Zander hopped over to Auron jumping on a cyclone formed by a whip of his tail and inspects the rocks pinning him.

Rocks and dust still falling from the explosion were raining down around them. Zander entered through the doorway he hid behind before the explosion and used his wind magic to form a bubble of swirling air starting at his mouth. After widening the wind past the two of them the outermost layer transforms into a thin impenetrable barrier like the one Zander uses for defense. Gently expanding, the bubble pushed outward reaching the corners of the room-clearing the dust, and displacing any falling rocks away harmlessly.

Auron was happy to not have to breathe in the dust and pleased even further that Zander could use his wind gently as to not agitate the already fragile-looking ceiling.

[Auron what in the fiend spawn was that... What did you do?] Zander flung the questions at Auron one after the other as statements like a worried parent. He let out involuntary gusts of wind clearly exasperated by his partner's newest creation.

“How about a hand before the interrogation bud?” Auron said, every word coming out painfully due to his pinned torso.

[If I use my magic to get you out we would be risking damaging you in the process. You seem to be getting more competent with magic so you should be able to get yourself out. Do you still have that dagger?]

“Yeah its actually still in my hand somehow. I have a little bit of space for my arm to move, but I do not see how that is going to help me” Auron said the frustration creeping into his voice turning to fear as his slight movements cause a shift in the rocks.

[Be patient I have an idea and you might get a new skill out of it. Do you remember the sound attack used by those rats? Try and picture that and summon it to your blade.] Zander sends the message unaware of the increased weight on Auron's chest.

Auron attempted to move his mana in a way that mimicked the rat creatures without success. “I can’t do it, Zander. I do not have enough of a connection to one of the sources. I can access Blue mana because of my socketed gemstone, Green because of our connection, Red because I think that has something to do with this dungeon and Purple for a similar reason. Those rats have a color I can not use. If their fur is any indication it is yellow.” He says while again attempting to squeeze himself free.

[Each dungeon only has one concentration we are in a Red dungeon currently. We have not been exposed to the mana in this dungeon long enough for you to get any new abilities or classes though. You received your increased mana of Purple, Red, and Green concentrations from all of us-] Zander stopped speaking and his expression zoned out.

“Come on Zander!” Auron growled in frustration. “Now is not the time for one of your episodes. In his frustration, he caused another shift the heavy stone block slipped down the wall and compressing Auron’s chest.

[There was that purple and white goblin earlier. That should not have been here.] Zander mused a moment later as if he did not just have a long space in his talking.

Auron tried to push harder now that his breathing was being compressed he was beginning to panic. The short breaths he was taking began to become more ragged. Stealing a glance at his health bar he could see the entire ordeal had put him at 40% of the total. A blinking icon next to the bar concerned him so he concentrated on it.

Oxygen deprivation. Health falls 5% every 2 min. If health falls under 20% in this state you will lose consciousness.

“Shit Zander... we are... running out of time. Auron wheezed out.

[I used to know someo..] Zander tried to speak but his mouth clamped shut. Similar to when he spaces out the familiar seemed unable to continue that sentence.

As he was about to speak again a fist-sized rock smashed to pieces up against the wall they were near. A few feet lower and it would have hit Auron in the head.

Looking to the source Zander could see another pack of the pink goblins running over.

[If you have a connection to purple did you discover the infusion skill yet?] Zander rushed the words out and began to glow green.

“Yesh.” Auron began to slur his words as his health dropped another 5% and his vision began to fade in and out.

[Auron stay with me!] Zander was now panicking. He considered blasting the stone apart, but it was even more of a risk with Auron's low health state. He also needed to keep the goblins away.

[Use it on yourself. Grab that tool and draw the mana from your surroundings into yourself. Quickly.] Zander quickly sent this message out before he flew overriding a gust to meet the approaching enemies.

In his half-awake state Auron was still able to take the simple instructions. He used his ring to switch his dagger with the Onyx bone rod. Remembering the feeling of making the grenade simplified the process slightly. Instead of the green mana swirling within him, he focused on the elusive purple mana. With some coaxing, and his blue gemstone on his hand fueling the process he pulled a tendril of it out and into the rod. Blue mana raced to meet the purple mana, and Auron had a feeling deep down that both would be needed for this to work.

