The dungeon changed. Not by much, but it changed enough for me to be confused. The atmosphere is different.

For one thing it no longer smells like a dumpster fire. Several yards in and I'm not sure I'm in the right place. I worry that maybe I resurrected in a completely different area, but I remember the carts and sleeping people. I remember the little lupine faunus with no hands. I remember the stockpile of carapace and scythes and herbs and I lose most of the anxiety.

So, why is it still weird that I find myself in the well lit cave system, the magical torches running throughout but now they are a normal orange hue? I activate my Wolf Senses and follow my party's trail.

I find the cavern where I almost fell in a spiked pit and find nothing but solid ground. The rope and arrow lay in the dirt as if we imagined the whole scenario. There are patches of flat surfaces smoothed out on the walls, containing more hieroglyphics and words in written in what I'm assuming is the language of the people who used to live here.

Then, my Feat kicks in.

>Scan

Oh, I'm going to have such a good time using this ability.

I run faster, knowing the Tria battlefield is next, followed by the ruins, then Spindle's lair. The battlefield is completely empty, the game's clean up engine clears every drop of ichor and speck of unusable carapace. It's hard to believe such a vast place held some many of the creepy buggers, let alone that giant scorpion.

The ruins now are truly something else. I have to force myself to keep my eyes from wandering. With all the extended running, I find myself breathing normal, as if I've been a marathon runner all my life. My SP bar, however, seems to have taken a serious dip and I get the feeling if I let it hit rock bottom I might pass out. So, I let my steps come to a halt.

Lo, and behold, to my right on the ground is something I was hoping I'd pass by. The one thing I would stop for in this whole place.

>Scan

Their description tells a brief and vague tale of their leader's ambition, a failed ritual, and her transformation. Spindle, couldn't leave well enough alone and she angered something, it wasn't clear who or what. However, it didn't mention Sonny or what she is, so I guess I have to find out when I catch up to them.

My SP bar is back up, the 4 regen making short work for it to refill, so I continue running. I can hear the feint sounds of yelling and pleading.

I run faster.

Before I run into the main cavern, I activate Stealth and carefully sneak in. Dawn is shrieking, but its a peculiar kind of shrieking. Each outburst is capped by a fit of laughter.

I sneak behind the pillar and finally catch a glimpse of the girls. Dawn is jogging around and laughing at something. When she stops to catch her breath, a glimmer of pale purple light zips through the air away from her. At first, I thought it was a bird, but the shape and movement didn't match up. The image floated lazily around Ramona who smiled and hissed, her form of laughter I guess. The purple thing seemingly knew better than to pester Victoria and targeted Elsbeth. Her rapier movements were blurry and prescise, leaving a ghostly hand sliced in half in the air before it disappears.

She signed back at Kona with a frown, "I said not to tickle me."

"Come on, El! Teasing people is supposed to be fun!"

By the time she finishes her words I am already behind her.I shock her with a "boo" and by tickling her ears, ending my Stealth. She responds with a hissing scream, turning and firing two arcane bolts which I dodge easily.

"You big meanie!" she swings her staff and I teleport out of the way, reappearing near the birdbath pedestal. Victoria hug tackles me before the others can arrive near me. Her kiss is deep, wiping her tears across my face as she holds me tightly.

"You saved me… thank you…"

I hug back, comforting her as best as I can, "It's okay, Vic. I'm glad you're okay. And look, I'm fine too, right?"

She stares into my face, her sapphire eyes send my heart racing.

With a sliver of embarrassment, she releases me, still holding my hands, "Yes, yes of course. Oh! Here…" One of her hands lets me go, only to retrieve a crystal shard from her ring. She presses it into my palm.

>Scan

"What is this?" I question as I stare all around the forearm sized thing.

"Travelers drop those when they die. It's a piece of your soul. Anyone can absorb those and become stronger. I… wanted to make sure you got it back."

I access it and a prompt asks me if I would like to absorb it which I do.

[Received: 236XP]

So, it looks like we lose twenty percent of our XP when we die and it forms into a crystal. But, that crystal only contains eighty percent of what we lost.

"Thank you. Say, what was that purple hand thing earlier?"

Victoria is still holding one of my hands when we notice the others around us. She grips me tighter then releases me.

Kona signs some letters and the slightly transparent hand silently pops into view, "It's my new spell. That spider lady gave us so much XP that El, Mona, and I gained TWO levels!"

The hand is holding up two fingers for her.

