Monroe

Chapter Seventy-Two. Theses.

Bob was sitting in his chair, watching the sunrise.

He was two weeks into his break from the Dungeon, and while he was feeling better, both physically and mentally, he was also starting to go a little stir crazy.

He'd even finished his pamphlets.

Delving into a Dungeon does not have to be as difficult and dangerous as it currently is.

By killing monsters in the Dungeon that are both one tier and three levels higher, you can obtain special Affinity Crystals, which can grant you a Magical School, or a spell when you use them.

However, if you use an Affinity Crystal before you select a path, a variety of options open, the most important of which is the following:

A ten level increase to the maximum level of a spell.

It has been proven and documented that this ten level increase takes effect as soon as the option is selected.

This means that should you select Conjuration at level one, a Blast spell at level two, then use the Affinity Crystal to increase the maximum level of the Blast spell, it can be leveled up to level twelve.

While you are still level two.

Needless to say, if you keep your blast spell at its new maximum level, monsters even a few levels above your own are no longer a challenge, but instead simply a chore to be done.

This is further improved by gaining an additional option for your level five threshold bonus for the spell school:

A twenty-five percent increase to the maximum level of a spell.

This occurs again at the level ten threshold for a spell school:

A fifty percent increase to the maximum level of a spell.

Should you work towards keeping the spell at maximum level, you'll find yourself at that level ten threshold before you reach level fifteen, if not sooner.

This strategy works with any Affinity Crystal type.

Using a single Affinity Crystal (and sadly you can only use one of any given school) will allow you to delve your local Dungeon comfortably, safe in the knowledge that while you need to be aware, it isn't any more dangerous than any other profession.

There is another advantage to using Affinity Crystals, one that may be as powerful as the benefits listed above.

There are paths that require Affinity Crystals, or are designed for them, which are vastly more powerful than the currently known and advertised paths.

We are currently aware of several of these paths, the details of which can be found on the following two pages.

Before you turn the page, I beg you to consider how the lives of your children could be vastly improved by using an Affinity Crystal and taking one of these paths.

I then implore you to consider that with significant effort, you could reincarnate, and have these powers for yourself.

I dream of a world where everyone has used one or more Affinity Crystals, where Monster Waves are a contest to see who can kill the most, the most quickly, and where a Tide is a call to action for the community, requiring hard work, but not expecting any fatalities.

Talk to the leader of your local Adventurers Guild. They've received the information and witnessed it for themselves.

Bob was fully aware that he was better at writing equations.

Still, he'd also tried to translate the paths into something a little bit more user friendly.

The Path of Elemental Conjuration - Conjuration Specialist. This path focuses entirely on dealing massive, devastating bursts of damage. You will need the following Skills - Conjuration, Blast, Backlash, Aura, and Weapon Enhancement. Each of the four spells must be chosen with the same element. You'll also need to have used a Conjuration Affinity Crystal, the bonus for which I recommend be selected as the ten level increase to the maximum level of your Blast spell. The path provides a two percent increase per level to the Magical School of Conjuration. Upon reaching each threshold (5,10,15,20,25), the total mana cost of any of the required spells is reduced by five percent per threshold reached. Upon reaching the first four thresholds (5,10,15,20), you may choose your Blast, Backlash, Aura, or Weapon Enhancement spell, raising the Maximum level for that skill by five. Upon reaching level twenty-five, you gain the 'Body' spell of whatever element you've chosen Your role in a group is that of destroying the monsters as quickly and efficiently as possible. Consider taking the skills Barrage, Spell Sculpting, and Area of Effect.

The Path of the Eldritch Guard - Abjuration Specialist. This path focuses on preventing damage in order to reduce or eliminate the need for healing. It requires you to have the following skills - Abjuration, Eldritch Shield, Brilliant, Enlightened, Fountain, and Area of Effect. Because it requires six skills, you will need to use an Abjuration Affinity Crystal in order to take this Path. This path also restricts you from having any other Arcane Schools of Magic, although Divine Magic is still available. The Path reduces the total penalty and mana cost for the Area of Effect Skill by one percent per level when utilized for non-damaging effects. When casting Eldritch Shield, the spell gains an armor value equal to one percent of the field's total value per level of the user. The Path also provides a flat one percent per level bonus to the Magical School of Abjuration. You may select one additional non-damaging spell at each level. At each threshold, (5,10,15,20,25) you may increase the maximum level of all non-damaging spells in one School by five. Once you reach level twenty-five, you no longer suffer the initial fifty-percent penalty when using the Area of Effect Skill. This path is especially synergistic with healing, or environmental control spells, such as Control Earth, allowing the user to prevent damage, heal any damage that makes it through, and to control the battlefield.

The Path of the Endless Swarm - Summoning Specialist. This path is focused on using summoned monsters to both soak and deliver damage. It requires the following skills: Summoning, Summon Mana-Infused Creature, Barrage, Effect Over Time, and Persistent Effect. You also have to have your five Mana-Infused Creatures summoned out when you select the path. This isn't possible without a little creative thinking and equipment.