As the two connected Auron felt as if something was wrong The blue mana dominated the purple making the connection feel explosive as if the rod itself was turning into a grenade. Frantically Auron stops the process and lets all of the mana go. Rather than his internal purple mana source, he then decides to pull from the surrounding mana as a source instead. In his oxygen-deprived state he stumbled upon a lucky solution.

Feeling the mana was easier due to his blue gemstone, but he really had to concentrate to get the mana to creep from its ambient state toward the rod. Air flowing from one of the holes in the wall seemed to respond to his call. A vortex of purple mana appeared in a mist out of the surroundings and took over the process overwhelming the blue mana coming from inside of him.

Error Mana infusion not possible without a sufficient internal source of Purple mana.

When he let his concentration slip while reading the message, the mana flowed right out back into the environment. Auron ran several different scenarios through his mind, urgently trying to come up with a solution, as he watched his health bar slowly drop. Running through his entire time in this new world he remembered the tattoo he got when he bonded with Zander. If he could not hold in the power maybe if it was concentrated somewhere on his skin he could burn...*Bing*

Combination possible due to your lateral thinking. Combine mana infusion and mana manipulation? (This combination will not erase these base abilities.)

“Yes,” Auron choked out as his health ticked down another 5%. Two more minutes and he would lose consciousnesses. Adrenaline keeping him somewhat alert he attempted to activate the pull on mana one more time. The mana of the dungeon he was in seemed to flow into his chest and play with his own Red source. Connecting to the Blue gemstone on his hand flickers of something appeared in his vision. Focusing on increasing his strength he began to see symbols in the air forming from those flickers. Moving up and down as if riding an invisible stream of air the symbols were reminiscent of the wisps. One stood out more than the others as if heading his call for strength. When he focused on it he felt a burning sensation on the inside of each of his elbows.

Congratulations new skill discovered. Rune-script (Minor)

Where Auron felt the sensation of two brands in his arms he now felt an anchor for the mana he was drawing in. Feeling his muscles grow as that mana was then trapped and cycled through him he pushed out the rocks slightly moving as he did everything in his power to get free. Drawing in more and more until he felt he would burst, his muscles expanding to the point of almost ripping his skin, this gave him just enough strength to push the rocks out and away from his body.

As they tipped away from him the heavy rocks continued and slammed into the stone floor throwing up a layer of dust. Auron’s increased strength fading immediately. The feeling was odd, it was as if his muscles let out a breath that had been held in. They deflated almost immediately along with the mana flowing out of him.

Taking heaving breaths, and then choking on the dust kicked up, Auron looked over to see Zander absolutely destroy a group of level 2 pink goblins. The experience from the group plus the ogre must have been enough to level Auron up because he heard the system. *Bing*

Congratulations you have reached level 4. 10 Stat points awarded.

Zander rushed over to heal Auron. The pink goblins he was fighting now splattered to paste covering the walls.

[Activate healing wind with me.] Zander sends over their link.

Auron had just enough mana left after his use of the rune script to comply.

Healing wind (Multiplied) activated. Heals 9 HP/s. Half mana cost.

[I am at my mana limit. We really can’t get you to level 20 fast enough. That new socketed gemstone you have helps, but my head feels like it is going to split apart. Please do not do anything stupid while I am resting. NO MORE EXPLOSIONS.] Zander finished his tirade and disappeared into Auron's shoulder without leaving time for a response.

Auron sighed while massaging his temples, his low mana bar bringing on a raging headache. he took a somber look around the room. The body parts of the goblins everywhere made his stomach turn. An eyeball stuck to the wall looked back at him, its dead gaze felt like a piercing accusation. Murderer.

As he walks around and picks up loot his eyes are drawn to What was left of the ogre. Everything above its waistline was turned to dust. The ogre's legs were slowly dissolving, the sight sickened Auron. His first thoughts were about how the creature could talk.

