric magic here!”

“TITUS!” Jake shouted.

That finally snapped him out of his planning. “Oh, yes, [Hero]? You need something?”

“Your slime is kinda blockin the path.”

“Ohhh, right. My bad. Come here, Dave12!”

The slime continued jumping.

“Oh, might be the wrong one. I uhh, kinda lost track a bit. Come here!”

The slime stopped jumping but didn’t move.

“Aaaaand, it doesn’t know where I am, so I confused it. One sec!” Titus dropped the dave he was holding, jogged over to the entrance of the cave and then tried again. “Dave, move over there.”

The slime slowly hopped in the direction that Titus pointed.

That was when Jake finally noticed the indicator on each of the party members on his screen except for Emilia. Oh, must be my new [Enhanced Interface] perk. He mentally tried to activate it to see what it was. He stopped cold. “Hey Titus, before we help you with the boss, you mind explaining what the heck wrath aura is?”

----

I had been riding high on all of the possibilities that my new summon would bring, and also nerding out. Jake’s question put an abrupt stop to that. Fortunately, I didn’t have to try very hard to play dumb. “Wrath aura?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Jake nodded. “My new perk picked it up when you walked closer to us.”

“Does your perk give you any more information?”

“Probably not,” Jake muttered. “Oh, it actually did. It says it amplifies anger and aggression.”

“And you think that’s coming from me?”

“Yeah, where else would it be coming from.”

“You… Have a point. One sec.” Wrath aura… Must be a consequence of that red-text message I got for “Wrath form set,” right? I fumbled around and tried looking in my status and thinking things like “deactivate aura.” I eventually got a hit when I thought about my [Demon Lord] perk. I figured that if the skill information for [Elemental Strike] was kicking around in my subconscious, the information for that perk must be too.

Eventually, I managed to feel out the aura and retract it. Honestly, it was an awkward feeling knowing that I had an aura leaking out of me like that. It felt a bit like noticing your fly is down after giving a speech up on stage.

“Better?” I asked Jake.

“Yeah, it’s gone now,” he answered. “So, what was that all about?”

I thought for a bit. What can I tell him? Ah. “I think it was my [Half-Demon] perk. If the demon part of me is like a wrath demon or something, wouldn’t it make sense that I generate an aura like that?”

“And the reason you had that active?”

I sighed. I’m going to be under suspicion forever, aren’t I? Even for stupid stuff like this. “[Hero], I didn’t know about it. And if I did, what would I gain from having that active? If it has been active this whole time, then it’s part of the reason both Andrew and Emilia tried to kill me. Why would I keep that on?”

Jake looked at the party and shrugged. “Makes sense to me. Let’s get ‘im out of there.”

Jake took a step forward, but Tim shouted. “Wait! Why would a regular demon have that aura! I’m telling you, this is the last chance we have to keep him trapped in there!”

Jake walked into the boss room and stood next to me. “Tim, we already voted on this, and honestly, I’m a lot less suspicious of Titus now that I don’t have to keep resisting the urge to deck him.”

He sent me a party invite, which I quickly accepted.

Garrett shrugged and followed Jake into the room, followed by Sam, Lindsey, and Megan.

“Waiting on you, Andrew and Tim. And if you aren’t coming in, we’re going without you.”

I frowned. “Wouldn’t that be a bit dangerous for you to not have your healer? Not that it matters to me, but couldn’t the boss fight get a bit dicey?”

Jake grinned. “Nah, Sam has twice the MP she did last time. This’ll be a piece of cake now. How many bolts can you fire Sam?”

“Uhhhh,” Sam murmured. “How many times does 6 go into 275?”

I thought for a second. “About 45.”

“Okay, then I can shoot 45 bolts with [Quick Cast], orrrrr,” she trailed off. “And how many times does 4 go into it?”

That one also took me a few seconds. “About 68?” I checked my math. 4 times 60 is 240 plus 8 times 4 is 32. 272. “Yeah. 68. Geez. If you didn’t [Quick Cast], you almost wouldn’t need me at all!”