You'll need to push an additional two mana into the barrage component of your spell effect, increasing the total number of monsters summoned to five. This will increase the base cost of the spell to five (1 for the spell, 1 for effect over time, and 3 for barrage) which will increase the cost of the spell when cast with persistent effect to fifty mana. As the best you can do even with allocating all your attribute points into Intelligence and Wisdom is thirty-five mana, you'll need to have both professionally and magically enhanced equipment for both Intelligence, Wisdom, and Mana, which will place you at the fifty mana needed. Hopefully, your local Guild Leader will have a set of equipment available for you to borrow for the purposes of taking this path. While this Path doesn't require you to have used a Summoning Affinity Crystal, it becomes truly powerful when you do so, and select the bonus as a ten level increase to the maximum level of your summon mana-infused creature spell. The path reduces the total mana expenditure and skill penalty for the Persistent Effect Skill by one percent per level. Upon reaching the first four thresholds (5,10,15,20), when you use the barrage skill in conjunction with your Summon Mana-Infused Creature spell, you gain an additional instance of the effect, so at level five you'll have four monsters, at level ten five, at level fifteen six, at level twenty seven. When you reach level twenty-five, the following skills, Barrage, Effect Over Time, and Persistent Effect, when used with your Summon Mana-Infused Creature, are transformed into the spell Endless Swarm. When the Endless Swarm skill is used, all skill penalties are reduced by one percent per level, and any Summon Mana-Infused Creature that is destroyed is automatically reformed five seconds later, at no cost, and with no action required by you. This path, when combined with an Affinity Crystal, and selecting the Threshold Bonuses from the Summoning School to boost the Summon Mana-Infused Creature spell's level by fifty percent, will allow you to effectively be a one-man or one-woman army. With a full set of equipment, you will have eight Endless Swarms, each one with seven level twenty-five monsters, so fifty-six monsters, equal to your level, that if slain automatically re-appear. In addition to having a level fifty-two primary summoned monster. Your role in the party is as a skirmisher, having your monster attack the primary target, while your Endless Swarms protect the party from unexpected attacks.

The Path of the Bountiful Step - Dimension Specialist. This path focuses on moving you and your party either around the battlefield or around the world. It requires you to have the following skills - Dimension, Teleport, and Portal. You also have to have used a Dimension Affinity Crystal, however, there are no other restrictions. The Path provides a two percent bonus and mana cost reduction per level to the skills Teleport and Portal and a one percent bonus per level to all other skills within the Magical School of Dimension. Upon reaching level five, you gain the skill Effect over Time. Upon reaching level ten, you gain the Skill Persistent Effect. Upon reaching level fifteen, you gain the skill Ritual Casting. At each threshold (5,10,15,20,25) you may select one skill from the Magical School of Dimension and increase its maximum level by five. Once you reach level twenty-five, you gain a twenty-five percent bonus to all Skills from the Magical School of Dimension when you cast them with Ritual Magic. This path is invaluable for moving people or materials around, and due to the low skill requirements, the user has the option of combining it with another Affinity Crystal, such as Conjuration, or Summoning, and selecting the level ten increase to either a Summon Monster or Elemental Blast spell, allowing them to bring even more to the party.

He'd passed them over to Harv to transmute the printing plates, and Harv had given them a quick read and assured him that they were clear and communicative.

He'd brought Harv, Elli, Bailli, and Kelli up to his cabin every few days, and that had helped stave off the boredom for a bit, but the sad truth was, Bob was terribly bored.

He'd hiked twelve to sixteen miles a day, discovering several other beautiful vistas.

He'd even spent a day just portaling around, looking for neat places.

Still, today was the day. Jimmi had passed a message to Harv, letting him know that the first half of his paper was ready to be picked up.

Bob had the ink, and theoretically, Harv had transmuted the plates.

He planned to spend the rest of his vacation printing out the pamphlet pages.

He hoped that it would keep him busy.

During the past two weeks, his terrarium had paid significant dividends, as his Control Earth, Control Air, Control Water, Control Fire, and his Plant Growth spell had all reached level three.

Monroe's had as well, although the big cat seemed unexcited about this progress.

With a grunt of effort, Bob hauled himself out of his chair, moving a sleepy Monroe from his lap to the Makres.

Bob was familiar with the Chonk Chart, as his vet had a copy posted in his office, and Monroe was firmly in the 'He Chomnk' category.

He'd just gotten so much bigger.

He was out of eggs, as Monroe could no longer be sated by the leftover yolks from Bob's eggwhite omelet in the morning, instead requiring several additional eggs to be scrambled.

"Looks like we're going to the tavern for breakfast buddy," Bob said as he reached up and gave Monroe a quick cheek scritch.

Bob opened a portal to Holmstead and stepped through.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob grunted as he pressed down on the lever, pressing the plates firmly onto the paper between them.

Jimmi had been very helpful when Bob had presented the printing plates and asked him to make a press for them.

While Bob was generally aware of how a printing press worked, the specifics hadn't been something he'd ever studied.

What he'd come up with worked well enough, although Bob had started to give a bit of thought to a self-inking feature.