Auron's heavy thoughts about life and death were interrupted by a rectangular object laying where the upper half of the monster should be. Warily he walks over and taps it with his foot. Using inspection he confirmed what he thought the object was.

Crimson Ogre Tower shield. Great shield made from the Tough bones and hide of a Crimson Ogre. This shield retains some of the Ogre's magical ability offering a slight pull on attacks toward the center of its mass. Because of its weight, a strength value greater than 50 is required to wield properly.

Excited at the prospect of having such a great defensive item Auron rushed over and attempted to lift the shield before fully reading the description. When it did not move he read the last sentence.

Auron, feeling dejected at the lack of good news, and the item he had no current use for, ran his hand down his face in frustration.

Auron’s eyes then lit up with an idea. Waiting for a few more minutes to let his mana recharge he then stretches. Raising his onyx rod and tried to activate his mana infusion to increase his strength. Looking down at his arms he could see what looked like an X with a line bisecting it vertically on the insides of both of his arms. As he tried activating the skill those lines began to light up and he felt the flow of power rush into him. The shield was slowly lifting up as he funneled more power through the runes.

Warning the use of carved strength runes is limited to 1 time per day. Further use will lead to a penalty of -1 stat strength point per use. This deduction is permanent.

“Wha-...What! No thank you.” Auron deactivated the skill and the shield dropped down and cracked the stone it was laying on silently hoping he did not just lose a stat point.

He sat down dejectedly and grabbed out the slimy clump of Fire Algae from his ring. As he was going to take a bite the smell of what was left of the Ogre reminded him of his surroundings the wet slippery texture of the plant did not help. Leaping up he walked to the other side of the room and sat down once again.

As he ate his mind began to wander back to his thoughts of death and how he had participated in the death of living somewhat sentient creatures. In an attempt to distract himself he pulled up his new skills and read through the descriptions.

Auron last name. Level 4

Class: Rogue

Secondary Class: New!

Title:

Secondary Title:

Socket points open: 7

Socket points used: 1

Familiar 1/0

Available stat points: 10

Spiritual stats:

Health: 20 (+10)

Regen:10(x2)

Mana:15

Wisdom:10(+10)

Physical Stats:

Speed:20

Precision:20

Strength:20

Durability:15(+15)

Auron did a little dance when he confirmed he did not lose a stat point from his gaffe.

Main:

HP:300/300

MP:150/150

Regen: 20 health point per min

Wisdom: 20 mana point per min

Magic: Wind blast (Limited)3/3, Healing wind (Limited)3/3,Thrust slash

Ability: Stealth, Inspection(Augmented), Mana Infusion, Mana Manipulation, Rune Script, Strength Runes(Limited)

Skills: Elavarian language, Back-stab, Dagger skills

Special attributes: Will to survive, Indomitable spirit, Lateral thinking, pain resistance

Blessings: Blessing of the Goddess Lombardia. R**** Aura

Auron decided to hold onto the stat points. The flashing secondary class option reminded him he had a new class to set. Clicking it mentally pulled up the screen.

Class:

Available class options:

1)Rogue

2)R*****

Secondary class:

Available class options:

Artificer

Title:

None

Secondary title:

None

Focusing on the secondary class he was able to see the description.

Artificer Class description: An Artificer is someone who molds and moves mana in ways most would not be able to even perceive as possible. Artificers are masters at taking the power of mana and applying it to items to create weapons, or manipulating mana in ways unheard of. To access this class one must be attuned to Arcane mana, Have a familiar at Ore quality, and have an analytical mind. With this class, a deeper understanding of mana and its pathways is granted. Item creation success rate is raised by 50% and can now be seen before creation. Rune script skill is granted.

Auron did not understand all of the information there, but he enjoyed the process of making the grenade and could most likely always switch it out for something else if he needed to.

Artificer Secondary class activated. Stat boost granted +10 wisdom +5 MP. Lateral thinking automatically activated to combine redundant rune script skill. Rune script skill (Amateur>>>Adept)