Bob took a deep breath as he lifted his face to the Dungeon's artificial sun, enjoying the clean air and the warmth on his face. He'd enjoyed a nice meal with his friends, or some of them, but he needed to put in the work. Not for the first time, he counted himself fortunate that the Hidden Dungeon had converted over so very neatly into what he'd needed.

He had three mana crystals in his left hand, which dissolved into nothing as he activated his 'Eternal Servant' skill, their energy spent.

Skill, Eternal Servant.

This skill allows the user to expend a number of energy crystals equal to the maximum number of thresholds the spell has reached while casting Summon Mana-Infused Creature. The spell will reserve mana equal to the user's level, plus the maximum number of thresholds the spell has reached. The resulting summon(s) will persist, requiring no upkeep. Should the summon(s) be dispersed, they will reappear next to the user in a number of seconds equal to the user's tier. This skill may only be used once, requiring the user to dismiss the effect before utilizing it again.

He cast his Summon Mana-Infused Creature spell, modifying it with the Barrage skill. He could feel a portion of his own mana still, for lack of a better term. Normally his mana pool felt like exactly that, an ethereal pool of energy in the center of his body, swirling with light currents as entered his matrix and was spent. It was hard to put it into words, but he felt like there was a slight rim of ice on that pool now, the energy frozen. It wasn't much, less than a tenth, but he could still feel it. It was different from using Persistent Effect, which seemed to drain the energy out, reducing the total volume of the pool.

He opened his eyes to see three UtahRaptors looking at him. It turned out that assigning them paths was as simple as imagining it while summoning them out, which he thought as a pretty damn good idea, as he could only imagine the panic of trying to navigate a menu to get his summons the path he wanted as a monster tried to eat him.

These three were skirmishers, and they were level fifteen, which made them rather beefy.

Name Jake Level 15 Tier 8 Size 10 Armor Hardness 64 Weapon hardness 64 Str 93 Path Skirmisher Armor Style 1.01 Weapon type 1.01 Cord 93 Dodge 93 Spell casting 1.01 End 46 Natural Attack 8.00% Bite 15.00% Kick 15.00% Int 16 Natural Armor 8.00% Armored Hide 15.00% Wis 16 Stamina (Maximum): 69 Stamina Reserved : 0 Dodge 15.00% Consumate Summoner 8.00% Stamina Regen (maximum) 13.9 Stamina Regen Reserved: 0 Health 770 Mana (Maximum) : 16 Mana Reserved: 0 Bite Damage 351 Armor Mitigation 194 Armor 148 Mana Regen (Maximum) 3.2 Mana Regen: Reserved 0 Kick Damage 353 Modified Dodge 114

While they weren't going to one-shot the Gwarli, who would be level thirteen themselves, if the three of them attacked together, they could kill one of the Gwarli in an instant.

Of course, they weren't going to be attacking alone.

Bob summoned a UtahRaptor with the Defender path.

Name Jake Level 31 Tier 8 Size 10 Armor Hardness 64 Weapon hardness 64 Str 78 Path Defender Armor Style 1.01 Weapon type 1.01 Cord 78 Dodge 78 Spell casting 1.01 End 204 Natural Attack 8.00% Bite 15.00% Kick 15.00% Int 16 Natural Armor 8.00% Armored Hide 15.00% Wis 16 Stamina (Maximum): 141 Stamina Reserved : 0 Dodge 15.00% Consumate Summoner 8.00% Stamina Regen (maximum) 28.2 Stamina Regen Reserved: 0 Health 6404 Mana (Maximum) : 16 Mana Reserved: 0 Bite Damage 322 Armor Mitigation 383 Armor 292 Mana Regen (Maximum) 3.2 Mana Regen: Reserved 0 Kick Damage 323 Modified Dodge 96

He smiled. Yes, at level thirty-one the Defender did less damage than the Skirmishers at level fifteen, but he had almost twice the armor and eight times the health.

He'd keep the Skirmishers back with him and send the Defender ahead to act as the Beacon.

Bob cracked his knuckles and started walking towards where he knew he'd find the first Gwarli patrol.

It was amazing how much difference one level could make.

Bob was sitting on his favorite rock, watching the water in the brook sparkle as the sun scattered across it.