"Anyway, I received my first tiered spell. They grant you access to a new spell every level. The first ones are usually titled Basic Something. I chose Conjuration and it only has three tiers. My first spell is pretty--"

"Don't say it. I just can't take it anymore. It was maybe funny the first three times." Ramona puts both claws on her hips.

Kona finishes her sentence in a dejected low whisper "…handy."

"Anyway," Dawn tries to move us right along after a big yawn.

It is late.

"First order of business. All the bundles of webs that we thought had mummies in them? No. They were filled with loot. Like, a crazy amount of loot. We put the piles of stuff in these Rucksacks of Holding and set them near Sonny."

I look over and zoom in on five plain, brown rucksacks.

"Which brings me to both second and third orders. We split Spindle's loot between us but only so we can transport it. Don't think we're cutting you out just because you died."

I shake my head, "Of course not."

"And the Main Quest is still active." Dawn gestures to the dimly glowing orb.

We all walk over to Sonny, who is still nesting in the web. I kneel next to her, "Need a hand?" She brightens at my question.

[Please! Sorry, I would have said something earlier, but they looked happy. I didn't want to interrupt]

The golden orb is now the size of a grapefruit, significantly smaller than before. I'm about to ask when her glow dims as I carry her to the middle.

[I don't know how, but she tapped into my mana. If she had cast any more magic I could have ended up the size of a speck of sand]

"She's gone now. Anything you can tell me about her?" I gently place her in the center of the pedestal.

I can hear Dawn lightly berate herself, "Why the hell didn't I think of that?"

The moment Sonny touched the stone we all got our notification and I got some really exciting news.

[Major Quest complete!

[1000 + 20%

[1200/6 members

[Received: 200XP]

[Level up! You reached level 10

[You have 10 stat points to spend]

[Congratulations! You are the first to reach level 10! This has been noted by the administrators. Happy Leveling!]

[You may choose your first class the next time you sleep.]

[You have gained control of Rentas Dungeon. Would you like to rename Y/N?]

[You have successfuly named it Linqs Dungeon. Dungeon Master interface has been added to your menu.]

"I would hate to leave you here by yourself, Sonny, but we have to get some rest back at camp. Will you be okay?"

[Oh, yes. I am completely in your care now and all of the creatures are gone. I'll start absorbing ambiant mana and growing back to normal now, too. Would you like to create a communication link with me Y/N?]

"Uh, yes," her words are coming across as straight-to-brain speech and subtitles, but the moment I say yes, they become structered notification menus and I breathe a sigh of relief. "Okay, we'll see you in the morning Sonny."

[Thank you again, Sir Ardacen. Would you mind if I read through your stats while I'm here?]

"You can just call me Ardacen or Ardy, and no, I wouldn't mind at all." We all say our goodnights and head back through the dungeon. The others are just as shocked as I was sensing all the big differences. I think the smell is the most noticeable, from molten asphalt and gross garbage to a subtle sweet smell, almost like honey. As we walk through the ruins, I notice small prompt outlines on all the buildings and I get a good idea. I have to stop and lag behind a little bit, but I manage to find the option and shoot a request over to everyone and one special one to a certain someone.

[Would you like to accept partial authority of Linqs Dungeon Y/N?]

Of course, everyone selects yes and I smile, especially when Dawn accepts her message. "Now you and I are in charge of the dungeon! We can rebuild the ruins into a new city! Well, its going to be more like a hamlet since Linqs is so underpopulated. Anyway, with your knowledge of RTSs we'll be following your lead, Champ!"

Completely frozen and wide eyed, Dawn is staring at me like I just stripped naked and did some cartwheels, "What? Did? You? Do? Why did I just get a new Feat? What are you talking about?"

I urge her to keep up, partially because I'm ready to upgrade to my new class.

"But…!"

"But what? You saw the notification right? This will be your chance to start a new settlement! Probably the first in game! Just remember something. Don't think of them as NPCs, okay?"

She grimaces at my words as though I had slapped her across the face. I put my hands up in defense, "I know, I know. I'm sorry. Obviously you care about them too. For now, we'll get some rest and then tomorrow morning we'll talk some more about it, okay?"

We made it back to the encampent in the cave and I summon the three bedrolls and pads, giving them to Kona, Elsbeth, and Dawn. Ramona found her rock and went straight to sleep. I grabbed an extra wolf pelt and lay close to Victoria with her two bedrolls, kissing her goodnight, before shutting my own eyes in excitement.

