Due to the necessary evils of imperial bureaucracy, Ergo managed to get a fully uninterrupted week of sleep. It wasn’t enough compared to his needs for hibernation, but when he was finally woken by the two adventurers returning with their documents; Ergo felt much more conscious than he had the last time.

The visit went quickly, with Crys opening a passage for the pair of adventurers to bypass the slimes. Amusingly, when Ergo’s greed ability added the papers representing his newfound citizenship to his territory, Ergo gained the “bureaucracy” skill. After the adventurers left, he convinced Crys to create a small chest made of dragon’s scales so that he wouldn’t accidentally burn the papers with his fire breath. Luckily, a basic chest template was included in the starter package for newborn dungeons.

“So, what now?” Crys asked, as Ergo gingerly placed the papers into the chest; begrudgingly using his human form for the benefit of retractable talons.

Closing the chest, Ergo sighed. “As much as I’d like to continue hibernating, I suppose I should try this grinding thing I found on the wiki. Knowing that even mediocre beings like those adventurers could easily end me doesn’t sit right with me.”

Crys sent a sagely mental nod. “Sounds like a good idea. What’s your plan then?”

Ergo blinked in confusion. “Plan? I eat everything I can, and watch my numbers go up. What’s to plan?”

Crys rolled his eyes mentally. “I think you missed the point of grinding. It’s about efficiency. Raising your numbers as fast as possible. Finding the right mix of enemies to train the skills, and classes you care about. You can’t just wander around, and hope you find something to kill.”

Ergo narrowed his eyes; having forgotten to return to his native dragon form. “What do you suggest then?”

Crys responded after a moment of thought. “Train here. Start at the top floor, and work your way down. I had to pack the slimes pretty densely since they’re so weak for their level. They’ll be a good source of XP. Also, I suggest using your human form the whole way. It would be good to get used to it. Have you picked a human class yet?”

Ergo cocked his head. “A human class? I started as dragon class, and haven’t seen an option to change.”

“When you’re in dragon form sure, but you should have a separate class for your human form. Did it get set to something automatically, or do you get to choose?” Crys was looking through the available information on the wiki to find relevant information as he talked.

Ergo opened his profile.

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Entity Profile

Name: Ergon Proudscale

Current Class: N/A

Titles: none

Trophies: none

Holdings: none

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“Hm, no class.” Ergo remarked. Before Crys could comment, a new popup appeared, asking if he would like to choose a class. The options were incredibly limited.

“Peasant? Who chooses peasant as a class?” Ergo snorted derisively.

“I know how it sounds, but if you ever feel like being a laborer, it levels up quickly without combat, and gives bonuses to a number of skills that are useful to people doing agriculture, and construction.” Crys replied distractedly, still filtering through the wiki for information.

“Pass.” Ergo said dryly. “My other options are warrior, rogue, archer, mage, and healer.”

“In that case it’s up to personal preference. I have to warn you though, I don’t have any weapon templates to offer you for archer, rogue, or warrior. You’d be going pure hand to hand. Also, I don’t recommend trying to go solo as a healer until you learn some offensive spells. Physical stats from the class are crap. The only thing you really get from it are healing spells, and a large mana pool.”

Ergo nodded thoughtfully. While there was some appeal to leveling warrior or rogue by using his talons as natural weapons, he was smart enough to recognize they would be ineffective against a horde of slimes. Left with only a single viable choice, Ergo poked the selection box firmly. “Mage it is then.”

Ergo felt the change immediately as a wave of mana passed through his body. It felt as though the intrusive mana was reshaping him on some fundamental level. Before he could protest, the wave subsided, leaving him altered in a way he couldn’t quite define. A moment later, a popup appeared in his vision.

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New Class Chosen:

Mage

+50% max mana

+50% spellpower

Temporary skill Basic Mana Control Level 1 added

A selection of temporary basic spells relevant to the class will be learned as you level.

Temporary spell Basic Firebolt Level 1 added

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“Why does the class say the skills and spells are temporary?” Ergo asked, flexing his hands as he practiced moving mana through them. The sensation wasn’t new; Ergo had quite a lot of practice with manipulating his mana during his thousand years prior to arriving in this world. A moment later another popup appeared.

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Practical skill above system skill level.

Recalculating.

Temporary Basic Mana Control replaced with Permanent Journeyman Mana Control Level 3

Trophy earned:

Mana Man

For displaying proper control over your mana, you now regenerate mana 10% faster.

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“From what I’ve read, you have to practice them a certain amount before they become permanent knowledge. It’s basically just to enforce you using your class if you want the full growth from it.”

Ergo nodded. “Simple enough then.” Experimentally, Ergo activated his firebolt ability. The spell was disappointing as a ball of fire smaller than his fist fizzled against the wall. Ergo sighed. “It seems there is a lot of grinding in my future.”

------------------------------------------

Half an hour later, Ergo stood in front of the dungeon entrance. “Ok, ready.” Crys announced. Without responding, Ergo plodded cautiously into the dungeon. Crys assured him that the more real danger he was in, the better the training would be. Therefore, he had taken the time to revamp the dungeon somewhat while Ergo stood outside. In the spirit of the exercise, Ergo did his best to ignore his territorial sense; though it went against all of his instincts to do so.

