Alistair and Callum appeared in the first level summoning circle. Alistair told Callum to hold off and allow him to begin casting his spells. The healing and damage spells started to finally become easier and easier to cast. The movements of the spells and vocalization of the words felt more natural and Alistair was wondering if he was getting closer to leveling them as well. Upon feeling the mana leave him and the spells taking affect, Alistair smiled and spoke to Callum, “You know Callum before I go off and kill the wild mana monsters, I should get use to battling in the Magma Elementals body. What were those creatures you could summon again?” The little fireball that was Callum twisted itself and a blue prompt came up.

Mana Monster Summoning!Name:Fire SlugRank:F-Monster Description:The Fire slug is a slug found in the elemental plane of fire. It is used as food for a great many creatures as its only purpose is to consume fire mana and grow. The slug will slowly make it way through cracks and small holes to find shelter while it rests. Its simple mind is attracted to especially hot locations and will consume the heat in the area. If a slug is able to grow long enough it will develop offensive capabilities. Known examples are flame tentacles, fire breathe and even a fire aura. Until a slug grows to the size of a foot the creature is merely food for other creatures.Dungeon Advantage:Monsters that require meat to evolve or grow can eat Fire Slugs and gain the same benefit. Fire Slugs will leave trails of flammable liquids in its wake, Adventurers stumbling into a chamber of them with a torch have been known to set the entire room on fire. When a slug dies have of its stored fire mana will be given to the dungeon. Additionally, if a slug is undisturbed near a fire mana stone, the stone will increase in quality.Mana Cost:2Summon Monster?YesNoName:Lava Tube CentipedesRank:FMonster Description:The Lava Tube Centipedes appears to be a bright red and orange Centipede up to two feet long. Its natural instinct is to burrow into cracks and small holes laying eggs. Should an Adventurer get close to a location where the centipedes have nested, the centipedes will charge out of their holes and began to crawl up the Adventurers clothes. They contain a bite that injects a toxin into an Adventurer’s blood stream; causing fever, profuse sweating, and hallucinations. Currently their preferred living location is that of the salamanders and they will likely fight over territory. Though in most cases the Fire Salamander would win, should the Lava Centipede win the mana stored in a Fire Salamander will make its offensive and defensive abilities stronger.Dungeon Advantage:Lava Tube Centipedes increase the Mana Regeneration of your Summoning Circle by 0.1 mana point per day. Allowing the Summoning Circle to gain experience quicker.Mana Cost:2Summon Monster?YesNoName:Fire AntRank:D-Monster Description:The Fire Ant appeared to be a huge ant the size of a small pony. With a hard red carapace and four legs. The Fire Ant has evolved their front legs into arm like appendages and when in the present of a Queen will develop a Hive Mind. The Fire Ant is a beast of burden in the Ant Society, and without a Queen attack anything moving without coordination or regard for their safety. The Fire variant allows the ants to possess Medium Fire Resistance. It is recommended that Mana Monster should be placed in a level by itself, or if a hive is to be created ten levels devoted to these Mana Monsters should be put in their control.Dungeon Advantage:The lonely Fire Ant is a beast of burden, without a Hive Mind active the Fire Ant will create tunnels and carry slain foes to a central chamber. Strip them of everything and eat them. This will create a treasure room for your dungeon and allow you to add to the loot of the dungeon at will. Should a hive mind be created the Dungeon Demon will find improvements and challenges in countless different ways.Mana Cost:60Summon Monster?YesNo

Alistair looked over the descriptions of the Mana Monsters and lifted his eyes in shock at the description of the Fire Ants. Not only were they rated higher than his Magma Elemental, it sounded like that was just the start of their forms. Not to mention he had the feeling that they were bad news, or could be. Alistair told Callum to go ahead and summon the loot table for the Magma Elemental so that he could summon it later.

Loot Table for Insignificant Magma ElementalTotal Required Summoning Mana15Current Loot Table50% Chance of dropping a Fire Mana Stone1% Chance of dropping a Eternal Flame in a Bottle[Alchemy Component]100% Chance of dropping on average 7.2 Dungeon Copper CoinsAdditional Items43% Chance of dropping a Copper Ore (Size 1 lbs) (Trade Good)

33% Chance of dropping a Tin Ore (Size 0.5 lbs) (Trade Good)

32% Chance of dropping an Obsidian Dagger (Weapon Quality: Common)

15% Chance of dropping a Steel Dagger (Weapon Quality: Common)

0.1% Chance of dropping a Bracer of Defense +1 (Armor Quality: Superb) (Magic Item)Press any additional items you would like to add to the loot table. Warning! Cannot be summoned without increasing loot table.

Alistair went ahead and pressed the Copper and Tin Ore to add it to the loot table. Seeing that he still needed one more item, Alistair chose to pick the Bracer of Defense +1. This way he had a monster that had the bracer in its loot table, and should the vine ever lose the bracer he would always have his armor enchantment. Nodding to himself for making a good choose Alistair told Callum to summon the Magma Elemental.

Callum began to weave back and forth, sparks coming out of ball of flame and then the little orange ball of flame burst out and Callum transformed into a ball of blue flames. Callum’s voice came out in a dead kind of way. “Sorry, but the summoning of your Magma Elemental cannot be completed. You have designated a lower Rank creature as your boss for this level. Only monsters Ranked E or lower are allowed to be summoned by your first level summoning circle. Have a pleasant day.” Callum’s ball fell to the floor and Alistair ran over to his fallen friend.