[Hello, Ardacen! Its Sonasolaria! I'll be guiding you through your class change if that's okay? So, it looks like you have a few options available to you, but most of them don't match up well with your stats or play style. If I may be so bold as to narrow down your choices?]

My dream body manifests in the darkness in front of her amber figure. "Hi, Sonny. Thank you."

[It appears that Blue Mage is the most complimentary to you personally. It pairs well with your Adaptability Feat. If you'd care to we can also venture into the thief class and later as an Arcane Thief since the stat points go along similar lines]

"Wait, is this information normally available to me?"

[Not at the depth that I'm willing to share with you. It seems I am able to read deeper into this world's information and I have a level of clearence to share it]

"It almost sounds like cheating. Can you tell me about the other players?"

[No. I am linked mainly to you now. I have a partial link with Lady Dawn, but this conversation I'm having with you doesn't seem like a normal part of what is offered in this world]

I roll the dice on my next question, unsure how it'll effect our relationship, "Do you know that this is a game?" She is silent for a bit, which is unnerving since she always responds so quickly.

[Yes. I know what you are asking is not something I should be able to answer. I understand the strangeness of being a "self-aware NPC". However, I feel no conflict in being what I am. You are not the first traveler I granted a quest to, but you are the only one to keep it, let alone complete it. So, once again, thank you, Ardacen. Would you like to continue with the job change Y/N?]

I smile and nod.

[Very well. The only other option I see that is viable to you is Scout but I see no logs of you using a ranged weapon at all]

"You're right. Can you tell me more about the Blue Mage class? Someone in the Pantheon mentioned me walking the path of one."

[Absolutely! It is one of very few unmastered classes. It seems that people are aware of it, but no one has taken it yet due to fear of death. Because taking hits increases the Feat trigger rate the risk of death is much higher in this class. Of course, one can easily see that the abilities gained are worth the risk]

"I know what you mean. One could only get a skill after reaching tens of a stat or with that weird ability that Kona just got."

[A tiered spell. Lady Kona has Basic Conjuration. Mage Hand, Arcane Butler, and Conjure Familiar]

"Wait, I'm sure she's already got the second one, but does she even know what the third ability is?"

[No. Unfortunately, regardless of your feelings toward her, she is still an NPC and is goverened by their rules. We may inform her if you like]

"That's okay. I don't want to ruin the fun for her. I guess I'll be a Blue Mage. Do I need to do anything special?"

[Yes. You need to turn around three times, and tap your heels together.]

I follow her instructions and come to a stop, "Do I need to say anything?"

[Yes. You must say "Sonny is the greatest dungeon core in the history of dungeon cores"]

I put my hands on my hips and raise an eyebrow, "Come on, really?"

[Now you do. Or I'll put a silly hat on you and curse it so you can't take it off]

"What… Really? You can do that?"

[Are you willing to take the risk?]

"Yes, but I'd be happy to say that you're the best because you are the best, Sonny."

[Thank you, Sir Ardacen. Congratulations on becoming the first recognized Blue Mage in Arc!]

I feel a strange breeze well up from inside me and I look down at feint streams of blue mana coursing through me.

"Neat!" I exclaim as they slowly fade away. I try to access my status menu and it appears. "Can I always do this in my sleep, Sonny?"

[Yes. Sleep here is an interesting concept. It is a mix between a system update, loading screen, status viewer, and testing ground]

I bring up my status window and first check to see if there is a new feat for being the first blue mage.

[Piramis Blue Mage: triples base chance of activating Adaptability.

[Able to give Apprentice status to one person. You may freely give away the Piramis Blue Mage Feat to your Apprentice.]

I couldn't think of anyone I could see even trying to be a blue mage with me, so I put the second part out of my mind for now. I check the status screen again and see the ten points I received earlier. With everthing going on, I forgot to do this until Sonny brought up the status menu. I split the points between Dexterity and Arcane, two and eight respectively. I access the DecaStat point list of spells and find two of the tier spells; enchantment and abjuration. "Sonny? Can you tell me about these two spells?"

[Unfortunately, I can only give you the name of first spell on the list until you choose one to be your own. When you do, it'll be recognised as being part of your system and I'll be able to read them clearly. Enchantement involves altering a person or monster's mental functions. The first ability is Friends. It charms a target into being more willing to go along with certain commands. Abjuration is the school of protection and denial. The first ability is Minor Ward. It creates a single use magic shield that protects against one attack.]

