When I finally departed from church grounds and crossed the street, I was surprised to find several people waiting with Van and Bila: Rjiana, Bjoukia, Bjoukin, Roen, Valatea, and . . . Hleara? It took a moment for me to recognize her because her red scales were missing from her skin, leaving a beautiful looking human Asian girl. Of course, her skin still had a red tinge and her eyes were colored red as well. When I reached the group, Bila handed me a bunch of potions. I quickly stored the mana potions in my potions bag.

"So when are we leaving for Southampton?" Bila asked.

I shook my head. "We're not. Originally, Bishop Canterbury was going to cast Recall to send us there. But he overexerted himself in defending the town and he has been mana burned. He cannot cast a spell for at least a week," I informed them.

Rijana and Valatea winced at the term, "mana burned." Each spellcaster had experienced this status during her respective magic training and it was not something either person wished to endure again.

"So what now?" Van asked, oblivious of their discomfort.

"Not sure," I replied. I held up my hand to forestall more questions as I turned to Roen and Valatea. "I know that Rijana, Bjoukia, and Bjoukin are coming along for my mission. But why are you here? Do you need to discuss something with me?" I asked.

Roen the signmaker glanced at his wife and pointed a finger at her. "She would like to talk with you."

The beautiful elven priestess of Gaea smiled at me. "Yes, we have much to discuss. Can you come over to our home?" she invited.

"Okay," I agreed readily.

"Great!" she smiled again.

The couple started walking hand-in-hand and the rest of us followed her.

As we walked through the streets of Tregome, I saw many buildings which had been destroyed.

Suddenly, Bila grabbed my arm and walked beside me in order to comfort me. She knew that I was still feeling guilty over the lives lost due to the arrival of the two elder liches and their minions.

Seeing the utter destruction and broken lives of these commoners, our group made the trek with a respectful silence for their losses. The streets were much less congested than usual, as people were busy clearing debris and fixing whatever could be fixed. Thus, we reached Roen's signmaker shop, which was located in the northeastern section of Tregome, much sooner than expected.

The half-elf shopkeeper stood in front of the door and started muttering softly. The door glowed a faint green color for a split second and then returned to normal. Roen then turned the doorknob and opened the door for us to enter.

When I walked in, I saw that the place was the same as the last time I visited a week and a half ago. There were tables with sample signs placed on the table. Among the samples, I saw some of my signs displayed. In the back was Roen's workstation with some paint, brushes, and more unfinished signs.

"Oh, before I forget!" Roen said and hurried to a cabinet behind the workstation. He unlocked the cabinet and pulled open a drawer. He took out a sack of coins and handed it to me. "There are 500 gold pieces inside. This is your share of profits from our joint business venture," he said with a triumphant grin. Originally, the half-elf was skeptical when I made the business proposition and it took a lot of cajoling from me to get him to agree.

"Thank you," I said as I took the sack from him. I received a pop-up notification which read, "Minor faction quest COMPLETED. +500 XP." I remembered that I received one experience per gold earned from this business venture, which was for Roen to wholesale and distribute special signs I had designed to shops. Using his business connections with traveling merchants, Roen was able to sell these signs to shopkeepers in other parts of the kingdom. I had to put up the initial capital, but so far this business venture had proved to be an excellent investment.

Valatea cleared her throat. Loudly.

"Sorry, dear," Roen said. He was clearly flustered by her. He immediately walked back to the front door and locked it. Then he cast a spell of Sound Barrier around the house to prevent eavesdropping. He turned around and said, "Please come upstairs and relax. We have something to discuss."

The priestess headed up the stairs and we followed her. The shopkeeper took the rear.

When we reached the second floor, I saw a familiar sight: a giant plant placed on a small table in the very center of the upper floor of the house. It resembled a rose with sharp thorns. The petals were curled up and wrapped around the center of the flower. This was the secret gateway to enter Gaea's domain. I traveled through this gateway once to visit the Goddess at her invitation and I received Gaea's divine mark at that time. I wondered what mission the Goddess had for me this time. I couldn't think of another reason to be invited to the second floor of the shop.

