Monroe

Chapter Three Hundred and Ninety-Five. The Adventurers in the Dungeon are always hard.

"I woke up quick, at about noon, just thought that I had to kill some monsters soon," Bob sang as he scrubbed himself with his loofa. "Gonna grind some skills before the day begins, gotta get those crystals, it never ends!"

His rendition was interrupted as a massive paw batted at the shower curtain.

He peeked around the curtain, blinking the water out of his eyes. "Good morning, buddy," Bob said cheerfully. "I bet kitty is hungry, huh?"

Monroe gently patted the curtain again.

"Kitty so hungry," Bob commiserated. "How could I neglect a kitty like that?" He shook his head and ducked back into the shower, hurriedly scrubbing his feet before giving himself a final rinse. He turned off the water and summoned a towel.

"What would a kitty like to eat this morning?" Bob asked. "Is today a steak day?"

Bob didn't get a reply from the big Maine-coon, but the bundle of emotions in the back of his mind were hungry-pet-play.

He pulled on his armor with a sigh, already regretting the loss of his inventory. He hadn't technically lost it yet, but he had moved everything out of it in preparation. Tightening the last few straps, he stood up and rubbed Monroe's ears. "Time to get little, buddy," he murmured.

Monroe chuffed reluctantly before shimmering slightly as he reverted to the size of a small mountain lion.

Bob reached down and picked up Monroe, slinging him across his shoulders as he stepped out of the bathroom and into the communal cubes they'd designated as a kitchen and pantry area.

"Boyz in the hood?" Jessica greeted him with a grin. "Really?"

"When I was working on a group project, one of the guys insisted on listening to music," Bob shrugged.

"It sounds like you're looking forward to delving a bit," Jessica said as she reached up to give Monroe a chin rub.

"I am," Bob agreed. "Our quest is important, but we also need to spend some time grinding up our skills. Figure another week, and we should be done with Kulaod."

"I'm glad to hear that," Jessica shook her head. "I mean, I'm keen to help the Urlinad, but I'd like to get a wriggle on, yeah?"

Bob deposited Monroe on one of the tables as he moved over to the kitchen counter and the huge stasis box, where he retrieved a bowl of steaming meat chunks, which he then placed in front of his feline overlord.

"I see his imperial majesty requires steak this morning," Jessica noted, taking a seat at the table.

"Only the best for the most handsome kitty in the entire multiverse," Bob confirmed as he pulled out a plate of scrambled eggs for himself.

"I reckon you're planning on a twelve-hour day, right?" Jessica asked.

"Unless I convince everyone to pull a sixteen-hour shift," Bob agreed. "Bailli is going to yell at me if I suggest it, though."

"Twelve hours is enough," Jessica shook her head. "I know that the upper levels of our spells are going to get crazy, but we're actually making pretty good progress."

"Knowing that we'll be able to delve while the Urlinad shepherd themselves is a weight off my shoulders," Bob replied. "It won't be long until we're staring at over a hundred million experience for each spell level."

"What's the cutoff again?" Jessica asked.

"We don't want to fall behind double our level," Bob replied. "So once our spells hit level one hundred and twenty-eight, we'll be free to tier up to tier nine, and once our spells hit level one hundred and sixty-two, we can tier up to ten."

"I still can't believe I'm tier eight, and a whole new species," Jessica sighed. "I still think of myself as human, you know? I might technically be a Wayfarer, but I still feel like myself."

"Well, the good news is that we can just go paragon then pinnacle at tiers nine and ten," Bob smiled. "So no more big changes, at least for a while."

"I hope not," Jessica grumbled. "I like shopping as much as the next girl, but I'm not overly fond of my favorite clothes not fitting anymore."

Tyolad watched as the humans entered the Dungeon.

Bob especially seemed to be in good spirits, but the rest of the group seemed lighter of heart as well.

He had to wonder, with the years of constant advancement, had they become addicted to the feeling of leveling?

It was a potent sensation, not entirely unlike a full-body release. He had experienced it six times and found himself craving it. How must they feel, having felt it a hundred times?