He'd finished the Dungeon in record time. A bit more than two hours, and most of that had been spent running from patrol to patrol. The System might have decided to encourage specialization, but the power of a dedicated summoner was undeniable.

Assuming they had an Enduring Attribute Affinity, two more Attribute Affinity Crystals, and an Enduring Affinity for Summoning, a Natural Affinity for Summoning, and a Summoning Affinity Crystal.

On second thought, he might be a bit of an outlier.

Still, the speed with which he was able to clear the Dungeon meant he'd be able to revise his estimated timeframe. It meant it would only take him five days to grind his Summon Mana-Infused Creature spell to level forty. By that point, he'd be able to delve the Dungeon at six levels over, which mean an extra experience point per monster for the spell, which he would need. He should be able to push the spell to level forty-eight in another two weeks.

His overall goal was to keep his summons at or over twice his level. He was going to advance to level nine after another two delves, spending his skill point to bump his spell up again, allowing him to push it all the way to forty. He'd stay at nine while doing this, building up a stockpile of mana crystals, and seeing just how much difference those extra levels made. There had to be a sweet spot, where a few levels in either direction didn't matter, and he intended to find it.

He pulled a sandwich, carefully wrapped in aluminum foil, from his inventory, and opened it. He sighed as he noticed the distinct lack of sliced oxcipine. He'd thought that in order to teleport an object, you had to be able to see the object, but clearly Monroe's 'Mysterious Paw' skill disagreed.

"Buddy, did you steal my oxcipine?" Bob asked the massive Maine Coon, who had been lounging in the grass beside the boulder.

Bob received no response, besides a slight flick of a fluffy tail.

Kellan inspected the System windows in front of him.

Eternal Preparedness of He Who Walks Before.

You have embraced the teachings of He Who Walks Before, and have gained access to his ability to adapt to the world around him.

This blessing provides you with Summon Mana-Infused Object.

You have spent one skill point on this skill, granting you the skill at level eight. This skill is not capped by your tier, but reflects the power of He Who Walks Before.

Eternal Resurgence of the Devine Feline Overlord.

You have embraced the teachings of He Who Walks Before, and his Divine Feline Overlord, gaining Monroe's ability to recover from the trails and tribulations of this unfeeling world.

This blessing provides you with the Divine Feline Overlord skill, Naptime.

You have spent one skill point on this skill, granting you the skill at level seven. This skill is not capped by your tier, but reflects the power of He Who Walks Before.

Given Bob's focus on summoning, this wasn't entirely unexpected, although it must have been built into the path provided by the System, which was somewhat unusual.

The only reason the System would have included it was if a significant number of people were venerating him.

The second was more interesting, at least for Kellan. Monroe's Naptime skill was almost a scaled down version of his own ability, Hibernate. While Kellan wouldn't be taking it himself, he could see why some would.

"The System continues to recognize the inherent divinity of He Who Walks Before, and his Feline Overlord," Ani intoned.

Kellan nodded. "While I don't think it will benefit the Endless, it's difficult to deny that Summon Mana-Infused Object is a fantastic utility spell, and being able to pick it up for a single point will tempt quite a few people," he agreed.

"I'm unable to allocate a second skill point to it at this time," Ani continued. "I will continue to try every morning, and I will return when I'm able to do so," she finished.

"Thank you, Ani, please report to High Priest Huron, I'm sure he'll want to update the information at Bob's shrine," Kellan said, dismissing the slightly fanatical child.

"Your Majesty," Ani bowed and left, no doubt hurrying to pester Huron.

Kellan had paid rather close attention to Bob, going so far as to commission a dossier on his activities. It hadn't contained much that he wasn't already aware of, but it had cemented certain aspects of the man's personality and habits. One of those habits was the use of Summon Mana-Infused Object for almost every situation. Bob slept on a summoned bed. Or at least he had. Given his constant use of the spell, Kellan expected that he'd keep it at its maximum level, which meant worked to further confirm that Bob had reached level eight, and taken his path.

While it wasn't as convenient as seeing him in person, Ani's dedication would ensure that he at least knew when Bob reached a threshold.

He didn't expect to see Bob until he'd risen back up to level twenty-five or even thirty.