"Please sit down and make yourself at home," the hostess said. She sat with her husband on the ground in front of the flower.

We took her cue and sat in a circle around the plant.

Hleara took off a ring from her finger and returned to her true form. "Ah, much better," she moaned quietly and stretched her back.

Valatea covered her mouth to hide her giggle. She turned toward the draco, who was sitting to Valatea's immediate left.

The dragonkin nodded. She turned to face me directly. "I need to visit Hleandros' lair and clean out his treasure before someone else gets there first. I ask that you come with me and help me defeat any guardians left behind by my father. Among his possessions is a magic orb that can cast Gate. You can use the item to return to Southampton," she offered.

Bila raised her paw. "Why wouldn't master use the orb to transport directly to London?" she asked.

Rijana spoke up. "You cannot use travel magic to go to a place the spellcaster has never visited before. And since none of us have visited London, we can't go there directly," she explained.

"Rats!" the cat girl exclaimed and slapped her paw on the ground.

"It can't be helped," the spellcaster shrugged.

"I would like to help you, Hleara," I answered. "But I'm constrained for time right now and I'm not sure that I have the time to go on your quest. Where is your father's lair? How much travel time will be required to get there?" I asked.

The draco grinned. "His lair is inside a dormant volcano to the far north beyond the continent of Britannia. Red dragons are attracted to heat and therefore, a volcano is an ideal home for them. As for how long it will take to get there, the answer is not long at all. As part of Hleandros' lineage, I can use a special ability called 'Ancestral Recall.' This spell will transport me and anyone I'm in physical contact with to his lair. I could go there right now if I want to. But the problem is that I haven't been there in a while and I don't know what kind of defenses he had set up before traveling to Tregome," she explained.

"Instant teleportation! How convenient!" I remarked. Since the Magic Guild used teleportation to hop to different floors, I was accustomed to this form of travel already.

Hleara's grin grew wider.

I turned to Rijana and her elven companions. "Will you three be able to go on this quest as well?"

Rijana glanced at Valatea, who nodded subtly. "Yes, we have permission to assist Hleara in her quest," the mage answered.

Bila's tail flickered in the air. She started imagining all the gold that the dragon had hoarded in his lair. "Let's go right now!" she said. The cat girl's eyes gleamed with excitement and greed.

Rijana shook her head. "We need time to prepare. Can we go tomorrow morning?" she asked.

Hleara nodded reluctantly. "Okay."

Valatea clapped her hands. "In the meantime, I invite all of you to spend the night here," she invited with a smile.

"But there's only one bed here," Bila pointed with her paw.

The elf hummed a tune and the flowers adorning the walls started to grow. Petals extended from the wall and hardened until they took the shape of pods. "You can sleep in those," she pointed at them and smiled.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Gate Mistress Valatea," I said formally and bowed deeply to her.

"Not at all, Lord Mulligan. We are both servants of Gaea and it is only natural that your needs are provided for while under my care," the elf answered.

Rijana waved her hand to get my attention. "I know that you took part in fighting Hleandros and then protected his body from the lich's minions. I'm sure you received a tremendous amount of experience points from these encounters. Have you checked your status screen and advanced your character level yet?" she asked.

I shook my head.

My magic teacher nodded. She turned toward Bila and Van. "I need to borrow Lord Mulligan for the rest of the day. We need to do some magic training. I will take him somewhere to do so. We will return for supper."

The two bodyguards looked at me.

"Yes, I'm sure that would be fine," I agreed.

Rijana smiled broadly. "In that case, I should reveal a secret of my own." The enchanter pulled out a necklace from under her gray-colored robe. It was a pendant in the shape of a leaf circling an aquamarine gemstone. She grabbed my arm and whispered a word of power.