Within ten feet, Ergo found his first slime. It was one of the basic variants, light blue, and jiggling aggressively. Snorting, Ergo lifted his hand; activating firebolt. The spell impacted the slime; leaving a small burnt crater in its jelly. Ergo gritted his teeth in irritation at the meager damage as it began hopping toward him. Ergo began casting firebolt as fast as he could; which at the moment was about once per second. By the fifth spell, the slime had almost reached him; down about a third of its body mass. Meanwhile, Ergo was done. His patience draining much faster than his mana, Ergo narrowed his eyes at the offending slime. “Fuck this.” He muttered.

Though the firebolts were doing little damage to the slime, they had given Ergo the chance to study the way the mana flowed as he casted his spells. It was extremely similar to the way mana flowed for his fire-breath, which made the next step simple. Casting another firebolt, Ergo latched on to the mana of the spell before it could leave his palm; instead spreading it out over his own hand. Channeling enough mana to keep the flames burning, Ergo extended his talons; thrusting his hand claws first into the slime as it jumped into range. It only took a moment for Ergo to locate the core; flames dissolving the slime around it as he fished the gelatinous sphere out. His mana ran out moments before his victory, and Ergo grimaced as some of the slime coated his scales.

The moment the now burnt core was removed, the rest of the slime fell apart into a puddle. Without a thought, Ergo stuck the ball of gelatin into his mouth. “They’re better cooked.” Ergo commented to himself, as notifications appeared before him.

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Level Up!

+5 HP

+10 MP

+5 Stamina

+2 Strength

+2 Endurance

+2 Fortitude

+5 Magic

+4 Regen

No skills gained

******************************

******************************

New spell created:

Flamestrike

Basic Level 1

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******************************

Skill learned:

Spell Creation

Practical skill above system skill

Recalculating

Spell Creation Apprentice Level 5 added

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In total, Ergo gained five levels in the mage class. At level three, he learned the spell Icebolt, and at level five he learned Lightningbolt. Resigning himself to looking at numbers, Ergo opened his stat page.

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Stats:

+345/345 HP

+25/630 MP

+195/195 Stamina

+75 Strength

+65 Endurance

+85 Fortitude

+100 Magic

+85 Regen

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Navigating the menu for the first time, Ergo found an option to pull up his base stats before levels. Curious, Ergo opened that as well.

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Stats:

+250/250 HP

+26/450 MP

+100/100 Stamina

+30 Strength

+20 Endurance

+40 Fortitude

+40 Magic

+30 Regen

******************************

The math didn’t make sense to him initially, until he realized that the levels in his dragon class were also counted toward his current stats. Grinning ferociously, Ergo closed his stat pages. “Enough numbers.” He growled, sniffing the air for prey as he began walking further into the dungeon.

The next slime was killed by only three Icebolts. Ergo wasn’t sure whether it was the increase in stats, or an elemental weakness, but he was grateful to be spending less time and mana on individual slimes. This continued for the next floor and a half until he encountered his first dragon slime. Despite now being level twenty-five, this time, the frozen spikes failed to penetrate the slime’s faux scales. Growling, Ergo activated flamestrike, and thrust his hand at the slime. His hand bounced off with a painful screeching sound. In the moment of imbalance following his attack, the slime struck.

Bouncing forward with a surprising burst of speed, the slime body-slammed Ergo. Worse, the scales along its body proved to be razor sharp, and slightly raised off its flesh; leaving small cuts all over his body as it rolled over him. Ergo screamed in pain as he panicked; unaccustomed to truly being in danger. Ergo struck out with a furious barrage of taloned slashes from his hands as the slime quickly rolled back and forth over him. As the wounds mounted on his body, Ergo instinctively released his natural fire breath. Though the attack failed to do much direct damage, the force launched the slime into the wall; buying him a moment of respite.

Scuttling backward, Ergo’s brain struggled to function around the adrenaline. A fraction of a second before the slime reached him again, a frantic thought passed through his mind. “Fire and ice didn’t penetrate its hide, but what about lightning?” Running with this thought, Ergo lifted his hand, and cast Lightningbolt. For the first time in the fight, the slime paused. Ergo grinned wearily. “Got you.” He muttered. Altering the spell to suit his needs, Ergo poured mana into the framework; turning it from a quick bolt into a channeled spell. Ergo grimaced as he felt the mana efficiency reduced, but continued to pour lightning into the slime. Though he was clearly doing damage, it wasn’t enough for his tastes. Gritting his teeth, Ergo channeled an identical copy of the spell through his other hand. The mana efficiency worsened further, but he maintained his focus. It only took a few seconds longer before the slime finally collapsed into a puddle. Ergo collapsed from mana deprivation, panting as notifications appeared in his vision.

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New spell created:

Channel Lightning

Basic level 1

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New skill learned:

Dual casting

Basic level 1

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Accompanying these were two level-up notifications. Ergo sighed, remembering his previous rise to power over a thousand years prior.

“There’s never an easy way is there?”