Would it change his people? He wasn't eager to go into the Dungeon again, although he would, as it was necessary. As he advanced, would the drive to experience that sensation again cloud his mind, driving him into the Dungeon again and again?

It was a question he'd been considering for over a week. If he couldn't be confident in his own self-control, how would his people, who hadn't studied for years at the temple, resist?

"You seem troubled," Gualla's voice came from behind him.

He turned to smile at the High Priestess. "I find myself wondering how far the System will change us," he admitted.

Gualla frowned thoughtfully. "Further that we'd like, I suspect, but not as far as it has changed them," she decided.

"Go on," Tyolad prompted.

"They call themselves humans, but they've gone beyond that," Gualla explained. "Bob led the way, improving their people as he went, increasing their curiosity and empathy, as well as enhancing their innate knack for handling mana. When they reached tier eight, the changes culminated in their becoming another species altogether. I don't think we will need to go that far, as we don't have as far to go. We can make ourselves better at tier seven, then tier eight. That should be sufficient to deal with the challenges we will have to face."

"I wondered why the others deferred to Bob," Tyolad said. "But I think I might understand it now. He was the one leading the way to the Dungeon, and of them, seemed the happiest to do so."

"I believe it is because, without him, they wouldn't be as driven to advance," Gualla agreed. "He drives them forward because they don't wish to be left behind. At the same time, he seeks consensus for any decisions, or at least that was what I've observed."

"He told me that our path is a gift from the System, the likes of which he'd never seen before," Tyolad said softly. "He explained to me that while the path would serve us once we exited the Dungeon, we would be well served by advancing to tier seven as quickly as possible."

"I talked to Jack, and he told me how we could use the Divine magic of Elemental Earth to rebuild our cities," Gualla agreed. "He had a number of suggestions for improving Meluben, not all of which were foolish. Ultimately, I think the System will be a great benefit to us. Yes, the Dungeons are a trial, but they have shown us how to gather the power to deal with them. How much will that same power improve our lives?" Gualla shook her head. "No more will we fear the fang and claw of the predators that stalk us in the dark. We won't need to ever see the pang of hunger in a child's eyes again. I know these things are less of a concern in Kulaod, but Lara demanded to join the fight for those reasons."

"I wonder how many years will pass before wetravel to the heavens, seeking to sow ourselves amongst the stars as they do," Tyolad mused.

Gualla smiled again. "Less than you might think," she replied. "They brought more than just the knowledge of the System," she continued. "Their people have a knack for building things that we lack, although they insist it was a matter of time before we grew to match their skills. Regardless, they have tools beyond what we could have ever imagined, and Lara and Laura extracted a promise from them to bring them to see their home world once they complete their Quest to save us. Laura is quite the determined child, and she has already secured a pair of Affinity Crystals from Eddi in exchange for the promise to join his organization, the Endless Tower. His promise to her was to help her travel back and forth to his world so she could visit and keep in contact."

Tyolad huffed in amusement. "And, of course, we know what we would need to exchange for their wonders."

"Mark my words," Gualla shook her head. "While we will mourn our losses, in the end, the System will mark the beginning of our people's rise to claim dominion over our world."

Bob watched as the priestess eagerly gathered the staves and moved away.

"Next," Bob called. This time it was a priest who approached, offering him a bag full of mana crystals.

Wasting no time, he accepted the bag of crystals, thrusting his hand inside and beginning to cast the ritual. It was simple, or as simple as crystalizing an energy pattern into physical form could be. It took him just over a minute before another twenty-four staves lay on the ground in between the priest and Bob.

His only consolation was that he wasn't alone. Eddi and Amanda were both also producing staves, and if theirs took slightly longer, for more mana crystals, and were a shade less powerful, they were still reducing the burden of creating nearly two thousand staves at the rate of twenty-four a minute. Alone, it would have taken him over an hour, but with their help, it would be half an hour.

"Next," Bob called again.