My world suddenly turned into a kaleidoscope as I was teleported. A moment later, my vision cleared. I looked around and saw that I was inside a circular room. There was a set of stairs running along the wall plus a door.

"Welcome to my home," Rijana said. "Let's go upstairs." She climbed the steps and soon reached the second floor. She sat down on a luxurious looking sofa. She patted her hand on the seat next to her. "Come and sit here." When I obeyed, she said, "Please check your screen."

I tried to pull up my status screen but it was covered by a ton of pop-up messages. "Um, I need to clear up my notifications first."

"Go ahead."

Feeling embarrassed, I tried to glance at and dismiss all the messages I had accumulated since the fight with Hleandros. The most important notification, by far, was the result of the fight with the dragon: "Major faction quest COMPLETED. Hleandros DEFEATED. +25,000 XP, +20,000 Reputation, +40,000 XP. Title ACQUIRED: Dragonslayer." No wonder the patrons were calling me that when I was inside The Noble Lady to talk with Amelica.

It took a few minutes for me to finish this task. Finally, I pulled up my Player Status Screen and reviewed my personal stats:

A picture of my player avatar was in the left column and right above that read: “Title: Pursuer of the Crown, Title: Dragonslayer, Title: Finalist in the Melee Tournament, Title: Undead Hunter, Title: Were-Hunter, Title: Avenger of the Town Judge Wachtel; Title: Liege of the Butterfly School of Swordsmanship, Title: Protector of Southampton, Status: Member of the Mage Guild, Status: Adept of the Butterfly School of Swordsmanship, Status: Adept of the Church of Britannia, Status: Town Judge of Tregome, Status: Honorary member of the Tregome Bordermen, Status: True Friend of Burnhamm Village.”

The middle column read: "Name: Lawrence Eugene Mulligan, Race: Human, Alignment: Lawful Good, Permanent Conditions: Marked by Bane, Marked by Musa, Marked by Luck, Marked by Gaea, Marked by Jasla, Marked by Leonus; Profession: Mage/Swordsman, Level: 7, Experience: 69,350/28,000, Reputation: 38,602, Attack: 40, Damage: 6-8 (Unarmed), 8-12 (Dagger), 8-18 (Long Sword), Critical Attack: 8%, Critical Damage: 250%."

On the right side of the screen, my player attributes were listed: "Health: 76, Stamina: 46, Magic: 35, Strength: 20, Intelligence: 25, Wisdom: 12, Dexterity: 19, Constitution: 26, Charisma: 12. Abilities: Navigation-Sense (Level 6), Magic Sense (Level 8), Immunity to Electricity (Level 2), Immunity to Fear (Level X), Negotiation (Level 5), Spirit Sense (Level 10/MAX), Reroll (Level X)."

At the bottom were five tabs. The first was marked "Skills." When I mentally clicked on the tab, I saw: "Professional Skills: Mage—Read Magic (Level 8); Swordsman—Dual-Weld (Level X), Charge (Level 6), Disarm (Level 4), First Strike (Level 3), Slide Step (Level 4), Duel Winner (Level 2)." The second tab was: "Magic Spells: General (Level 4)—Detect Trap, Light, Dispel Magic; Fire (Level 8)—Fire Bolt, Fireball; Water (Level 3)—Acid Arrow; Earth (Level 2)—Armor, Web; Air (Level 3)—Magic Missile, Invisibility, Lightning Bolt; Light (Level 2)—Protection from Undead; Dark (Level 3)—Dark Vision, Darkness." The third tab was: "Divine Spells: Order—Unveil (Level X), Chaos—Veil (Level X), Charm Opposite Sex (Level X); Life—Minor Heal (Level X)." The fourth tab was "Artifacts," and it revealed: "Truth-Stone of Order and Chaos—Truth-Telling (Level X)." The fifth tab was "Followers," and it listed: "Bila, Journeyman Swordsman."

