Bob had to remind himself that maniacal cackling was villainous behaviour and shouldn't be indulged in. It was just hard to resist as he watched his three UtahRaptors tearing through the Gwarli patrol.

His glee was tempered by the fact that the Gwarli he was facing were now level eight and had been provided paths by the System. He didn't know the exact details, but it was clear that the patrols now consisted of a beacon, a skirmisher, and a support. Against a single UtahRaptor they'd been somewhat successful, leaving Jake in rough shape. With a level fourteen raptor assaulting each of them, and Monroe darting in when the opportunity presented itself, they were much less threatening.

Which was not to say it had all been sunshine and daisies. The beacons were fairly simple, utilizing a shield and a variety of one handed weapons, while the skirmishers were a bit more trickly, boasting spears, javelins, slings and bows. The ones he really had to watch out for were the supports. So far they'd displayed elemental magics of all four flavors, as well as healing. It was the elemental Earth supports that had proven the worst, as they'd coated their small groups in a layer of flexible stone, dulling the UtahRaptors attacks.

It might have been callous, but Bob didn't really care about the additional damage generated by the fire, ice, and lightning variants. He could always take the two seconds to drop his summoning spell and then recast it.

Still, he'd learned their capabilities, and was watching from a safe distance as his pack of raptors tore another patrol into pieces.

His leveling plan was coming along nicely so far. Barrage was doing some real work, but he was contemplating the overall usefulness of Effect Over Time and Persistent Effect.

He could keep his summoned monsters over leveled, even with the fifty percent penalty from barrage. Doing so with Effect Over Time would require him to spend more skill points on advancing the threshold of his Summon Mana-Infused Creature spell, or at least spending more than he would with just barrage in mind. He'd used Effect Over Time to solid effect before, but with the changes to spell costs and mana regeneration, it would be much more niche. At the moment, with two thresholds, his Summon Mana-Infused Creature spell cost him three mana. Barrage multiplied that by two, pushing the cost to six. His thirteen percent reduction didn't quite reduce that to five. His mana regenerated at almost nine points per second when he wasn't moving, which meant he could keep the spell going indefinitely, at least here in the Hidden Dungeon.

Effect Over Time had the problem of significant costs. He could bring out a level fourteen raptor, but the cost was three mana plus one mana for each second he wanted the spell to last, multiplied by two. His mana pool of forty three meant that he could have that raptor out for seventeen seconds.

Bob would be the first to agree that combat was measured in seconds, not minutes. There had been a few boss battles that had stretched out to nearly a minute, but most fights were done in six to ten seconds, especially when he was fighting alone.

He'd compared notes with his friends, and their group had faced fewer patrols, but the patrols themselves had been twice the size.

If he was standing his ground, fighting a wave of monsters, dumping his mana pool at the beginning to add an extra UtahRaptor into the mix would be worth it, but moving from fight to fight, it just didn't make sense. Of course, his mana pool was only going to go up. With over four hundred mana, even with the cost of the spell skyrocketing thanks to the number of thresholds it would have, he'd be able to summon quite a few of them, back to back. It was a long term play, rather than something that he'd benefit from in the short term.

Persistent Effect was something that would be nearly useless for leveling. The requirement to have the spell wrapped in Effect Over Time first meant that it was running a quarter of its normal value. Unless he dedicated the vast majority of skill points to advancing the threshold for his Summon Mana-Infused Creature spell, with the attendant time requirement to grind out those levels, the monsters it summoned would never be high enough level. It would, however, be worth its weight in affinity crystals when it came time to defend against a wave. Maxing out a barrage spell would give him ten summoned monsters, which with ten thresholds would cost forty mana. Applying Effect Over Time would increase that to eighty mana, which would be pulled and locked out of his mana pool with Persistent effect. He'd only be able to do that five times, but he'd then have forty level ten monsters to throw at the wave, outside of whatever he was doing with his active casting.

The Endless path had won a lot of converts for a reason.