“Callum! Come on buddy, please be ok! Callum, come on wake up!” Alistair was screaming at his friend to wake up as the blue ball started to get dimmer and dimmer while becoming smaller. The ball of blue energy was the size of Alistair thumb when flicker of red and orange flame leaked out. Slowly, the red and orange flames continued to get bigger and bigger.

Finally a weak voice called out, “Alistair?”

Alistair broke down and started to cry a little bit as he laughed, “Yes, Callum, it’s me. I am here.”

Callum floated back upwards and the flames kept slowly getting brighter and brighter. “What happened?” Alistair happy with relief that his friend was ok, told him about the blue ball of fire and what it told him. Callum floated for a moment, “Well that’s a surprise. Why didn’t I just have the knowledge that it wouldn’t work?” Callum said.

The question took Alistair for a bit of surprise. Callum didn’t seem to care that he had just lost control of himself and spoke. Alistair looked at Callum and said, “Callum are you ok? I mean you turned blue and almost vanished.”

Callum twisted himself for a bit and as Alistair watched him in concern. “I don’t know, Lord Alistair. I should have known that trying to summon a monster of higher rank then the boss of the level would have failed. It feels like something, I should have remembered. Lately, I have been spending time with Herma, and while your body and soul was returning back to the pocket dimension I have been studying other volumes in the General Knowledge hut. In truth, though I have been focused on a question that Joshin asked me.”

“You see Alistair, Joshin and Helga were down by the shore and building sand mazes. They would pile up sand and make them into wall or dig a trench and let water flood into it. They asked me to play with them, and I told them that I didn’t understand what they were doing. Helga laughed and said they were having fun. She sat me down and told me how her walls would confuse Adventurers and trap them. Then Joshin asked me to make one, and I a sat there trying to come up with an idea or thought. When he asked me what the matter was, I told him I don’t have an imagination.” The tenor in Callum’s voice changed. It sounded shaky, like he was hurt.

Alistair took a step over to the floating ball, “What do you mean, Callum?”

Callum simply shook in place. “I mean I know things. Like how to evolve a monster or refine mana threads, but I have no idea how to improve them or make the process better. I don’t really dream about the future. I mean, I feel happy that I can perform tasks or fear of the unknown, but I don’t think about what comes next. I don’t look at shapes in the shadows and see things. I have been asking myself for a while now, that if I don’t have an imagination does that mean I am even real? I was born from a spell, like the Monsters in this dungeon, but do I have a soul like Joshin or Helga? Tell me Lord Alistair, because I get the feeling I don’t have one.”

Alistair stopped for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. “Callum… I didn’t know. Listen, you have a soul. Do you know how I know?” the ball of flame merely shook side to side. “I know because of all the things you have said. You're afraid, you're confused, you're happy; those are gifts from the Gods and Goddesses to people with souls.”

Callum shook again, “Alistair, animals feel afraid and happy. Ghosts of the undead are projections of Mana coupled with minds they had in the past. The Weeping Lady isn’t weeping because she is sad, she is weeping because she thinks she is sad. It’s a reflex, all they do is repeat the same cycle of violence over and over again. It takes a Dungeon Demon and enchantment to make them do new things. I don’t have any imagination and I am beginning to believe that is the difference between having a soul and not.”

Alistair stayed quiet for a moment, thinking. Finally, he had an idea. “Callum, on my soul page it said that the Goddess Ailnee and the God Prothus developed the Spell Companion spell. What if when we find another quest location, we make it a shrine to one or the other? They are bound to know if you have a soul or not, and the shrine quest location said that I would be granted a boon from them. Perhaps, it will grant us information about the Spell Companion Spell and whether or not you have a soul?” Alistair was hoping that he could make it work that way, because it was the only idea that he had for Callum, and in truth he needed Callum more now. Herma and Toji looked to be good people, but Alistair had view Callum as his friend… which he had been taking advantage of.

For once without having to increase his Wisdom, Alistair realized how stupid he had been. They still had a Quest for Callum about him learning Spell Construction. Alistair had forgotten about it, thinking that Callum would just take care of it on his own. Instead, it would have been an impossible task without an imagination. Furthermore, Alistair had been hoping from one thing to another and not taking the time to really learn. Alistair felt guilt rising in his soul and he realized it was time to focus on Callum for a bit, instead of his dungeon.

The ball of flame stopped shaking and merely hopped up and down. “Would you do that for me, my Lord Alistair?” Alistair simply said yes.

“Of course that means, we will need to get you up to speed on the subjects like Spell Construction and General Knowledge. How about we go ahead and cast the Fire Slug and Lava Tube Centipede, before we go back and work a little on Spell Construction?” Alistair said, feeling he shouldn't just waste the mana that he had spent to go out and kill the Mana Monsters.

Callum spoke with happiness, “Oh of course, My Lord! We can even possess the Boss and go after the slime and swarm if you like. Just knowing that we will work together afterwards is good enough for me.”

Though Callum meant the words with perfect joy, it made Alistair feel even worse that he was taking advantage of his friendship. He made a promise that after the fire slug and lava tube centipede. He would stop and go back to the pocket dimension.

Well… my dear wonderful girls gave me the flu that they were carrying. They really took that sharing talk I had with them seriously. Anyway, I am going to be down for a few days, so I put a poll up top. Next Chapter will be the introduction of our main villain(s) and you can choose the race. Also, I know that there are going to be a ton of errors in the chapter above. Sorry didn’t have time to proofread before I needed to head to the store.