"I now have a total of sixty-nine thousand experience points," I announced. "I also gained a level in the General, Fire, Water, Air, and Dark spheres of magic. And my Read Magic skill is at Level 8."

Rijana's body shuddered as if she was shocked. "You are a dual-class and your experience gain is halved, correct?" She remembered that the last time I checked my status, I was at Level 7; this meant that I had less than twenty-eight thousand experience points. In the blink of an eye, I had gained forty-one thousand points.

I nodded.

"I don't know how you managed to accumulate almost one hundred forty thousand points altogether. If you held a single class, you would almost reach the master rank," she remarked and shook her head.

"I've been in this world for a little over two weeks," I pointed out.

My magic instructor looked at me incredulously. "I'm sure that even a prodigy like Kalistra took years to accumulate that much XP."

"The Gods want me to entertain them and they kept throwing monsters and quests at me," I shrugged helplessly as I thought about all the adventures I had gone through in such a short period of time.

"I'm sure they have been quite entertained by you," she remarked. Rijana took a deep breath and returned her focus to an important point she wished to make. "If you advance your character level all the way through, you will reach Level 12 immediately and unlock access to Sixth-Tier magic."

"That's great!" I exclaimed and fist-pumped in the air.

My teacher held up her hand. "The problem, though, is that if you do that and you fail to learn the lower-tier spells, you won't be able to attempt to learn them again until you reach the next level. For a dual-class like you, that could take a very long time to accomplish. Hence, my recommendation is to attempt to learn whatever spells (and melee skills) you need first. Whatever you fail to learn, put them aside and retry after you raise your character level."

"That's the same advice Kalistra gave me before," I noted. "She also said it's easier for me to gain experience when I'm at a lower level than at a higher character level."

"Kalistra gave you excellent advice," Rijana nodded in agreement.

I suddenly remembered something. "I have a scroll of Mass Invisibility that I received from Delkon," I told her.

"That's a Fifth-Tier spell," she replied. "You need to be at least Level 9 in the Mage profession in order to cast it."

"Should I advance to Level 9, then?" I asked.

My magic teacher tilted her head for a moment. "What's your skill level in Air magic?"

"3."

Rijana shook her head. "Your skill in Air magic is way too low. Even if you somehow manage to copy the spell into your spellbook, your chance of casting it successfully will be low. If that happens, the spell could backfire and injure either the spellcaster or the targets of the spell," she warned me.

"The highest tier Air magic in my spellbook is Lightning Bolt," I pointed out in defense.

My magic teacher laughed. "I'm not admonishing you for having a low skill level in the Air sphere. Most mages tend to specialize in one sphere of magic and maximize their skill in that sphere. For a secondary sphere, they may reach Level 4 or 5 at most. For spheres that they lack proficiency in, they are limited to Second-Tier spells. Your problem is that you have access to all six spheres and could learn up to the Ninth-Tier for all of them. Essentially, you are a jack-of-all-trades and master of none," she observed.

"My skill in Fire magic is at Level 8," I noted.

Rijana smiled. "That's fantastic! I strongly urge you to max out your skill in Fire magic at Level 10," she advised. "As a Swordmage, the Fire sphere offers a wide variety of ranged damage spells to supplement your swordsmanship."

"Can I learn higher tier Fire magic from you?" I requested.

She frowned. "As an enchanter specializing in the creation of magical jewelry, I can't afford the slots to carry the higher-tier offensive spells. Fireball is the highest tier offensive Fire magic in my spellbook," she admitted sheepishly.

I quickly held up my hand. "I'm sorry to put you on the spot like that," I apologized with a bow.

"It's fine," she dismissed the apology with a wave of her hand. "You are learning magic at a quick pace and soon you will need to find another magic teacher," Rijana said with a feeling of melancholy. Since I was her first magic student, she had tremendous pride in my growth as a mage. And it was evident that my natural talents in magic will require more specialized instruction soon. At that moment, she resolved to find another instructor to take over my magic training. I deserved nothing else.