Jake nodded. “Yup, so we’re going, [Cleric] or no.”

“Oh, fine,” Tim said. “I am going only because it will make the process of us getting out of here more efficient.”

“Then I will as well,” Andrew added. He glared at me. “I’m still watching you, Titus.”

I just rolled my eyes in response. Yeesh.

“Uhh, hey, Titus?”

“Yes, [Hero]?”

“Your aura’s back on.”

Wait, really? I found it again and retracted it. “Better?”

“Yup. How did it reactivate?”

“I guess it might activate if I get angry or irritated?” I half-said half-asked. “I guess just help keep an eye on it for me, okay?”

“Sure, will do.”

We started walking to the boss fight trigger, and I collected my daves along the way. They all hopped merrily along behind the party.

“So, how many of those things can you have out at a time?” Jake asked.

“I haven’t hit a limit yet. I can make about 2 an hour, and I think they must last a day or something. So, I think my current cap would be around 48 daves?”

“Huh. Slimes don’t seem like they would be that useful, though.”

I gasped. “Cover your ears, daves! Don’t let the mean [Hero] bully you!” They didn’t know how to fulfill that command, so they all stopped right where they were. “Oh. Right. Keep following me!” That got the daves back in motion.

“I’m serious, though, why make so many of them?” Jake asked. “They’re way too slow to do anything.”

“Well, they actually pack quite a punch if they can catch you. When I tested their damage, they did 12 damage a second. They also grapple when they attack, so you can’t just run away once one gets you. Oh! And I also figured they would make good meat shields. I didn’t have a good way to test HP, but even if they only have 10 HP, we currently have an entire Titus worth of disposable HP on the front lines! And they probably have way more than 10 because they’re level 5!”

“Huh, when you put it that way, that spell’s kinda broken.”

We stopped in front of the pedestal. “So, how do we want to handle this?” I asked.

We discussed strategy for a bit. We all knew that we didn’t want to do fire first since it was the easiest for us to handle. As such, I advocated for us doing it 2nd so that we could take a break midway. However, Tim pointed out that as long as we did air 3rd, where he could help out with his recently purchased [Air Bolt], that mana really wouldn’t be an issue for the first 3 rounds. That meant that if they left the fire wolves to Tim and me that we would be able to do it all without resting.

My only question after that was what to do with all the daves that I had summoned. They were given the role of auxiliary meat shields and deployed to the east to help with the air wolves.

Our plan made up, we executed it.

To be honest, the boss fight that followed was almost boring. Sam blasted, I punched, and then Jake [Sundered] the boss when it was vulnerable. Repeat for earth, ice, and air (with two caveats). First, Tim helped with the air wolves. Second, the daves attempting to tank air wolves was absolutely hilarious as their little slimy bodies would get launched around everywhere. Then we got to fire where they couldn’t even hurt me. I took my time clearing them out, and Tim forced the boss corporeal with a [Fire Ball].

After a 4th thunderclap, we were done.

“Ah, man!” Jake whined. “We didn’t even get a level! That thing is level 15 too!”

Huh. But they gained 2 levels from it last time? I thought back to how I gained 4 levels from fighting my first boss. I ended at level 8, they ended at level 10, and the [Hero] ended at level 11. He has increased experience, I have heavily decreased… So, it’s like the bosses are designed to get you to level 10? And that’s where the [Hero] had mentioned class upgrades too. Hmm. I bet that’s intentional.

My internal debating was interrupted by our entire party being teleported right outside the entrance of the cave. That’s good. I count as enough of a party member to be teleported with everyone else. I looked around. “Oh, no! We left the daves behind!”

Jake shrugged. “I guess we could go back for them?” He looked to the rest of the party but wasn’t finding much support.

I sighed. “It’s fine. They would slow us down out here anyway. Besides, most of them are a bit hurt from the elemental wolves, and they’re probably going to despawn here in a bit. It’s not worth the effort.” I paused. “Or the chance of getting locked in there again.”

