“Where do you want to start?” Fi asked.

“Hmm,” Kyle was interested in checking how many Merit Points he had obtained from the previous fight, but it would still be a better idea to check any Skill and spell updates he had first. That way he would have a better idea of what he should be spending the Merit Points on first. “Have I made any progress in my Skills or spells?”

“You haven’t Levelled Up any of your Skills or mastered any of your spells, but Chain Fighting is close, as is Psychic Prowess which is probably due to your use of Mind Storm against a group of opponents and if you had been able to manoeuvre more in that last fight Acrobatics would be close too,” Fi replied shaking her head sadly. “It should only take one more use of Minor Soul Syphon for you to master that as well and using Mana Skin on someone else for the first time almost pushed it over the edge as well, but it wasn’t quite enough.”

“Oh well,” Kyle shrugged, increasing Skill Levels and mastering spells had started to get harder lately and it wasn’t like he had expected to make gains like he had in the Zone just from one fight after Levelling Up his Skills so much in the past few months but he took note of the ones that were close and decided to make sure to use those as much as possible in the next fight so that he could get the Skill Points. “Alright can you bring up the Merit Points Screen then?”

Merit Rewards

This is a breakdown of how many Merit Points you have earned since you have entered the Dungeon. The next time that you open this screen only the Merit Points you have earned since closing this one will be shown until the total.

8x Scorprats (Lvl 1) earning you 4 Merit Points

2x Scorprats (Lvl 2) earning you 2 Merit Points

For defeating a group of enemies twice the size of your Party 20% of the Merit Points you earned in that fight have been added to your total.

Current Total Merit Points: 7.2

Merit Point Limit: 40

After you have reached this limit all following Merit Points can only be converted to experience.

You can use Merit Points to purchase the following Rewards.

· Experience- 2 Merit Point buys you 10% of the Exp for your next Level Up (Does not add to your Merit Point Limit).

· Skill Points- 10 Merit Points buys you one Skill Point.

· Companion Ability Points- 15 Merit Points buys you one Ability Point.

· Skills- Cost is dependant on the chosen Skill. Select this option to generate list of available Skills.

· Spell Mastery- Cost is dependent on the spell. Select this option to bring up your unmastered spells.

“Something about this screen seems a bit different to the others,” Kyle noted.

“That’s because the Merit System was implemented after the rest of the System,” Zerah explained. “People weren’t trying to enter Dungeons because the risks were much greater than the rewards, so the first Priest of the System came up with the idea of the Merit System and asked the System to implement it.”

“You know that’s something I’ve been meaning to ask about,” Hal said as he browsed the options offered by the Merit System. “People sometimes talk about the System like it’s alive, but others talk about it like it’s not, what’s up with that?”

“We usually go over this in later classes, but I suppose that telling you now won’t do any harm,” Zerah sighed. “The System isn’t technically alive, not like we are or at least not as far as we know, but it is very much aware and extremely powerful.”

“I think my mum mentioned something about the System being the one to combine all the different worlds together to make this one,” Kyle recalled.

“Indeed,” Zerah nodded. “That is what we have been told and the System is certainly powerful enough to do so but the fact of the matter is that there is no way to know for certain.”

“So what else do we know about the System?” Kyle asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Has it given us any information about what it actually is?” Kyle clarified.

“Hmm, old records left by the first System Priest mention that the System appears to be some sort of hive mind made up of races so ancient and powerful that they became something that is beyond anything we have any hope truly understanding,” Zerah replied cautiously. “Of course, there is no way of knowing whether or not this is actually true.”

“I’m sorry a hive mind?” Hal asked looking confused. “So, you’re saying that the System isn’t just one entity but many?”

“That’s what it or rather ‘they’ told the First Priest,” Zerah confirmed. “As I understand it each of the Races that make up the System as a whole have formed into their own sub-units that they call Admins within the greater whole with each one watching over a particular Race or area of the world.”

This information was something that shook the groups understanding of their world, the System was something that was always with them, but they’d never thought about what that actually meant. Kyle knew from the story his mother had told him as a child that the System had at the very least some semblance of a will of its own and that it had combined the different worlds in an effort to try and make sure that all the Races survived some ‘war’ that was coming but now that he knew what Zerah had just told them he realised that the list of things that could cause something as powerful as the System had to be was very short, in fact he could only think of one thing that could possibly threaten something as powerful as the System.