Kellan had made it exceedingly clear that Bob's safety, and that of his cat, and friends, was to be considered sacrosanct. That said, there were millions of people on Greenwold who only knew their King through reputation, and little of that. While he hoped it wouldn't be necessary, he was prepared to provide a demonstration of what sheltering under his wings meant.

"It's up and working, Madam President." Taylor said. "We just sent out the message."

Elania nodded, smiling tiredly at her Chief of Staff. "We did set up that number with an autoreply, right?"

"We did," Taylor grinned. "With the shambles the networks have been in, I'm sure we surprised a lot of people."

It had all started with DARPA, as so many things did. The agency, which had developed the method for interacting with mana electronically, had been working on a project to provide secure long distance communications utilizing mana to carry the data, rather than microwaves or radiowaves. The agency had not been pleased when she'd directed that the fruits of their labor be applied to the public sector.

What had been deployed was, at the moment, an enhanced transceiver, capable of picking up much weaker signals, and broadcasting much further. She'd invested over ten million of the nation's mana crystals into upgrading towers and sites, and had inadvertently nationalized the telecom industry, but after three weeks, the upgrades had been completed, and she'd sent out a message to the nation, explaining exactly what she'd done, and why.

'A nation survives only as long as its people speak to one another. While we will always have different opinions, and even different needs, we must ensure that everyone has the ability to make their voice heard. We have returned to our nation to find it changed, with our instant communications and ease of travel lost to us. When we returned, I promised to dedicate myself to becoming strong enough to protect our country. In addition to directing our military and police forces to level quickly in order to protect against monsters, I asked our Defense Advanced Research Project Agency to bend their incredible minds toward restoring our communications. They rose to the challenge with admirable alacrity, and developed a mana enhanced transceiver that will allow for a single cellular site to not only handle exponentially more simultaneous connections but also vastly increase the range at which it can send and receive signals. I know that many of you have had difficulty connecting with your loved ones, and I'm pleased to announce that your government has developed and implemented a solution. There are still many issues facing our nation, but this is one fewer.

I remain, humbly, your President,

Elania Hartford.'

"It's one problem solved," Elania stood up and stretched carefully. "I think the chair needs to be about two inches taller and an inch deeper," she grumbled.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the ability to turn back the clock," Taylor said, gesturing towards her face, which now held the vibrancy of youth, rather than the hint of crow's feet it once had. "But getting used to the new height is difficult."

"I'd like a word with Mr. Whitman about the direction he decided to take our entire species." Elania shook her head. "I understand he didn't have the ability to gather a consensus, but to just decide, for everyone?"

"It certainly could have been worse, though," Taylor replied. "A boost our ability to sense and manipulate mana, tied to creativity and curiosity? I think the world ought to rejoice for his decision to direct us towards empathy and compassion."

"I'm not saying that his decisions were wrong, just that he really shouldn't have made them in a vacuum," Elania said.

"Do we know what happens when we tier up to eight?" Taylor asked.

"I think the Queen is the closest of all of us," Elania mused. "She's taken a very hands on approach to the whole apocalypse thing."

"I've told you," Taylor sighed, "our official policy is to refer to it as an event, not the apocalypse."

"Eh," Elania waved her hand dismissively, "I'm not doing a soundbite."

"Still, best to keep in the habit, wouldn't want to slip up on the campaign trail," Taylor said cheerfully.

"I'm not even sure I'm going to run," Elania replied. "Or if we'll even be able to hold the elections on time. Getting secure long distance communications up and running was a major hurdle, but the primaries should have started two months ago."

Unspoken was the fact that she was facing more opposition from her own party, that from the other side of the aisle. In a rare show of bipartisanship, the conservative majority in both the house and the senate had passed what few pieces of legislation she'd worked on and endorsed, with the speaker of the house going so far as to wax poetic on her state of the union speech four months earlier. On the other hand, her vice president had become antagonistic, going so far as to publicly disagree with her policies.

Now that she had the ability to actually hear from the nation, she expected to start receiving polling data. Hopefully, the country agreed that she'd done the right thing, made the right choices.

Time would tell, but for the moment, she had another four hour delve scheduled.

"Time to gear up," she said, stepping around her desk. "We have monsters to slay and quests to complete."

"Just because we can operate on two hours of sleep, doesn't mean we should," Taylor complained, although she began to pull on her armor.