Jake nodded. “Alright then, back to town!”

We began our slow walk back. I walked next to Jake, and he filled me in on what I missed. Specifically, the noble wolves and the class upgrades the party got.

I finally decided to ask him. “So, why are you sharing all your class upgrades with me? I mean, I'm curious, and it’s kinda nice to know what the party can do, but I thought with me under suspicion for being the [Demon Lord] that you would want to keep that under wraps.”

Jake thought for a bit. “Honestly, I don’t think it matters much either way. If you’re the [Demon Lord], then I’m pretty sure we can stop you whether or not you know a few things about our classes. If you’re not, then I think it’s helpful information to have.”

I was quiet for a bit. “And which way are you leaning towards?”

Jake chuckled. “At the moment? I think you were telling the truth about being a [Half-Demon], and that your class is completely messed up.” Jake paused. “You know, finding out about that wrath aura was such a relief. I was starting to worry that I was losing my mind.”

“Yeah, Garrett mentioned that I was really getting under your skin.” I debated a bit but decided to tell him. “He also may have mentioned that you had anger management classes back on earth.”

“Oh, he did? Well, I guess it isn’t really a secret, but I still would have liked to be the one to tell you.” Jake sighed. “Yeah, I was trying all the tricks that I knew for keeping myself under control, and none of them were working long term around you. Even the walks to sort myself out. It’s so much easier now.” He looked at me side-eyed. “Don’t get me wrong, the aura doesn’t seem to have been all of it. There’s still a bit of unnatural anger, but I think that’s just my class and your class clashing. However, it’s so much more manageable.” Jake chuckled. “Yup. Way more manageable. Take a guess at how many times I had to take a walk to clear my head in the 6 months that you were in the tutorial.”

I thought for a bit. “Uhhh. 10?”

Jake laughed. “Nope. Only once.”

“Wow. And you’ve lost it… Three times since I got here? 1 after Tim and I dueled, and Andrew almost killed me, 1 for not helping fight an alpha, and then 1 in the boss room when Tim didn’t follow the plan. Though I guess the first one I walked away and not you, so I guess that might not count.”

“Yup.” Jake looked at me in concern. “By the way, are you okay?”

I cocked my head. “I guess so? Why do you ask?”

“It’s just… You’ve had like 3 or 4 near-death experiences in as many days. That mixed with the fact that you were basically alone for 6 months with no one to talk to makes me a bit worried for you.”

I thought for a bit. “I mean… I don’t like almost dying, but I guess part of me is a bit desensitized to it? I did spend a lot of time dying in the tutorial. As for why I’m fine after being alone for 6 months, your guess is as good as mine.” I chuckled. “And what brought on this sudden concern [Hero]?”

“I don’t know, I think it’s more that I was too busy being angry at you before to pay attention to stuff like that.” Jake paused. “Dang. That wrath aura really messed with me.”

“I’m glad you bought that perk then.”

“Yeah, me too. Maybe we’ll mention what it does in our next [Message] to Doom Fury-” he trailed off. “Oh, no. Doom Fury!” He addressed the party. “Guys! Today’s Sunday, and we don’t have our [Message] ready! We have like 15 things to tell them!”

“[Message] to Gloom Kirby?” I asked. “I thought none of us had the [Message] spell?”

“What he means is the reply that we will send to their [Message] spell,” Tim clarified. “For locations that don’t have the [Message] spell available, Doom Fury’s [Wizard] or someone else in their network sends a suitably long [Message] filled with nonsense or numbers. Since [Message] allows a reply of the same word length, the addressee is then able to respond with the information they wished to communicate.”

“That seems a bit wasteful,” I replied. “How would they know how many words to send?”

“That’s why this is an issue,” Jake answered. “The first [Message] they send is to find out the word count, and we don’t know how many words we need yet!”

“Well, what kind of information do you usually send them?”

“Basically, anything important that we find out. So, class upgrades need to be on there. What else?” Jake asked.