“There’s more than one,” he said his face paling as he gave voice to his fears.

“What?” Sasha asked unsure that she had heard him correctly.

“That’s the same conclusion that everyone else who knows the story comes to yes,” Zerah replied. “There’s another System out there that wants us dead for some reason.”

Most of the rest of the group turned pale as well, with the sole exception being Amy who simply gave off a sense of dread as they all realised what that could mean. Billions had died when the worlds had been combined together killed by both monsters which the System had no control over and simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time and the idea that not doing so would’ve been worse was terrifying on many levels.

“I’d have to guess that this other System has its own Races that it watches over and this other System wants to destroy us for their sake,” Kyle said. After putting all the facts that he had together this was the best and only conclusion that he could come to as terrifying as it was to think that there were things out there that wanted to destroy them instead of working together like most of the Races in their world did.

Zerah eyed her student in surprise, she hadn’t wanted to say anything about this but now that he had put the idea out there, she felt that not answering him would be unfair to him.

“That’s the conclusion that the First Priest came to yes,” she admitted quietly as though she was afraid to speak the words.

“Can we return to the subject of the Merit Screen please?” asked a shaken looking Hal.

Kyle and Fi glanced at each other before nodding and giving Zerah a look that said they would be continuing this conversation at a later date before agreeing.

“That’s fine, so I think you were saying something about the Merit System being the First Priest’s idea?” Kyle asked.

“Yes, that’s why it’s a bit different from the normal notification screens,’ Zerah agreed.

“Hmm that’s interesting, “Fi muttered looking over the screen once more. It wasn’t that different from the normal notification screens, but it was different enough that it was clear that it had been made by a different person.

Kyle looked over the rewards that were offered, if they got in another fight, he might be able to afford something but even the cheapest Skill offered cost almost twice the number of Merit Points he had right now and Inscriptions which was the only Skill he really wanted to get right now cost more than his Merit Point Limit.

“50 points huh?” he sighed looking at the damning figure. While his Merit Point Limit would increase if he Levelled Up by the time, he did that he didn’t think that he would be able to make enough Merit Points to purchase it this trip to the dungeon, so he turned his eyes to the other options available.

Most of the spells that he had yet to master were close, so he didn’t see any real point in looking at that list until he had new ones to master.

“Fi, I think we’ll buy you a couple Ability Points when we have enough Merit Points, if we have to fight monsters that can poison us, we need you to be able to cure us with the Purify spell,” Kyle said his tone brooking no argument from his companion.

Fi hesitated for a second but nodded her agreement, she had no more Ability Slots right now for them to purchase something new and although she would personally prefer that they purchased more Skill Points so that Kyle could either unlock a new Skill or a Bonus for one of his current ones she knew that purchasing the Purify spell which she had unlocked access to after purchasing Restore when they Levelled Up would increase their survival rate considerably. Purify cleanse the target of weak poisons which made it perfect for use against the weak toxin that the Scorprats produced. Personally, she still wanted to purchase some Skill Points for Kyle, but it was far easier for him to increase the number of Skill Points he had than it was for her to obtain new Ability Points. To her knowledge there were only two ways for her to obtain more Ability Points; by Levelling Up and by purchasing them through the Merit Points System.

The other option of them Levelling Up wasn’t even mentioned as they both knew that once they reached Level 5, they would graduate from the Adventurers School and neither of them wanted that.

Having decided their course of action the two turned to their friends who were also trying to decide what to do with their Merit Points.

“I think you should Level Up first Hal,” Herman said. “If you do that first not only does it actually increase the groups combat strength but I’ll Level Up and get Ability Points as well.”

“I suppose,” Hal sighed. “It does cost the same amount and I suppose that we can always purchase more Ability Points for you later.”

“Huh, how much will it cost for you to reach the next Level?” Kyle asked in confusion.

“Just 10,” Hal replied with a shrug. “Why?”

“If I was starting from 0% it would cost me 20!” Kyle exclaimed. Of course, he knew that this difference was because he was a higher Level, but it was still a large difference and if it continued the same way, it would soon cost a ridiculous amount of Merit Points to Level Up.

Glancing at Zerah he realised that in many ways this was what she meant by the things that they needed increased as they Levelled Up, she wasn’t just talking about Skill Points or Skills but the massive gaps between Levels the higher one got. As one increased their Level their Skill Levels would also increase making it more and more difficult to increase the number of Skill Points they could earn. This was of course somewhat abated by the fact that it was possible to obtain new Skill when you obtained a higher Tiered Class but that also meant that you had to spend more points to obtain more bonuses and make the most of those Skills.