Adaptibility works better if I get hit with a skill, so if any of the upper tiered abilities include mind control I can get monsters to help me take their own abilities. With that line of thinking, it wasn't really a contest. There are other, probably better, spells but getting two "extra" spells lets me either boost Dex more or gain more spells quicker.

[Wonderful. The next two spells will be: Command and then Sleep. I am still unable to read the decription, but they seem quite obvious, yes? Anyway, my apologies for not being able to give you better forewarning. I still cannot access too much outside of my field of influence]

"But what about when I first encountered you in my dream?"

[That was a general broadcasting. I could only do something like that since I had no ties to anyone. Also, you were the only one who didn't try to do anything to my dream avatar]

"I'm sorry to hear that. Travelers aren't always the best people, especially when they think they can get away with anything. Speaking of which, there's supposed to be a raid conducted by the Thieves' Guild on Linqs. We have to find a way to protect everyone."

[Ah, yes, the group of NPCs just outside the dungeon. Bring them all in tomorrow. We can clear the ruins and create a new settlement! How exciting!]

"Clearing the ruins sounds like a lot of work, though. Will we have enough time? I'm pretty sure they'll be looking for us in about five days."

[It will be a breeze. But, I cannot do anything without your or Lady Dawn's permission. By the way, it'll be morning soon. I shall await you. Thank you again, Ardacen]

Without much thought, I reach in for a hug. Her form is like warm marble and she hesitates to reciprocate.

A short moment later, she wraps her arms around me, "It's okay now, Sonny. We'll be here for each other now, right?"

[Yes.]

Her figure pops like a magic bubble. If I had pockets I would've shoved my hands in them and looked around awkwardly as I released my hold of thin air.

Spoiler: Ardacen's Character Sheet

[Basic Info: Ardacen Winters__ Race | Subrace: Human | Custom

[Height/Weight: 5'9/165lbs

[Class | Subclass: Blue Mage

[Level: 10

[Experience: 1622| 2000

[Multiclass | Subclass:

[Artisan Job Classes: Cook 3 | Alchemist 1 |

[Copper/Silver/Gold/Platinum: 75/3/0/0

[HP/MP/Stamina Regen Delay: 8sec/7sec/8sec

[HP/Max/RegenPerSec: 96/96/5

[MP/Max/RPS: 80/80/4

[Stamina/Max/RPS: 54/54/4

[Combat Modifiers

[Strength: 1+1

[Dexterity: 32

[Arcane: 30

[Faith: 1

[Defense Modifiers

[Agility: 33+6

[Armor: 4+1

[Willpower: 18]

[Main Hand: AWP Claw

[Durability: n/a

[Type/Range/Ammo: Dexterity/Melee/0

[Base/Modified Damage: 8/40

[Off Hand: AWP Claw

[Durability: n/a

[Type/Range/Ammo: Dex/Melee/0

[Base/Modified Damage: 8/40]

[Head: empty

[Durability:

[Armor:0

[Shoulders: Grey Wolf Pelt

[Durability: 60/60

[Armor: 1

[BodyOver: empty

[Durability:

[Armor: 0

[BodyUnder: Simple Cloth Tunic

[Durability: 80/80

[Armor: 1

[Arms: empty

[Durability:

[Armor: 0

[Hands: empty

[Durability:

[Armor: 0

[LegsOver: empty

[Durability:

[Armor: 0

[LegsUnder: Simple Cloth Pants

[Durability: 80/80

[Armor: 1

[Feet: Simple Leather Boots

[Durability: 80/80

[Armor: 1]

[Face: Mask of the Grey Wanderer 1/3

[Bonus: +3Agi, +1Str, +1Armor

[Neck: empty

[Ear Right: empty

[Ear Left: empty

[Wrist Right: empty

[Wrist Left: Simple Bracelet of Storage

[Ring Right: Minor Ring of Storage

[Ring Left: empty

[Waist: empty

[Spells: Arcane Bolt I, Assassinate, +Shadow Toxin]

[Skills: Minor Survival Craft III, Critical Stab I, +Wolf Senses, Stealth I, Echo Strike]

[Feats: Adaptibility, Varient Hunter I, War Party Leader I, +Alpha Wolf's Pride, +Swarm Tactics, Dungeon Master, Apprentice Analyzer]

[Major Quests: empty

[Minor Quests: Recycle]