Caesar waited for his skeleton mage to charge an empowered fireball. Even as flames rose high into the air, the enemy did not move. He felt prickles from his mind as something trained its gaze on him.

The fireball shot toward the center and exploded on something large, hulking, and bone-white. Sparks littered the ground, giving him a chance to Identify the beast.

Tomb Hippopotamus – Rank 1

[Rarity]: Rare

Caesar gaped in shock. Rare? The monster bellowed, deafening him and Max. An enormous maw taller than a man and filled with colossal tusks sank terror into his mind. White bone covered the entire bulky body of the hippo like armor.

He tried to glimpse a weak point, any vulnerability, but only unyielding hide met his eyes. Max skirted off to the left, leaving him alone to stare down the behemoth. Adrenaline rushed through him as he called his crown into being and prepared to delay the monster. He gave up attempting to melee the hippo and instead prioritized his Agility and Vitality in case it had any spells.

Caesar

Free Stat Points: 12 -> 0

Strength: 7

Agility: 7 -> 12

Vitality: 7 -> 14

Magic: 5

Willpower: 9

Spirit: 6

Skeleton Mage

Free Stat Points: 1 -> 0

Magic: 16 -> 17

With his Essence Crown, all of his stats except Spirit increased by three and he stood up straighter. He downed his potion of haste and potion of strength to better dodge the beast, relying on his skeleton mage to damage it.

Strength: 7 -> 12 -> 15

Another fireball struck the behemoth’s side, missing its widened jaws. Enraged, the beast trotted toward him as the floor groaned in protest and attempted to ram him. In response, he rushed to the other corner, opposite the skeleton mage. As expected, the hippo changed its warpath toward the source of its annoyance instead and rumbled toward the skeleton mage. An unpowered boulder shot toward its bony armor, but the hippo smashed through it without any visible injury.

Caesar unsummoned his skeleton mage and began to summon it again from his corner. The hippo snorted in confusion and slammed into the wall, shaking the entire room and almost tripping him up.

But his summon succeeded, and after handing over the two mana potions, he sprinted left to another edge of the room. Max followed suit, waiting on the opposite corner from him. The beast absorbed two more empowered fireballs on its flank before it successfully managed to turn around.

The monster lumbered its way toward the skeleton mage again, ignoring him and Max who stood far from its sides. An empowered boulder smashed into its head armor before it began to charge once again. Caesar pulled the same trick to relocate his skeleton mage.

He grinned and exchanged corners with his wolf, moving down the walls opposite the hippo. The beast roared again and took another empowered fireball into its flank. This time, cracks appeared, and the smell of burnt flesh began to spread across the room. It moved toward Caesar’s location instead. He braced himself for the incoming danger. Max ran a good distance away from the hippo, ready to help distract or harass the behemoth if necessary.

Another fireball blasted the side of the monster, but it did not flinch. Fury fueled its attacks, and it snapped its jaws at him. He threw his spear into its mouth and dodged to the side. The tomb hippo cracked his spear and swallowed its pieces, continuing its relentless assault. It heaved its massive bulk at Caesar’s frail body and tried to bite him again. Max ran behind it and barked. Annoyed, the beast confronted Max, but the wolf ran away and watched it mockingly. The pair ran circles around the behemoth as fireballs and boulders rained down upon it.

Caesar glimpsed white chain-shaped markings running down its bony hide. They looked almost like shackles. The monster slowed with each hit and stumbled once or twice.

Suddenly, as more and more cracks appeared on its armor, the beast stood up a little and slammed a mammoth force into the earth. Shock waves blew Caesar off his feet and onto his back. He tried to roll out of the way, but the tomb hippo was already there. Its teeth tore into his shoulder and disabled his right arm. He swerved and retreated while Max howled.

Blood gushed from Caesar’s injury as he tried to unlatch his healing potion pouch. He could hear a fireball detonate behind him as his fingers slipped. The roar of the beast seemed too close. He kept running. A click gave him some much-needed relief, letting him muster up enough energy to bite off the cork and plunge the bottle into his mouth. He downed another. The voices became less fuzzy, but he continued running.

The hippo gave up chasing and began to head for Max instead. It took a few steps, swiveled in random directions, and slowed down a little. Another boulder cracked its head and knocked it unconscious for a few seconds. Max fled for his life while Caesar turned and watched. An empowered fireball bathed the tomb hippo in a wondrous glow, and it crumpled. The weight of its fall shook the earth again. Man and wolf monitored the monster for any sudden moves while a cascade of fireballs and boulders fell onto the behemoth.

[Notice]: Congratulations! You have leveled up to Level 10! +6 Free Stat Points

[Notice]: Congratulations! Your Skeleton Mage has leveled up to Level 15! +2 Free Stat Points

Once Caesar absorbed the black wisp from its corpse, laughter filled the tomb. Manic and exultant, he laughed and laughed until his sides ached. The pleasure of winning such a fight addled his mind a little. Max and the skeletal mage came to sit down beside him. A curious Max sniffed his wounds while the mage grinned and cocked its head slightly.