“Anyway,” continued Hal giving his friend an amused look. “Herman says that I should go right ahead and increase my Level, what do you two think?”

“wait so you’re telling me that you have enough Merit Points to Level Up as well?” Kyle asked.

“Yeah,” Hal nodded. “So, what do you think?”

“That Herman’s right,” Fi said and Kyle nodded in agreement at his Companion’s words, he was still annoyed by the fact that not only did it cost half as much for Hal to Level Up as it did for him but that Hal had also earned more Merit Points than he did but he knew that this was also because of their Level difference. “It’s just as he explained it, if it costs you the same amount to increase your Level as it does to buy a single Ability Point then you’re better off doing just that.”

“Yeah,” Hal nodded. “You guys are right.”

Looking around he saw that Sasha and Amy had also made their decisions and decided to wait until they were ready to move on.

Shortly after that the group moved out once more with Zerah following behind looking somewhat amused by what had happened but not letting her guard down. She knew what monsters were likely to show up in this area of the Dungeon, but exceptions did happen and had caused many unprepared Adventurers to lose their lives.

The group carefully made their way along the tunnel and soon it opened up into a larger area with multiple paths branching off so they decided to take a few seconds to regroup before moving on, it had been explained in their classes that monsters often used these points to perform ambushes on unsuspecting Adventurers so no one was surprised when Amy warned them of movement in the tunnels ahead. The thing that did surprise them however was that it wasn’t just one of the tunnels she was detecting the monsters in but all of them.

“Shit!” shouted Kyle upon hearing this, there were three different tunnels other than the one that they had just come down and for a moment he considered telling his party members to retreat so that they only had one entrance to defend but by the time he had come to a decision it was too late.

Scorprats screamed as they charged out of the tunnels towards them as the group formed up as quickly as they could. Hal called out for Herman to give him and Sasha the shields in his Inventory and the simple iron disks appeared on their arms just in time for both of them to meet the pouncing monsters.

“Amy!” Kyle shouted gesturing wildly at the tunnels. “Let’s try blasting them!”

Kyle trusted that with her abilities Amy could pick up on his intentions even though normally he would only expect Hal or Fi would be able to understand him well enough to follow an order as vague as that and was thankful to see her nod and prepare to cast a spell at one of the entrances.

If they left things as they were, they would be overrun by the massive horde of Scorprats. Even Zerah hadn’t been expecting something like this to happen and she almost started to move when she heard Kyle’s exclamation. While it would be dangerous for them to try and collapse the tunnels it was the only real choice that they had right now, so she decided to stand back and see what happened next.

Kyle knew that even though Amy could probably use her Earth magic to deal with one of the tunnels he would have to do something about one of the others or they would be overwhelmed and with the normal firepower that his spells had that would be impossible. He had no choice but to attempt something that he had failed to achieve in class. Concentrating he started to cast a Mana Bolt but instead of releasing it instantly he tried to channel more Mana into the spell. This was the technique required to unlock a Sub-skill of Mana Manipulation known as Overcharging. Overcharging increases the effects of a spell by using more Mana than what the spell normally would, however without the Sub-skill this was quite a dangerous thing to attempt, in fact the last time he had attempted to use Overcharge he had almost lost a finger from the resulting explosion.

Hal flinched as one of the tunnel entrances rippled and started to collapse in on itself, immediately he understood what Kyle’s plan was, he also understood that this might mean that they were risking their chances of being able to complete the test on time, if one of these tunnels was the one that they needed to take to reach the end of the floor it would be nearly impossible for them to clear it before they ran out of time. Of course, he also knew that if they didn’t do something about the number of Scorprats that were flooding out of the tunnels Zerah would be forced to help them out which would also mean that they had failed. Earlier when he had Levelled Up, he had put most of his Stat Points into his mental stats which his Class didn’t do much. This was because of his new trump card; when he had come to the Adventurers School, he had immediately discovered that his Blacksmithing teacher was a priest of the same god whose Divine Beast Herman resembled, and he had asked him to unlock that god’s magic school. The god’s name was Dremel and he was the Dwarven deity of the forge which meant his powers mostly revolved around strengthening equipment much like Kyle’s Enchantments as well as fire and earth magics.