Which was why he was still set on taking Effect Over Time and Persistent Effect, despite their lack of direct impact on his leveling process.

Ritual casting was another skill that he felt he had to have, if only to steer the development of whatever path the System was likely to offer him. It was the same reason he'd be activating his bonus School/Spell combinations from Pedagogue and Academic, picking up Dimension/Portal and leveling up to the first Threshold before taking his path.

He shook his head as he realized he'd been on autopilot for several minutes, having absentmindedly directed his pack of raptors through the slaughter of two more patrols.

The Jakes were looking a little ragged, so he dropped the spell, waited a moment, and recast it, bringing out a fresh squad, ready for battle.

"Let's go fellas, we need to wrap this up," Bob said. "I clearly need a break."

Bailli cackled as her lightning crackled, the bluish-white bolt striking a Gwarli in the chest and dropping it.

She was level six, and while the group had stopped leveling up, they were still grinding their spells.

With the System stating that specialization was key, the group had decided to stick with that theme. She had spent four of her skill points advancing her Lightning Blast to the next threshold. The spell now boasted a maximum level of thirty-four, and she was currently at level twenty-nine, with the Conjuration School itself at level six. While she wasn't dealing anywhere near the damage she had been before the update, she could drop a Gwarli with two regular lightning blasts, or one if she used her beloved barrage skill.

The problem was that she couldn't keep using barrage, as it cost twelve mana, and her regeneration couldn't keep up. Still, she'd open a fight by dropping the two supports in rapid succession, then lay out single blasts, finishing off the skirmishers. It was rare for her to need to cast a spell at the beacons, as they'd normally either be dead, or on the brink by the time she'd finished the lighter targets.

Erick, who was standing next to her as part of the back lines, shook his head at her antics. "You know," he said, "if all those boys who fell in love with you when you were watching them at the Church could see you now, I bet you'd have had a few less admirers."

Bailli shrugged and leveled a smile at him. "You were the only admirer I wanted," she told him.

"You were only interested in my ritual magic," he teased her as he tossed out another effect over time Anima Blast on Jack.

Despite only having a single Affinity, rather than a double, both Erick and Jessica had proven that healing was powerful enough. They'd grabbed their spellcasting skills, barrage and effect over time, then branched out, Erick into Elemental Air, and Jessica in Protection. The extra time the rest of the group had needed to grind up their double affinity spells was more than enough for them to level up a secondary school/spell.

"Well, at first," Bailli admitted, "but then I realized there was an amazing man attached to all that ritual knowledge." She leaned over kissed his cheek.

"Stars and stones, but you two make me regret being single sometimes," Eli complained.

"I think it might have more to do with being eighteen," Harv suggested.

Harv had opted to for a natural Affinity for Necromancy, but had also used a Transmutation Affinity Crystal, as his primary role remained controlling the battlefield. He was currently spread somewhat thin, having also taken Herbalism and Alchemy. His final skill before taking their paths would be ritual magic, all of which meant he hadn't been able to spend a single point to push his spells past the first threshold.

Bailli thought that he was spreading himself thin, but he'd managed to keep up in terms of meeting the needs of the team. Once they had their paths, he'd be able to spending skill points to push past the thresholds.

"You really do love that lightning," Jack noted.

"Yes, yes I do," Bailli smiled.

"I'm sorry," Prime Minister Kiara Julwry said, "I confess I wasn't giving you my complete attention. Could you repeat that?"

"Some of our more traditionally minded citizens have been taking their children into the Dungeons them, to 'teach them the trade' I was told," the Minister for Agriculture replied. "Now that the Harvest skill is given to everyone, as well as the Matrix Manipulation skill, the explanation I received was that the children could 'fade' while harvesting the monsters. One particularly irresponsible family allowed their child to actually level up," He shook his head.

"No, I understood that part, although clearly we need to involve the minister for Social Services, I meant the last bit," Kiara said.