Still, the process of pressing the pamphlet pages had a certain meditative aspect that Bob had been missing.

Repetitive mechanical actions kept him busy while allowing his mind to wander.

He'd made a lot of mistakes since his arrival on Thayland.

He'd blundered along, neglecting the resource his advanced integration provided.

Bob had given it a good deal of thought, and Trebor had not misinformed him at all.

While he was fairly certain that the System was amoral and uncaring, it wasn't malevolent or evil. It was simply a fact of existence, a law of nature. Well, many laws of nature, if one were to be more deliberate.

He could have saved Bailli a reincarnation ritual if he'd asked better questions, or simply asked the questions at all.

To that end, and after deliberation, Bob had instructed Trebor to volunteer information whenever Bob was about to make a decision without having all the information.

Thus far, Bob had only slightly regretted it.

Trebor knew more about the inherent cooking properties of eggs than any sapient being should and had interrupted Bob's attempts at cooking breakfast several times to inform him that he was folding the eggs inefficiently, or whisking them for too long.

Bob had been stamping pages for two full weeks, and he was ready to head back into the Dungeon.

Tomorrow was the big day. Thirty days of not delving.

He couldn't deny that he felt good, great even.

Physically he felt fantastic, and more importantly, the past month had served to drain the anxiety that had been plaguing him and clouding his judgment.

He felt peaceful, serene even.

His house was not only comfortable, but it also provided amazing scenic views, and he was sharing it with his buddy.

The upkeep was six mana crystals a month, which served to handle heating, cooking, hot and cold water, as well as the plumbing.

Given his current resources, Bob didn't actually need to delve for crystals to pay for his lifestyle, at least not any time soon. He had several years' worth of crystals available.

No, his only reasons to delve the Dungeon now were to allow Thidwell to reincarnate and take a better path and to ensure he could gather the Affinity Crystals he would need to start demonstrating to the Adventurers Guild leaders just how valuable and useful they were.

But that was tomorrow.

Thidwell had suggested he jump directly to the twenty-third floor of the Dungeon and delve there, as Bob would need to be level twenty-three in order to start gathering Affinity Crystals on the twenty-sixth floor.

Both Thidwell and Bob were banking on the fact that his Summon Mana-Infused Creature spell was level forty-three.

Being as that floor was seven levels deeper than his level, Bob was planning to take the mana crystals he found and immediately increase his level to seventeen, and then eighteen, which would place him at the optimal five levels below the depth of the twenty-third floor.

Bob could see the experience wall that his Summon Mana-Infused Creature was going to hit. He was technically already there, as the spells maximum level was fifty-two and he was significantly behind that.

Ten million two hundred and forty thousand experience was the requirement to push the spell from level forty-nine to level fifty.

Assuming he maintained an optimum five levels lower than the floor of the Dungeon, he could spend four hours a day delving, and the remaining twenty hours would serve to stabilize him in regards to mana density.

Bob paused to grab another ream of paper.

He'd likely spend another six or so hours a day printing out his pamphlets.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The following morning Bob was up early, watching the sunrise.

"Trebor," he said quietly, "given all the information you have access to, what do you think will happen when I spread the Affinity Crystal information to all of the Adventurers Guilds here?"

'Over the course of the next two years, it will nearly eliminate fatalities during mana waves, and within a decade it will reduce fatalities during tides,' Trebor answered.

'The population will increase rapidly, and within five hundred years this planet will have exceeded one hundred million humans, at which point even tides will be events that can be handled without any significant loss of life,' Trebor finished.

"In the more short term, can I expect any retaliation from the nobility?" Bob asked.

'While you aren't going to be their favorite person, they are unlikely to exert significant effort to do you harm,' Trebor said, 'although I would avoid Harbordeep after you start giving out your pamphlets and demonstrations.'

Bob nodded.

He was aware that his life on earth had predisposed him to distrust people in a position of authority.

That had made it quite easy for him to fall prey to a touch of paranoia about the matter.

Bob stood up with a bit of effort, Monroe having already lodged himself across Bob's shoulders, and opened a portal to Holmstead.

It was time to put in some work.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bob entered the twenty-third floor of the Dungeon with a grimace.

He'd forgotten to include the cost of his next token into his financial equation, and he was suddenly low on mana crystals.

He was grateful to see that this level presented a blue sky and a setting sun.

The temperature was pleasant, and the ground was covered by golden waves of grass.

Bob brought out his UtahRaptor and started stepping through the grass slowly, keeping Jake at his side.

Twenty feet in, he heard a snort from his right, and turned to see the grass parting in a wake that pointed directly towards him.

With a quick mental command, Jake sprung to intercept, and the sounds of huffing, squealing and snarling filled the air.

His UtahRaptor returned seconds later, proudly dragging the corpse of what appeared to be a very small rhinoceros/alligator nightmare.

It would have stood just under three feet tall, was covered in scales, and had the build and horn of a rhino, with the teeth of an alligator.

Jake had suffered damage equaling less than one percent of his maximum health.

Bob spotted another movement in the grass and smiled.

It was good to get back to work.