He'd had a productive day, advancing his Summon Mana-Infused Creature spell by a level and a half. The Dungeon he'd created offered the same scenario to his group, defending the entrance to a temple, except at tier ten, it poured ninety-thousand monsters at them. The endless stream of monsters pouring down onto them was perfect for practicing their resource management, although only being able to complete a single run was a bit disappointing when it came to gathering crystals.

It cemented their tactic of allowing Bailli to keep her skill fully stacked, although Bob had added a twist. He'd remembered how he'd leveled up his Mana Drain spell well enough to recreate the spell pattern, and after some trial and error, he'd managed to anchor the spell to feed the mana drained to a different target. It wasn't much, half a point per second, but Bob had used all eight of his persistent effect slots to drain mana from the members of the team who didn't run dry, increasing Bailli's regen by four points. Showcasing her natural aptitude, Jessica did the same thing. The end result was eight points of regen for Bailli and eight members of the team who didn't have to worry that much about resource management facing a constant drain on their resources.

Bailli had seemed quite pleased, given the villainous laughter she periodically unleashed along with her Lightning Blasts.

If they continued at the same pace, he would reach level one hundred with his Summon Mana-Infused Creature spell in another two days. He expected to reach level one hundred and four before they left Kulaod.

Another twenty-four staves appeared on the ground. "Next," Bob called.

"God, that's sexy," Jessica muttered to Dave.

He gave her a sideways glance.

"Don't pretend you don't see it," she nudged him with her elbow. "I see you looking at Amanda."

"She bites her lip when she's concentrating, which she's not supposed to do when we're in public as stipulated by the Adorableness Accords of twenty-twelve," Dave replied.

"You two," Jessica laughed lightly. "Look at Bob, I mean, look at him. He's not concentrating at all, his mind is a thousand miles away, he's just putting those rituals out like a machine."

"That's his thing," Dave agreed. "Back when we first met him, freshman year, Bob told us that he wasn't special. He said he wasn't smart, or talented, but he was willing to work hard." Dave shook his head. "He was wrong. His gift, his talent if you would, is his ability to keep going longer and harder than anyone else. Like anyone with a gift or talent, he didn't recognize it himself. I didn't realize it either, not until I saw the difference between him and the priests from the Church of the Light when they were casting regeneration rituals during the Old Guard's migration to Thayland. They kept having to trade out every hour, while Bob just. Kept. Going."

Jessica licked her lips. "I plan on putting his talent for repetition and hard work to good use," she purred.

"Oh lord," Dave laughed, shaking his head. "That was good."

"I'm sure he will be, once he's had a little directed practice," Jessica agreed. "Did I tell you that he Dave'd me?"

Dave cocked his head, giving her an uncertain look. "I'm not sure I know what that means, but I am sure that being verbed makes me nervous."

"Eh," Jessica waved a hand. "It's what Amanda and I came up with to describe those moments when you drop one of your sweet flirty lines on her."

"Getting Dave'd, eh?" Dave mused. "I can live with that. So Bob laid a smooth line on you? That doesn't seem like him. Are you sure he meant it like that?"

"Yep," Jessica said smugly.

Dave waited patiently before nudging her. "Well? Don't keep me in suspense!"

"Well, he started by complimenting me, of course," she said. "He said, 'Sometimes I forget just how smart you are,' then I said, 'How could you overlook my brilliance?' because I'm delightful, yeah?" Jessica explained.

"You are a brilliant light in our dark and dreary existence," Dave agreed dryly.

"I am the Lady of the Light, you know," she replied imperiously.

"So he said you were smart? That's not exactly a smooth line," Dave shook his head.

"No," Jessica shook her head, "You didn't let me finish."

"Ah, please, proceed, my Lady, with my apologies," Dave grinned.

"Then," she continued, "he said, 'Most of the time I'm blinded by your beauty.'"

"Oh," Dave nodded, "that is smooth. Surprisingly so, considering that, well, it's Bob."

"He gave you full credit," Jessica beamed. "He said after four years of watching you and Amanda, he'd picked up a few things." She sighed and shook her head. "You two sure do know how to make a Shiela feel lonesome, you know? But at least you're providing an educational example for Bob. He could do a lot worse than following your example," she finished.