“We still need to ask about the changes that have happened to Tim!” Andrew answered. “There have to be other children who are being changed, and we need to find out more as soon as possible!”

Jake nodded. “Fair enough, I guess that can be first.”

“Actually,” Garrett interjected. “Dungeons trapping people in the boss rooms needs to be first. We’ve had warnings that dungeons are dangerous, and now we know why some people haven’t been coming back. We also should warn that the bosses are probably level 15 and up. Andrew’s point definitely belongs in there 2nd, though.”

“We also should include the types of special classes we found!” Sam interjected. “And how we got them! [Elemental Sorceress] for having one spell of each element, and [Fire Wizard] for having two fire spells.”

“I also have [Ignis],” Tim replied. “That could be pertinent.”

Sam shrugged. “Yeah, I guess say [Ignis] might be required for that one.”

The party thought for a bit.

“What about training mode?” I said. “Now that you’ve cleared this dungeon out, doesn’t this make this area the safest place for people to try to hit level 10? You mentioned before that everyone was capped at about 7 or 8, so I think some people would be chomping at the bit to try to level up more.”

“Good point,” Jake answered. “Then we need to include information about the dangers and how to beat the boss. Oh! And achievements! The Conqueror and Dungeon Delver ones are new.”

“Oh, if you’re cataloging achievements, what about Boss Solo, Underdog, and Slayer of Giant Ants?” I asked. “The last one’s probably not pertinent, and the first one is self-explanatory, but I think the second is for killing an opponent that is 10 levels or more above you.”

Jake thought for a second. “I think we should leave those out. The last thing we would want is for people to learn about them and then do something stupid while trying to chase achievements.”

“Fair enough,” I remembered another piece of info. “Oh! And mimics can spoof [Identify]. We have to include that!”

“Good gravy,” Jake muttered. “A lot happened these past few days. I’m going to need help cutting the word count as low as possible.”

The party got to work on doing just that as soon as we got back to town.

-----

Ethan, Doom Fury’s [Wizard], had just finished transcribing the longest [Message] he had ever received. He had confirmed the number of words the sender wanted, not once, but twice. He didn’t think that Jake was a troll (he doubted a troll would get to be the [Hero]), but it was still surprising to see. The 115 MP to get the [Message] was well worth it, though.

Jake: Dungeon boss rooms trap party inside until cleared. Known boss was level 15. Exercise extreme in dungeons.

Looking for information regarding mental changes/aging for adolescent adventurers.

Faroff Forest Dungeon in Training mode, mobs will attempt to do non-lethal takedowns

Mobs:

Stalactite, strikes from floor/ceiling. Resistant to physical

Spider, has poison DOT

Mimic, WARNING mimics may spoof [Identify]

Boss:

Has 4 elemental states. Hit ads and boss with SAME element. Move pillar to change season. Must clear wave and boss for each element.

Achievements:

Dungeon Delver, 5 points, clear dungeon

Conqueror, 2 points, claim dungeon for faction

Classes upgrade at level 10. Special upgrades:

[Fire Wizard], 2 fire spells, and [Ignis]

[Elemental Sorceress], all bolt spells

“Yo, guys! Come take a look at this!” Ethan called to the rest of Doom Fury.

“Holy sheep!” Samuel the [Cleric], was the first to speak. “Now we know why people were going missing in dungeons. I’m glad we didn’t try to clear one of those!” He then saw the length of the note. “Dang, that must have really eaten through your MP.”

Ethan flexed his hand. “Yeah, it took almost my entire bar, and made my hand cramp a bit.”

The party chuckled. Their [Rogue], Nick, spoke up. “Hey, Rich. You’re quiet, and that’s not like you at all. What’s up?”

“How far away is Faroff?” Richard asked.

“Uhh, it’s pretty far south if I remember,” Ethan said. “Basically, as far south as you can go and still be in areas that are inhabited. Why?”

Richard grinned. “Because we might not be the first party to hit level 10, but we can sure be the second!”