Ripping his shield from his arm he cast one of the spells that he had learned before tossing it into the midst of the Scorprats. The shield rang like a bell before expanding to a size that allowed to cover most of the entrance to one of the tunnels, the spell didn’t do anything to increase the strength of the metal, just change its shape but at least it would help for the moment. Hal quickly gripped his hammer with both hands before bringing it crashing down on one of the larger Scorprats. He had trained enough that he could wield it one handed alongside the shield, at least for a while but it was still too heavy for him to do so for any length of time so in many ways despite now lacking the extra protection the shield had given him he was probably better off using it that way anyway.

Kyle’s brow furrowed as he glared at the writhing ball of energy in his hands, only a couple of seconds had passed since he had begun his attempt to use the Overcharge Sub-skill but to him it felt like much longer, already he had contained two attempts made by the energy to lose control and was currently working on a third, he was only vaguely aware of what was gong on around him but he trusted that Amy and the others would do their jobs. A tendril of energy lashed out towards him but was contained by his will before subsiding completely as Kyle felt the final piece of the Sub-skill fall into place. Kyle thrust out with both hands lobbing the unusually heavy-seeming orb of Mana at the roof of the entrance to the same tunnel that Hal had partially sealed with his shield. He still wasn’t very confident of such a weak spell’s ability to collapse one of the remaining tunnels completely, so he had instinctively targeted the tunnel that he had the best chance of sealing completely and the explosion that the spell caused knocked a number of rocks clear that blocked some of the holes that the shield had left creating a makeshift barrier and Amy then cast another spell that caused stone to rise up around the parts that remained.

Seeing that Sasha was being pressured despite the extra defensive capabilities provided by the shield that he had given her Hal roared in rage activating a Sub-skill known as Taunt. As its name suggested Taunt was a Sub-skill of Battlecries that attracted the attention of nearby enemies by increasing the amount of danger the user posed, it was both the most useful and most common of Skills that Tank’s would use, and it’s effectiveness was very high against opponents with low Intelligence like a Scorprat and Hal soon found himself fending off Scorprats from all sides while Sasha attempted to pick off the stragglers from behind.

Realising that his friend was in trouble Kyle raised his hands once more wincing as he realised that despite managing to finally use Overcharge for the first time his hands had still been burned by controlling the Mana but as it turned out he didn’t need to do anything as Amy had already made her move causing larger versions of the needles that she had created in the previous fight to grow out of the ground ripping into the group of monsters surrounding Hal who swung his hammer in a circle snapping these spikes off while they were still embedded in their bodies.

Fi cast Restore on Kyle just in time that he was able to finish off these severely wounded enemies with a Mana Blast followed by 5 Mana Darts that ripped into the ones that survived the Mana Blast.

There were still a lot of Scorprats streaming out of the remaining tunnel, but they had managed to gain themselves enough space that Kyle could now give the order he had hesitated to say when they were first attacked.

“Guys!” he shouted swinging his chain at another enemy. “Retreat into the tunnel we came from before we get surrounded again!”

Nodding their agreement, the group pulled back with Hal holding the rear while Fi cast Restore on him continuously to heal the large number of wounds he’d ended up taking in the fight so far. It was a bit of a close thing, now that he didn’t have a shield Hal was pretty vulnerable to the Scorprats when they leapt at him but it was then that Herman made his presence known in combat for the first time, he had been waiting for the best chance to use one of the new Skills that he had bought when Hal and he had Levelled Up and coughed up a stream of spit that ignited on contact with the air blasting the Scorprats with flames. This Skill was known as Napalm Breath and was actually the same liquid that powered the internal flame that he needed to function properly when in colder environments. It could also be used as a fuel source for a forge increasing the heat of the flames which made it easier to work metals that required higher temperature to shape properly.

“Jeez,” groaned Kyle as the unpleasant smell of burning Scorprats washed over them. “If you could do something like that why didn’t you do it earlier?”

“Sorry,” croaked Herman. “But I can’t use that very often as it uses up my entire supply of fuel at the moment.

“Ah, sorry.”

Having apologised for making assumptions Kyle turned back towards the monsters with a frown on his face. Something had been bothering him this whole fight and he only now had time to think about what that thing was. Scorprats were supposed to be pretty dumb monsters but these ones had waited until the group had made it more than halfway across the room before attacking them and then had surrounded them from multiple sides at once.

“It’s almost like something is controlling them…”