He smiled and patted the wolf’s fur and the skeleton’s bald skull. The three rested until their wounds stopped aching and headed toward the final room of the hidden dungeon.

In the new room, they witnessed untold wealth and riches. Rare metals and gems of all kinds littered the floor, and gold bars stacked up high in messy piles. But disappointment filled his heart. Anything left behind would disappear when the dungeon dissipated.

Caesar told his wolf to hold a gold bar in his mouth and unsummoned it. But the gold clattered onto the floor.

He groaned into his hands. His skeleton mage came over to comfort him, but he shied away and resummoned Max back. The wolf happily dived into the piles and rolled around.

The group sifted through much of the loot in the room before they discovered anything interesting. In the skeleton mage’s hands sat a figurine of a miniature crocodile. Caesar continued to search for other possible artifacts after he pocketed the statuette. He dug up a larger [Nutrient Ball].

[Item]: Crocodile Symbol – Rank 0

[Rarity]: Uncommon

[Effects]: When worn, increases Spirit by 1 up to the stat limit.

In the corner lay a scabbard with a rusted sickle-shaped blade – repairing it might reveal it as an enchanted item, artifact, or simply a common item. Max brought him two sapphires, two rubies, and two emeralds that shined bright with beauty. Caesar stored everything small and latched the scabbard onto himself.

Finally, he turned his eyes to the catalyst in the center of the room. A small grape, visibly glowing purple, oozed dark juices into a crystal bowl on a pedestal. He glanced at the height of the pedestal and the width of the doorway and checked the stats of his new summon.

Tomb Hippopotamus: Rare

Level 15: 30 Free Stat Points

Ability: Pharaoh Blessed (S) – Rank 1

Talents: Innate Spellcasting

Skills:

Necromancy – Darkness Bolt, Dark Wave

Warfare – Shockwave

Mana: 70

Strength: 16

Agility: 2

Vitality: 16

Magic: 7

Willpower: 6

Spirit: 6

[Innate Spellcasting]: A talent that automatically provides the entity with Magic spells after every rank up. Spells cost 25% less mana to cast, but the entity cannot learn spells on their own. More spells are learned with higher Spirit.

[Pharaoh Blessed (S)]: A very rare ability that provides the user with reduced damage taken and a powerful shield. Ability use is barely visible. Shield begins to repair itself once health is full.

– It also provides a weaker aura that reduces damage taken for all designated entities within and grants them their own independent barrier. Damage resistance has no entity limit. Barrier protection is limited to ten entities.

Fifteen levels? Caesar thought back to the chains wrapped on the behemoth and hummed in interest. Apparently, they even disabled the ability to cast spells, but not Physical techniques like Shockwave. Its stats during the fight also appeared lower than expected for a level fifteen Rare.

Darkness Bolt

[Rarity]: Common

[Memorization Cost]: 1

[Mana Cost]: 4 Mana

Dark Wave

[Rarity]: Uncommon

[Memorization Cost]: 2

[Mana Cost]: 4 Mana per second

He expected this grape to provide sustenance for living beings like the hippo. But its coloration made him wary. Purple usually indicated darkness or poison and feeding it directly to lifeforms not associated with those energy types might prove fatal. He handed the bowl over to the skeletal mage and left the hidden tomb satisfied.

The sun burned bright in the center of the sky when Caesar’s party left the dungeon. With nobody inside, the Undead Swamp began to dissipate much quicker. He strapped his scabbard to the skeleton mage and unsummoned his monsters. A carriage at his previous cabin offered a ride back home, where he found a letter from Mary inside his house. He released his monsters as a precaution and opened the letter.

Hey Caesar, Arnold says there won’t be a problem anymore. But unfortunately, I have a lot of classes and places and trips and meetings for university, so I won’t be able to visit you every day. I can make time later next week though. See you then!

A miniature portrait of Mary’s smiling face ended the letter. He placed it on his desk, dropped more food into the glass enclosure, and relaxed.

Caesar thought about what to do next. Before Mary returned, he had around ten days to do as much as possible. He could use the map Renzo had given him to explore more of the wilderness and level up to twenty. This would give him the opportunity to rank up by consuming a suitable catalyst, thereby increasing his stat limits to fifty and expanding the scope of his ability. But Caesar did not know where to find a good catalyst. Most powers could only unlock their full potential when ranking up by using catalysts of enough potency, usually determined by rarity.

[Item]: Purple Grape – Rank 2

[Rarity]: Rare

[Effects]: A material, or a catalyst for rank 1 abilities.

Some could even level up the original ability to higher tiers. A rare purple grape was likely enough for him, but poison represented a major risk. Furthermore, that grape could be saved for his hippo instead.

He narrowed his eyes at the few dungeons that dotted the map. If even one of them held a hidden dungeon, some of his problems might be solved. But most of these already had entire organizations of powerful people guarding them. He looked to the northern part of the map, a more dangerous part of the Wilderness with less explored dungeons. Worth a try. Caesar packed enough money and went to the market to prepare for a long trip.