"Ah, yes, one enterprising little ankle biter took the trapping skill, the Animal School, the Summon Animal skill, the Speak with Animals spell, and ritual magic, at which point he was offered a path called "Master of Monsters," which of course, he took. Apparently, he can trap a monster and cast a ritual spell granted by his path, which effectively tames it, causing it to become an animal, which while not necessarily docile, isn't compelled to try to eat every person it sees," the Minister paused for a drink of water before continuing. "The path allows the kid to store the monster in, and I wish I were making a joke, a shiny, glowing ball when not in use. Unlike most summoning spells that we've encountered, the monster levels up by fighting, rather than relying on the summoner's skill to determine the level. Correlations were quickly made, and that community being what it is, there are now hundreds if not thousands "Master of Monsters'" running about."

"So what you're saying is..."

"Yes, they're effectively playing pokemon in real life."

"I'm absolutely certain that everyone was informed, upon leaving stasis, that children weren't to level up until they were eighteen," Kiara rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"That segment of our population isn't overly fond of following regulations restricting activities by age," the Minister replied.

"It sounds like the path will do just fine for delving Dungeons, right?" Kiara asked after a long moment of consideration.

"It will, and to be fair, for a rancher, speak with animals, trapping, and summon animal are actually excellent skills to have," the Minister noted.

"The only real problem is when they actually visit civilization," Kiara sighed. "I can imagine the reactions from our citizens when suddenly faced with a random monster on the street."

She shook her head. "Put the path on the watch list and make sure the parents know that they are responsible for keeping their kids in line. We'll require them to register each monster they tame and ensure they carry a license."

"Yorrick," Kellan acknowledged the Warlock.

"Your Majesty," Yorrick bowed more deeply than he had during previous encounters. "Your triumph over the Church of the Light has already become a legendary tale in the Karcerian Empire. You have the gratitude of the Five Pillars."

Kellan raised an eyebrow and motioned for him to continue.

"As you are aware, we began a project to extend the Empire to Earth, specifically those areas we identified as being the most likely to need assistance after mana awoke," Yorrick said.

"Yes, I've heard you've devoted a veritable horde of crystals building cities and offering safe haven to the people there," Kellan nodded.

"Initially, that was the extent of the project," Yorrick admitted. "We wanted to secure a bolt hole in a universe where we were unlikely to be hunted by the Church of the Light, and if we could help the populace at the same time, so much the better. It has evolved into something somewhat more ambitious," he continued. "The arrival of the High Priest of the Church of the Light on Parceus was a rude awakening. We had long thought that Thayland, so far away and so much less hospitable than Parceus, would remain a cold refuge where we could find respite and freedom." Yorrick shook his head. "We were clearly wrong. We know that we cannot stand against Parceus, so our bolt hole became something more. Earth is now viewed by the majority of our citizens as our path to salvation, a home in another universe, where the hatred that infects Parceus cannot reach us. To that end, we've been focusing on expanding what we are calling the 'Terran Confederation,' offering aid to nations in exchange for our expertise, and a home for our citizens. Our numbers, while significant in comparison to Greenwold, are nothing, a mere fraction of a percent, when compared with Africa."

Kellan considered Yorrick's speech, which the man had clearly rehearsed.

He'd known the man for several centuries, and he was nothing if not well prepared.

If the Karcerian Empire left Thayland entirely, it could provide an opportunity he hadn't thought he'd be able to seize for millennia.

"To be clear, you intend to forfeit all claim to Thayland?" Kellan asked.

"We do," Yorrick replied. "We would like to come to a formal agreement ceding all territory to your Majesty, in return for your word that none on Thayland will ever provide the Church of the Light with the knowledge of how to reach Earth. Some of our citizens would prefer to remain here, swearing allegiance to your Majesty."

Kellan smiled. "When do you anticipate the Empire having completed its move?"

"Some time between three and six months," Yorrick replied. "I'd like to give you a more definitive answer, but opportunities have arisen that simply can't be ignored, and by allowing for more time, we can address them."

Kellan was aware that his smile had grown a touch more draconic as his true nature roared in triumph.

"That will do."